Spotify vs Apple Music
illustration by Emma Baynes
After finally convincing my family to switch to a Spotify subscription less than a year ago, I find myself now with 150+ completed playlists and a great number of new and emerging artists to enjoy. It’s therefore safe to say that in my own experience, switching between the two platforms has truly been transformative. My music library grows exponentially with every passing day, and I’ve even managed to form bonds with people through the interactive components of the app.
Despite my personal biases, the world continues to argue about which platform is the best, and I have seen many people persistently claim that Apple Music offers them a significantly better musical experience.
Each platform has over 20 million users in the U.S., and the fight to become the most used music server is nowhere near finished. In this article, I will be breaking down each of the platforms’ strengths and weaknesses, in hopes that each individual can find which app is best suited for them—Spotify or Apple Music.
Price
Let’s start with the basics. In this economy, price is almost always an issue when it comes to picking between any two options. This, and the concern of ethical consumption.
So, here are the facts
Both platforms offer a free trial.
Spotify can be used for free (with limitations such as ads and a minimal amount of skips).
For a singular user, both platforms cost $9.99 USD per month ($4.99 USD for students).
Apple Music pays their artists more per stream than any other major streaming service.
According to an article by Stephen Warwick published on imore.com, “Apple Music’s price per stream is $0.00675, [which is] a good deal higher than Spotify’s $0.00348.” Although I’m sure many of us are no strangers to pirating music, it is important for us to know where our money is going when we settle on a streaming service. As we are living through a time when concerts are no longer an option, many artists and bands are struggling to find ways to support themselves. The more these musicians profit from each stream of their songs, the better; and in this particular area, Apple Music is the clear winner.
Content
Besides music, both platforms offer a variety of different features. Spotify offers podcasts and even audiobooks, while Apple Music is known for making deals with bigger artists to offer the app’s users exclusive early content.
Recommendations
As I mentioned earlier, here is where I struggle the most to hide my bias. When it comes to pinning down what music you might like, there’s no beating Spotify. By now, the app probably knows me just as well as the TikTok algorithm (and we all know how scarily accurate that can be). Not only does Spotify have a “Discover Weekly” playlist specifically made for you and your listening needs, but there’s also a small section of “Recommended Songs” at the bottom of each of your playlists based on the songs in said playlists (and based on the title of the playlist). And if that isn’t specific enough, you can even automatically generate an entirely new playlist of similar songs for you to discover. Apple Music’s “Listen Now” section simply doesn’t compare.
Community
One of my favourite things about switching to Spotify is something that isn’t actually featured in the app itself. Simply by having a Spotify account, you suddenly have access to a plethora of amazing websites that can tell you more about yourself and your listening habits than you ever really needed to know. Some of my favourites include obscurify.com (a website that tells you exactly how mainstream your music taste is, as well as recommends a good few obscure songs that correspond with your listening habits), spotalike.com (a website where you can enter any song available on Spotify, and you will be gifted with a playlist of similar-sounding songs), and musicscapes.com (a website that creates a beautiful sunset landscape based solely on your listening habits).
Although both streaming services make it pretty easy to share your music and playlists with friends, Spotify still takes the cake with benefits such as being able to simultaneously listen to music at the same time as a friend.
The Spotify desktop app also allows you to see exactly what all of your friends are listening to, which can either be a nuisance or a blessing, depending on whether you’re more of a private or curious person.