Apple Music v Spotify…the winner is?

the music streaming wars — and how to choose

You know me….I am an Apple Fanboy through and through. If I had enough money, I’d buy all of their latest products all of the time. They suit the way I work, I understand them and I think we are a good fit. Oddly, apart from their native apps such as Pages & Numbers, I don’t use many of their creative apps though such as Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro. When I don’t have my Apple hat on, I am Adobe loyal and a very happy creator. But, does this change when it comes to my music player? Let’s find out and look at the pros and cons.

The cost

Generally speaking, if you are coming to these platforms fresh, there are deals to be had. At the time of writing (January 2022), Spotify has a free version and then four tiers; Individual £9.99 p/m, Duo £13.99 p/m, Family £16.99 p/m and finally Student £5.99). There is a one month free offer currently across all services.

Over on Apple Music, they too offer four service levels (but no free ones). This starts with the recently launched Voice plan £4.99 p/m, Student £4.99 p/m, Individual 9.99 p/m and Family £14.99 p/m. Buying certain Apple devices will net you 6 months free and 3 months free is available to everyone.

What are your listening goals

Some of the choice over which player you’ll use will come down to the device you have and also what your goals are, or how you intend to listen. Apple offers a range of high-end features such as lossless, Dolby Atmos and spatial audio support, whilst Spotify gives you podcasts within the app itself (for Apple, podcasts are a stand alone app). Also, if you have a HomePod and listen on that, Apple music clearly wins out. Another key advantage to Apple Music is that if you have a large Apple music library, you’ll be able to access and play those too and of course, it is Siri friendly and hooks up neatly in your car with Apple Carplay.

Spotify’s biggest clincher is their amazing playlist recommendations. Driven by complex algorithms which take in to account the type of lyrics you listen to, how long you listen for, genre etc….I have to admit, Spotify’s playlist feature is nothing short of stunning. This is the result of a huge investment over the years and a clear category leader.

Audio Stream Quality

Spotify uses the Ogg Vorbis format or AAC. On mobile you can choose what bit rate to stream, in increments up to 320Kbps, which is handy especially if you’re worried about using up too much mobile data. If you listen on Spotify’s web player, it streams in AAC at 128Kbps for free users or 256Kbps for premium. Spotify continually rumour they are going to add a Hi-Fi subscription level, but as yet, it is still not available, not even to paying subscribers. You can however alter the sound of your playback by using the in-app equaliser.

Apple, since last year, now offers hi-fidelity choices in how your music is delivered. It all begins with Loseless which is a compression codec that reduces the original file size, but perfectly retains all the original data. Their entire catalogue of 90 million songs is now available in this format at different resolutions (48kHz and hi-res lossless 48kHz — 192kHz). It is worth noting though, both formats use more bandwidth and are much larger file sizes. Bear in mind also, that to enjoy the benefits of lossless audio, you’ll need a DAC (digital audio converter) or an interface with decent monitors. Even the £400+ Air Pod Max cannot deliver you their lossless audio, although a fix is rumoured to be on the way for that.

The user experience

Spotify does look lovely on screen. It is jet black, with a really easy to use UI. Recently Played, Jump Back and Playlists all come up quickly and are super simple to use. Apple’s default player is white, but this can quickly be changed in settings to the Dark Mode, which I prefer. Both have tabs at the bottom to access library and search functionality. Overall though, Spotify’s interface seems far more intuitive, easier to navigate and quicker to learn.

Listening across platform is pretty much neck and neck. Both services can be listened to on iOS & Android devices, both have desktop apps for Windows and Mac OS and both can be listened to through a browser also.

Discovering new music

A very large part of what these streaming platforms offer comes down to the new music they are able to introduce to us. Spotify has tailored playlists like Discover Weekly and Release Radar that are automatically populated each week with new songs. Apple Music has similar playlists, including New Music Mix. When you first sign up for each service, you’ll be quizzed as to your favourite genres and artists to get a baseline reading. It’s only as you start to listen, that the algorithm starts to work, each getting a clearer picture of your likes and dislikes helping to better tailor your future listens. Spotify’s algorithmic recommendations for new music based on your listening habits is the most on-point. A clear winner.

Social sharing is super easy from both. I prefer Spotify here for keeping tabs with what your friends have or are playing and also they seem more clued-up with linking you to an artist or bands social feeds too. Creating and sharing playlists is also a win for Spotify.

Which is right for you?

If free is your mantra, then there is only one choice and that would be the ad bloated Spotify. But, when it comes to paying, the choices are a little more muddied.

Apple will play seamlessly within the Apple-Ecosystem with hand-off enabled. Switching from listening on a Mac to iPad could not be easier. That said, due to the fact that with Spotify you can use a plethora of third party smart speakers and even gaming consoles, it makes Spotify the more comprehensive to use.

Although the Apple service does have the advantage of letting you access your own library, with the amazing job that Spotify does with its suggested playlists, from a day to day point of view, I hate to admit, that possibly Spotify wins out for the lazier listener.

It’ll take time for either of these, the two most popular music (and in Spotify’s case, podcasts too) streaming services to ‘learn’ what you like, but having given both a thorough road test, Spotify is truly hard to beat — and that is from an Apple Fanboy. I only wish their audio quality could be improved upon.

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