Apple Music vs Spotify

Apple Music is the most popular music streaming service. It is ideal for those who prefer gadgets from the global manufacturer such as iPhone, Mac or HomePods. It is an excellent choice and offers the prospect of perfect integration with any Apple device. The service offers its users an extensive catalogue with countless music tracks, which can be listened to in familiar formats without any loss of sound quality. There is also a subscription to Apple Music.

The Apple Music application itself is fairly easy to use and also features a wide range of functionalities that can meet all kinds of user needs.

Another equally popular form of a similar service is Spotify. A type of digital music streaming service that gives its users access to endless gigabytes of songs, podcasts and videos from around the world. Its distinctive feature is the offline option, which essentially allows users to access their favourite music when they are in ‘mobile data saving mode’ or in an area where internet access is limited for various reasons.

Spotify subscription available. The developers of the free app have ensured that there are adaptive versions for devices such as PC, iPhone/iPad and Android. If you register in the app via popular social networks, you can quickly find friends or like-minded people to subscribe to and see what music they are listening to.

Quick comparison of basic features

To understand which service is more advantageous or suitable for a particular person, it is necessary to pay attention to the data and key features collected in the table below.

Apple Music sound quality

The noise level when using the service complies with all audio quality standards. To achieve this, the developers have created their own audio codec, AAC (Advanced Audio Codec), which ensures high sound quality when playing music. The Apple Digital Masters protocol, which is responsible for the high quality of recordings, is also in force.

Subscribers will have free access to the entire audio catalogue, which is encoded using compression.

The quality of streaming audio is expressed in the following parameters:

• Transmitting audio in this form via a mobile or Wi-Fi network has a significant impact on traffic. Downloading audio files requires more free space on the device.
• All Beats peripherals and wireless headphones communicate using the Apple AAC Bluetooth codec. However, there may be some loss of quality when connected via Bluetooth.

If you want a lossless version of existing music files (that you have already downloaded from Apple Music), you must delete those files and re-upload them from the catalogue.

Spotify audio quality

The service does not use the MP3 format. To compensate for this, a tandem of AAC and Ogg Vorbis codecs is used. Vorbis is the main codec and AAC is only used when using the Web player and in circumstances where sound quality is critically low.

AAC for Spotify web player is good because it is supported by older versions of browsers.

Audio streaming quality when using Spotify

Spotify has a team responsible for sound quality on mobile devices:

• Normal (96 kbps);
• high (160 kbit/s);
• premium (320 kbps).

There is also an auto-tuning option that dynamically adjusts the bitrate based on network quality.

There is an option to set one audio quality for streaming and another for downloadable tracks.

The higher the data speed, the more data is used during streaming, which means that more space is allocated for tracks during downloading.

Can be used as an alternative to downloading:

• High;
• Streaming;
• Extreme.

It is the optimal balance between the quality of the music.

Price and subscriptions

To understand which service is more effective in the ‘battle’ for the hearts and votes of subscribers, it is worth comparing the prices for subscriptions and tariffs in Apple Music vs Spotify.

The most important point here is that you can listen for free if you use Spotify. However, there are advertisements.

When comparing parameters such as affordability and accessibility, Spotify wins slightly because it offers a free plan and a number of social features designed to make it easier to create an account via social media.

Contents

Essentially, these platforms are similar, but they still have some differences.

When we look at them in the context of Spotify vs Apple Music, the following points are worth mentioning.

Spotify has had podcasts available since 2019, while Apple Music does not offer this option. That said, Apple Music has a larger music library than Spotify. You can also listen to audiobooks in the audiobook section of the Apple Books store. Radio listening is also available.

Search for music and recommendations

Spotify's recommendation algorithms work brilliantly and are therefore appreciated by millions of users around the world. Here, music is selected based on advanced machine learning. For recommended songs, there is a tab in the ‘Browse’ section, where you can find elements such as:

• genre novelties;
• selections of classical compositions;
• new releases from bands.

Recommendations are based on individual preferences, so the more people use the app, the more accurate the recommendations will be.

Apple Music is a little more complicated in this regard. But Apple Music is better ‘tailored’ for working with music collections. Searching for music is easier here.

Even without a subscription, you can search for music, listen to song clips, and watch music videos. You can listen to radio stations for free:

• Apple Music 1;
• Apple Music Hits;
• Apple Music Country.

But to do this, you need to log in with your personal Apple ID account.

You can also set your favourite songs as your alarm tone.

Apple Music vs Spotify: Which one should I choose?

These two services can be considered competitors, but only if the user chooses one over the other. The decisive factor here is primarily individual preference. Each platform has a number of undeniable advantages, but there are also certain disadvantages. Therefore, everyone decides for themselves whether to choose Spotify or Apple Music.

Advantages of Spotify:

• availability of free rate;
• audiobooks;
• availability of special rates (social);
• recommendations for playlists;
• better graphic design and ease of use.

Advantages of Apple Music:

• unique functionality;
• automatic/high efficiency;
• improved music search;
• exclusive and original video content;
• high-quality sound;
• intuitive operation.

The choice between these services depends on personal priorities.

Spotify is the leader when it comes to searching for music and also offers a wide selection of podcasts and audiobooks, something Apple Music does not have.

Apple Music is more focused on music and video content, with a greater emphasis on the quality of the audio being played. The most suitable option for viewing this type of content, such as:

• music videos;
• live performances;
• documentaires.

The only criterion that can influence the choice of service is the type of content that a particular user prefers: video or audio. For comparison purposes, you can also perform a search such as: Apple Music price, which will only show you the difference in the rates of these two services. The applications can be downloaded completely free of charge.