Apple Music vs. Spotify: Which Streaming Service Should You Pick?

By Don Reisinger

Arguably the most attractive feature in Apple Music is that it provides access to the entire iTunes library. So, as users are playing songs and happen to like what they hear, they can automatically add it to their “My Music” section and listen to it even when they’re offline. Apple Music just about kills the need to pay for individual songs.

Spotify is quick to point out that its paid service comes with full offline support. But so does Apples Music. This is an important feature of both services. While they are both at heart online streaming services, they allow subscribers to store the music they stream on their devices so they can listen to tunes offline.

Apple has criticized competing services, like Pandora, for using algorithms to feed users music. The company says that to provide the most relevant music to users, having humans behind the scenes is paramount. Apple Music, therefore, comes with full, human-curated music playlists around genre. As users share in more detail what songs they like, playlists geared for them will be surfaced. It’s an interesting take on a rather old convention in streaming music.

One of the benefits of Spotify is that it’s running on nearly every major product a person may find. The service is on the Web, of course, but it can also run on Windows and Macs, as well as iOS devices, Android, Windows Phone and other products. Spotify is even available on set-top boxes and smart TVs. Those who use Spotify have no trouble finding it.

As noted, Spotify has done a fine job of bringing its service to nearly all devices. To its credit, however, Apple is trying to follow in Spotify’s path, though the breadth of support won’t be as broad. For now, Apple Music is available on iOS, Macs and PCs, and Apple says that an Android version will be coming. Beyond that, it’s unclear when (or if) Apple Music will come to other products, like Microsoft’s Xbox One, Sony’s PlayStation 4 or even Roku boxes.

Beats One Radio is designed to bring back the old days when DJs really mattered on the radio. The service provides a 24/7 radiolike listening experience that surfaces the latest tracks the DJs around the world are interested in and want to share with the community. Beats One Radio has proved to be a great way to learn about new songs a person may otherwise never hear.

Here’s something to keep in mind about Spotify: It’s not just a paid service. In fact, Spotify offers a free offering that’s supported by ads. That said, Spotify’s free plan does not allow for unlimited skips of boring songs and does not include high-definition audio. Playing any track at any time is also limited. Still, it’s nice to have the option of a freebie.

While Apple likes to tout that it has millions of songs, it’s not alone. Spotify has a massive library of songs that users can access from some of the most popular artists on down to those who most have never heard of. Spotify is a major company with the support from record companies it needs to compete with Apple Music over the long term.

To kick things off with Apple Music, the iPhone maker is offering the service for free for three months. Customers who end up liking what they hear can sign up for an individual account at $10 per month or go with a family account for $15 per month. While Apple’s service comes with recurring billing, it can be canceled at any time.

In response to Apple Music going free for the first three months, Spotify has made the surprising move to reduce the cost on its own Premium service to 99 cents for the first three months. After that, Spotify customers will need to pay $10 per month. One other interesting move: Spotify Premium is available to students for 50 percent off its regular price, or $5 per month.