What is the best way to distract yourself or escape from reality? For many, the answer is clearly with music. But which app are you streaming from: Spotify or Apple Music?
Out of fifty Paint Branch High School teachers and students polled regarding whether they preferred Apple Music or Spotify, 52% stated that they prefer Apple Music, while 48% prefer Spotify.
Some of the reasons noted for preferring Apple Music include the controversy regarding Spotify running ICE ads, their recent price increase for a premium subscription, and the fact that Apple Music is “just better,” as one student noted. Additional reasons for preferring Apple Music include that the app layout is “cleaner and more organized” and “the quality of the app just feels better.” For those who preferred Spotify, they argued that it’s generally more convenient to work with, and one student noted that
“finding playlists is much easier.”
The vast majority of those polled felt that the two apps have basically the same audio quality, though one Apple Music user felt that the app offers better sound at a better price, stating, “While Apple Music is cheaper, it still has a better audio quality than Spotify.” Outside of this student, most agreed that both apps sound the same. Personally, I have noticed a slightly higher quality of sound since I switched from Spotify to Apple Music, as the overall sound just seems cleaner.
One of the most important aspects to subscribers is cost, and Apple Music offers a variety of plans at a lower monthly cost than Spotify. As of publication, Apple Music’s individual plan is $10.99 per month, while Spotify’s price increased to $12.99 per month in February. For users who are able to access their music via a family plan, Apple Music wins that cost battle as well, with its family plan priced at $16.99 to Spotify’s $19.99, with both allowing up to six users. Both offer a student plan for $5.99 a month, though Spotify’s plan includes Hulu with ads. Spotify does have a unique plan they call Duo, which gives two users access for $16.99, but this is essentially what Apple Music’s family plan provides for more people.
Both Apple Music and Spotify have over 100 million songs on their platforms, so no matter which app you use, you’ll find a song just for you. Apple Music provides live radio, which Spotify does not offer, though they make up for it by having nearly seven million podcasts and 250,000 audiobooks available to subscribers. Conversely, Apple Music has only two million podcasts and does not offer audiobooks. So, if you are looking for entertainment options beyond music, Spotify is the choice. The organization of each app’s layout is also worth mentioning. The first thing that is displayed when you open Spotify is the previous playlists,
podcasts, or audiobooks you’ve listened to. Meanwhile, when you open Apple Music, recommended playlists that are auto-generated for you based on songs you’ve listened to are shown first. When it comes to app layout, Spotify takes the cake.
One topic that comes up when looking at music apps is whether it matters which type of phone you have. For example, people wonder whether iPhone users benefit from Apple Music in a way that Android users don’t. However, it really does not matter which device you have; everything is the same when it comes to the amount of music and other content available, sound quality, app layout, and any other aspects of the platform, no matter which device one uses.
Paint Branch music teacher, Mr. Huh, who prefers Spotify over Apple Music, notes that he doesn’t hear any difference in sound between the apps. He does note though that no matter what app one uses, the key is that they be able to access the music they want to hear. “Music is important,” he says, “because it allows human beings to express themselves through sound and lyricism.”