Why?
While reviewing my cellphone plan and looking into less expensive options, I noticed that they are offering Apple Music Family for $10 per month. Apple Music Family allows unlimited access for up to 6 people in the same “apple family”. Spotify Duo, my current music streaming provider, offers two users access to Spotify Premium for $17 per month.
This makes Apple Music for six people almost half the price of Spotify Premium for two. This was enough to get me to begin to consider switching.
Apple Music
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Lossless | Worse Algorithm for Stations |
| Dolby Atmos | Playlist Discovery is Mid |
| Better Artist Pay | Less Social |
| Spatial Audio | |
| Better Airplay | |
| Better UI | |
| Better Music Selection | |
| Less Expensive |
Lossless Audio
I do not have the audio equipment to make the most of lossless audio. But it does feel better knowing that my music downloads are the highest quality that they can be. I also have not gotten a chance to play with the Spacial Audio recordings yet, but I think they could be a good experience if you wanted to sit down and listen to an album, much like a live concert. I would imagine it to be distracting for casual listening though.
Artist Pay
Apple pays their artists better as well, though Spotify has refuted these claims, stating that nobody pays per stream, and that tracking that value is out of touch with how the industry functions. Artist pay is not my highest priority, but I do want to financially support artists who are making art that I enjoy.
Better Music Selection
So far, this has been evident only a few times. Some more obscure artists are listed on Apple Music, but do not exist at all on Spotify.
Spotify Premium
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Audiobooks | More Expensive |
| Good Algorithm for Stations | Worse UI |
| Playlist Song Suggestions | No Lossless |
| Discover Playlists from Others | No Spacial |
| DJ? | Unreliable Airplay |
Audiobooks
Spotify has started including audiobooks with their Spotify Premium plan. Unfortunately, for the Duo plan, only the primary user is allowed to use the audiobook credits. That means that if my wife wants to listen a book through Spotify, we would need to get streaming credits for her account separately. I love having audiobooks included for free, but running out of credits mid-book is one of the most frustrating interactions I have ever had with an app.
It was causing me to ration my listening minutes like a crazy person, instead of enjoying what I was listening to.
A much better has been to take advantage of the Audible 3 credits for $1 promotions. I can then pick out the books that I want, and cancel the subscription, while still keeping all the books in my account. This is far better than downloading your audiobook, and queueing it up for a long drive, only to find out that your listening hours are up, and you have to switch to music or sit in silence instead. Worse, if you run out of credits, the price to get more is steep. Spotify audiobooks weren’t doing it for me, so I haven’t missed them on Apple Music.
Better Algorithms
Where Spotify shines is its algorithms. It’s recommendation engine is truly outstanding. I also have greatly enjoyed the ability to have it mix in songs that it thinks I will like with a playlist that I have already created. This is great for the gym, where I want to hear new music intermittently, but don’t have hands free to find new songs and add them to my playlist mid-workout.
Social Features
Spotify is also much more social than Apple Music. It may be because of their integrations with Discord, Facebook, and others, but its genuinely something I have missed. I enjoy seeing what my friends are listening to, and I enjoy being able to share song recommendations over text and know that they are going to be able to access them.
I also have not yet found anything equivalent to Spotify’s user created playlists on Apple Music. Spotify has a massive user-base, and allows you to create public playlists and discover playlists that others have created. I don’t use that feature frequently, but it does come in handy for finding new songs to add to my library.
DJ
The new DJ feature is strange to me. It has some hits, but when it misses, it really misses. There have also been times where it comes across as too personal, and borderline creepy. Credit where credit is due though, the voice feels natural, and the vocabulary feels right. The DJ is able to strike a balance between informal familiarity, and professionality.
Cluttered UI
As for Spotify Cons, I think the UI ranks highly. It has gotten much worse in the most recent releases and does not show any signs of improving.
Mixed Bag for Airplay Support
Another issue that I have encountered has been poor Airplay support. I can’t say for certain if Spotify beats all the blame, but I have had connections drop out to our Apple TV repeatedly while standing 5 feet away from it. The AirPlay is so unreliable that I typically resort to launching the Spotify app on the Tv directly instead. Curiously, AirPlay to our HomePod Mini is exceptionally reliable.
Conclusion
I don’t have any solid decision made yet, but I am leaning towards Apple Music again for the first time since 2018.