Apple Music and Spotify are two of the biggest names in music streaming. Since the monthly fees are essentially the same, it can be difficult to know which one best suits your needs. Need lossless and spatial audio support? Apple Music is it. Do you love creating podcasts, audiobooks, and playlists? Spotify is your jam.
Part of your choice also affects how you listen. Support for smart speakers is important when it comes to enjoying music at home, but for avid music lovers, the quality of music discovery and streaming is just as important (if not more). Let's dive in.
Read more: Best music streaming services of 2024
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Spotify is the most flexible option with rich content, endless playlist creation options, and the ability to stream to the largest host of devices. In addition to 15 hours of audiobooks each month, we also offer a comprehensive selection of podcasts, including exclusives. Spotify also has a free tier with ads if you want to stream songs without paying.
Read our Spotify review.
Vivaton/Apple
Apple Music has a big advantage over Spotify in that you can combine songs you already own with the Apple Music streaming catalog. Siri users also have more robust voice controls for playback. Like Spotify, Apple Music has playlists that serve up songs based on your listening habits, but you can also listen to the Beats 1 Radio station, helmed by a human girlfriend DJ. It also offers lossless audio and Dolby Atmos spatial audio support for some songs.
Read the full review.
Spotify vs. Apple Music
SpotifyApple Music Pricing $11 per month ($6 for students) $11 per month ($6 for students) Family Plan Yes, up to 6 people ($17) Yes, up to 6 people ($17) Free Tier Yes, ad supported No, Beats1 radio only free trial 3 months Monthly stream quality depends on platform: 256Kbps AAC (Premium) or 128Kbps AAC (Free) for web players. Up to 320Kbps (Premium) or 160Kbps (Free) on desktop, mobile, and tablet. Lossless audio and Dolby Atmos spatial audio starting June 2021, 256Kbps AACMusic library 100M+ songs, 2.6M podcasts 100M+ songs
Watch: Apple Music vs. Spotify: Music Streaming Battle
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Apple Music and Spotify cost (almost) the same
Spotify and Apple Music both offer three-month free trials for premium services that normally cost $11 a month (both services cost £11 in the UK, compared to AU$14 for Spotify in Australia). , Apple Music is AU$13). Each costs $6 for students and $17 for a 6-user family plan. You can stream any song from the catalog on-demand or listen to songs offline.
Spotify offers three months of its premium version free to new users, and Apple Music offers one month free to new users.
Spotify is one of the few music services, along with Amazon Music and Pandora, that has a free tier with ads, so you can listen to it even if you don't want to pay for the premium version. One caveat (aside from interruptions) is that many albums and playlists require listening in shuffle mode rather than continuous playback, and are limited to six skips per hour.
Apple Music allows free users to stream Beats1 Radio and listen to songs from their iTunes library.
Spotify also offers a Premium Duo subscription for $13 (£13, AU$16) for two users living at the same address. If you're a student, you can access Hulu and Showtime (with ads) as part of your premium subscription.
Winner: Spotify
The free version of Spotify lets you listen to songs on demand, but many playlists and albums can only be listened to on shuffle.
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Which streaming quality is better: Apple Music or Spotify?
Spotify uses Ogg Vorbis format or AAC. On mobile, you can set the streaming bit rate up to 320Kbps. This is especially useful if you're worried about using too much mobile data. When listening on Spotify's web player, it streams in AAC at 128Kbps for free users and 256Kbps for premium users.
Apple Music currently streams its catalog in lossless quality and offers spatial audio on some songs.The user uses an iPhone to[設定],[音楽],[音質]You must opt in to lossless audio by going to . Spotify is expected to debut its long-awaited HiFi subscription for lossless audio in the near future. To learn more about bitrate and audio quality, read our detailed comparison of Apple Music and Spotify audio quality.
You can also adjust both equalizers to your liking, but Apple Music's EQ is located outside of the app in the Settings app.
Winner: Apple Music
Spotify has podcasts and audiobooks
Spotify and Apple Music both claim to have access to over 100 million albums. Both offer early access to certain albums from time to time, and Apple Music may offer exclusive distribution of certain music videos.
Turn on iCloud Music Library within Apple Music to access your personal library of songs on all your devices, from your PC to your phone. This feature “matches” songs in your library with songs in the iTunes catalog and uploads them if they aren't available, so you can listen to your music anywhere you're signed in with your Apple ID. Store up to 100,000 songs. iTunes Match is available without an Apple Music subscription for $25 a year, but you only really need it if you own a non-4K Apple TV.
Spotify also lets you play music stored on your device in the Spotify app, but it only works for local files (so the files aren't backed up to the cloud).
Finally, Spotify is the only service that offers both podcasts and up to 15 hours of audiobooks within the app. Apple, on the other hand, splits out podcasts into a dedicated podcast app.
Winner: Spotify
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Which is easier to use, Apple Music or Spotify?
While Apple Music features a clean white look on mobile, Spotify paints the entire app black. (Enabling dark mode on iOS also toggles Apple Music.) Both apps have main tabs (Radio, Search, Library, etc.) at the bottom of the interface that are very easy to navigate.
In either case, if there are lyrics available for a particular song, you can see them on-screen. However, in addition to having a karaoke mode, only Apple Music lets you search for unknown songs by entering lyrics.
Google Maps lets you listen to and control Spotify or Apple Music playback within the navigation interface on iOS and Android. Waze also offers a similar feature for Spotify users.
In addition to CarPlay support, Apple Music for Android works with Android Auto, so you can control playback through your infotainment system.
Winner: draw
Spotify lets you listen in more places, Apple Music is perfect for Siri
Apple Music and Spotify are both available on iOS and Android. Both have desktop apps for Windows and Mac, so you're not limited to mobile viewing.
Spotify Connect lets you cast to compatible devices and listen to AirPlay speakers (iOS only).
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You can also listen to music in your browser. Spotify is located at open.spotify.com and Apple Music is located at music.apple.com.
You can also stream audio to Bluetooth wireless speakers, AirPlay speakers on iOS devices, and Chromecast speakers on Android devices (or cast from iOS if you have Spotify).
When it comes to smart speakers, Apple Music with Siri voice control on Apple's HomePod is now compatible with Amazon's entire line of Echo smart speakers via the Alexa app (US only). It's also available on other Apple and Amazon devices, including Apple Watch, Apple TV, and FireTV.
In addition to Amazon Alexa speakers, Spotify is also available on Google smart speakers. If your device is certified as Spotify Connect compatible, it means you can use the Spotify app as a remote control to control playback. Spotify is also available on a variety of other devices, including Xbox and PlayStation.
Winner: Spotify
Music discovery tools are great for Spotify and Apple Music
Beats1 radio.
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
One of the main reasons to use streaming services is to discover new music. Both Spotify and Apple Music let you enjoy new songs based on the songs you already love.
Spotify has customized playlists like Discover Weekly and Release Radar, which automatically add new songs every week. Apple Music has similar playlists, including New Music Mix.
When you first sign up for each service, both will ask you what your favorite genres and artists are to get a baseline. As you start listening more, each person will get a clearer picture of their likes and dislikes, which will help you further customize your recommendations.
Spotify and Apple Music also have radio stations based on your favorite artists, songs, and genres. Apple Music also has another station called Beats1 Radio, hand-picked and hosted by real DJs, so you can listen to it in real time just like you would a traditional radio station.
In our experience, Spotify does the best job of algorithmically recommending new music based on our listening habits. Also equipped with AI DJ. But with Apple Music's human-curated radio stations, you'll often discover fascinating new and unreleased music.
Winner: Spotify for playlists, Apple Music for radio enthusiasts
social integration
You can share your playlists by scanning the Spotify code with your camera.
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
Both services let you follow your favorite artists and stay up to date on their latest releases.
You can also follow your friends. Spotify lets you see what songs your friends are listening to in real time on the desktop app (if you choose to share the details).
Spotify codes are a way to share tracks, albums, and playlists between friends. It's like a custom QR code that you can scan with Spotify's camera if you're listening in the same place, or share it through Messages if you're far away.
Naturally, you can also follow your friends and see what they're up to on both platforms. Setting up and finding a profile is much easier on Apple Music than on Spotify, but your friends must appear in your contacts list (or on Facebook) before you can follow them.
Spotify has a real-time Jam feature that allows two or more premium subscribers to control music playback and collaborate on shared playlists.
Winner: Spotify
Which is better for you: Apple Music or Spotify?
If you just want a free service, Spotify is the clear winner. However, if you're looking to pay for a music service, the decision can be a little more complicated.
Apple Music can be played on other Apple devices without any issues. For example, if you want voice control on your HomePod, Apple Music is your only option. Spotify, on the other hand, has great cross-compatibility across a variety of devices, from gaming consoles to smart speakers.
It takes time to train each of these services to really understand your preferences. For our benefit, Spotify does a better job of discovering and customizing playlists and recommendations through its custom playlists and discovery features. But Apple Music gives you the most flexibility in mixing songs from your own library (which may not be on your streaming service) with new songs that you can stream on demand.
Of course, Spotify and Apple Music aren't your only streaming music service options. To see how it stacks up against competitors like Tidal and Amazon, click here to read our comparison.