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Avid music listeners would have already considered this question. Which is the better service to stream music from, Spotify or Apple Music? While both services are available on Android and iOS, there are features that give users on both platforms reason to stick to a specific streaming service.
This article compares all the relevant features you should think about before choosing a favorite between Spotify and Apple Music.
Price
Spotify
Spotify offers its library free to users, with an option to upgrade to their premium plan for Sh299 per month. The free premium has a catch. Free users will have to listen to advertising interrupting their playlists. It’s also not possible to play a specific song on-demand, as you can only listen to randomized playlists.
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Paying users have unlimited skips for playlists, while non-paying users may find they cannot skip tracks from time to time, so it forces them to listen to tracks they may not want. There is also no offline listening option, and the music quality is lower than on premium.
The price varies depending on the plan you choose. Here are the current prices:
- Individual: KES 299/month
- Student: KES 149/month
- Duo: KES 389/month
- Family: KES 479/month
There are also pre-paid plans available for individual and student accounts. For individuals,
- a one-week payment costs KES 89
- three months cost KES 956
- six-month cost KES 1794
- Twelve months cost KES 2990.
- For students, a one-month payment costs KES 149.
New premium users in Kenya also get to enjoy one month of free streaming before charges are applied.
Apple Music
Apple does not offer a free tier for its music content streaming. However, you get a one-month free trial. Thereafter, as of today, November 27, 2023, 1 USD is equivalent to 152.723 Kenyan Shillings (KES). Therefore, the monthly price of the Apple Music
- Student plan 303.18 KES.
- Individual plan 507.16 KES,
- Family plan 846.87 KES.
The fourth option, Voice, is a version of Apple Music that integrates with Siri. As opposed to navigating the app to access songs, you need to ask Siri for your requests. The Voice plan costs $4.99 per month.
Content
Spotify offers a vast library of over 82 million tracks, including more than 4 million podcast titles. Spotify offers podcasts within its app, distinctly as podcasts. Spotify has also introduced lyrics, an AI DJ and have improved on their playlist algorithm selection.
With Apple Music, you can choose from 90 million different songs. Podcasts on Apple are a separate entity held within the Podcasts app. Apple Music offers music videos alongside tracks, documentaries, and other content.
Apple Music goes a step further with “Radio.” Stations like Apple Music 1 and Apple Music Hits act simply like digital radio stations. They feature hosts and curated playlists, streamed live to users.
Quality
Spotify Premium streaming tops out at 320kbps. Spotify announced that they have plans to rollout Spotify HiFi which will be their new high-end subscription service coming with lossless audio. It is yet to communicate when HiFi will be available.
Apple Music’s standard bitrate is lower at 256kbps . However, there is Lossless, Apple’s high-definition audio option, which offers music with a higher fidelity. This includes two quality levels: 24-bit/48kHz Lossless and 24-bit/192kHz Hi-Res Lossless.
Apart from Lossless, Apple music has Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos. Spatial Audio gives immersive audio experiences with true multidimensional sound and clarity. You can enjoy hearing audio surrounding you, changing as you move your head.
Verdict
I have been a long-time user of both Spotify, and Apple Music. Initially, I would have stuck to my guns, that Apple is the best music streaming service there is. However, after looking at price, quality, features and content, Spotify wins.
Spotify beats Apple with a free tier and offline listening However, the free tier has many limitations and quite a poor sound quality. The ability to get podcasts within the Spotify is a great plus, compared to going on a whole different application in Apple. However, the lossless and spatial audio features in Apple Music are still year ahead of Spotify’s HiFi dreams.
All in all the choice is yours. But trust me
I’ve used both and while I have both subscriptions running, I find myself using Spotify a lot more. I am an Android user and I feel like Apple Music is a little sluggish, even on decently capable hardware.
Spotify’s algorithm still reigns supreme in my opinion. Pick a single track and let the app build a playlist around that and you’re in for a delightful treat.