The Great Debate: Spotify or Apple Music?

I've gotten into many fights with friends, colleagues, and strangers about this debate.

Which is better Apple Music or Spotify?

Personally I think Spotify is a clear winner, however, I am bias cause the last time I used Apple Music (AM) was when songs were .99 cents. Even then I usually illegally downloaded songs from YouTube.MP3.

My argument for Spotify:

• The end of the year wrap up: How many times you listened to your favorite song, your favorite genre of the year, etc.
• Try Spotify for free as long as you want (but once you try that 3 months free, you're hooked)
• Spotify for students ($4.99/month) includes HULU (summer only) and Showtime
• UI is pretty equal but if you're a fan of the "dark mode" trend then Spotify is for you
• Spotify's billboard ads

Other articles that agree with me:

• Digital Trends
• Consumer Reports
• CNet

Prove me wrong, or join the Spotify high 🥇

Comments

[Simon Holdorf]

No debate, it is Spotify 😊

[Chris C]

Although they've gone a little cuckoo with the mobile app as of late, Avery...

Spotify. How can that be a debate? ;)

open.spotify.com/user/chris.chacon...
follow

Their discovery algorithm is pretty good IMO

[Joe Attardi]

I prefer Apple Music overall. It has better integration with all my devices. Particularly with CarPlay- last time I used Spotify with CarPlay it was pretty gimped - there was a limitation on how many albums it could display, for example, and voice control is not as good as with Apple Music.

I also like that Apple Music lets me upload my own stuff that isn't in their catalog and then listen to it on my devices.

Honestly though, either one is great.

[Johnywoods]

More Apple Music than Spotify, but I mostly do things differently. Most often, I just transfer music from my PC to my Iphone using the program softorino.com/convert-mp3-iphone-r..., it may also be more convenient for you to do so.

[R☭]

I don't know if you can scrobble your tracks with Apple Music and i don't care to find out, Spotify it is and has been for years.

It is in no way perfect (local files is still a mess and will probably stay that way forever).

[Thomas H Jones II]

Likely, it depends on your listening style. For me, the answer is "neither":

• Spotify doesn't match my listening-style
• I pretty much refuse to have anything that tries to lock me in to Apple's "ecosystem" (though, I pretty much consigned Apple software to the "crapware" category because of how offensive and atrocious the old iTunes player was)

For the type of music I listen to and the way I listen to it, I prefer SoundCloud ...Though I wish that SoundCloud offered the kinds of bit-rates and dynamic-range that I can get from Google Music.

[Erik Hoffman]

In Apple Music I can choose between light and dark mode, on both iOS and Android. As well as macOS of course.

Apple Music has better SDK for third party developer, bringing a lot of alternatives to the original app to both iOS and the web. This includes several apps showing such statistics as Spotify do yearly.

[Thomas Koefod]

I actually just use and love Google music, plus I don't get ads on YouTube with it.

[deaddoctor]

you can use Spotify freely, let see if apple music can top that.
I am using Spotify free over 5 years, and I don't even care about ads, I kinda like it 😀

[Jess Lee]

I don't even care about ads, I kinda like it 😀

I'm sure this comment makes someone on the Spotify team really happy 😂

[Victor Warno]

What about Deezer? I got a bike sharing deal with my subscription which is pretty neat. Although, I feel like the Spotify algorithm is more successful at finding me music that fits my taste :D

[Avery D]

Never heard of Deezer, but I think once more and more subscription based revenue models arrive (think Disney+, NBC, Apple, etc.) bundling with other companies will be the determining factor for most consumers.