Apple Music vs. Spotify, Which Is Better?

When it comes to music streaming services, the two most prominent players in the market are Apple Music and Spotify. While Spotify boasts a market share of 31% with 180 million subscribers, Apple Music claims 15% with 88 million subscribers. Both platforms have a large user base and are popular globally. However, can we say Spotify is better than Apple Music only based on popularity? No. So the question remains, which is better – Apple Music or Spotify? Since people have different preferences, this article will explore both services from various angles and hopes to offer guidance in choosing your type of music streaming.

Part 1: Music Library

As one of the earliest providers of music streaming services, Spotify has developed into a comprehensive platform. It collected over 100 million digital copyright-restricted songs and 5 million podcasts. Spotify even offers kinds of audiobooks since late 2022. In other words, Spotify is home to numerous songs, playlists, albums, podcasts, and audiobooks. It is one of the few services that support music tracks, podcasts, and audiobooks.

In contrast, Apple Music focuses on offering a music library with over 100 million licensed tracks and albums with 30 thousand curated playlists. Besides, Apple Music provides live 24-hour radio stations, where you can listen to the radio at any time.

Part 2: Sound Quality

Spotify mainly streams music at AAC and OGG Vorbis. Both of them use lossy audio compression and retain sounds that can only be heard by human beings. In this case, the bit rate of Spotify music tends to be relatively normal, which ranges from 128 kbps to 320 kbps. The Spotify app streams at up to 320 kbps, while the web supports only up to 256 kbps. And the quality you can enjoy depends on your subscription status. If you are a Spotify free user, you are allowed to enjoy only 160 kbps, while a premium user can enjoy up to 320 kbps.

By contrast, Apple Music stands apart from Spotify as it offers better audio quality, with the options of lossy audio, lossless audio, and even high-resolution audio. It basically streams music at 256 kbps, which is higher than most music streaming services. Except for lossy audio, Apple Music offers lossless audio, which quality ranges from 16bit/44.1kHz to 24bit/48kHz ALAC (or 850 kbps), or even High-Resolution audio from 24bit 96kHz to 192kHz (or 3,730 kbps), which preserve every bit of sound wave and keep the original quality of a song. In addition, Apple Music supports Dolby Atmos, which adapts automatically to your audio device and system to offer you a spatial sound experience. Therefore, Apple Music does better in sound quality.

Part 3: Price and Benefits

In this part, we will emphatically look at the price you need to pay and the benefits you can get from Spotify and Apple Music relatively.

Part 4: Music Discovery & Recommendation

Another aspect we are going to compare is the feature of music discovery and recommendation. Any music buffs have to admit that they have a limited range of music tracks. You cannot find songs that suit your taste from such large music libraries manually by yourself. Hence you have to search for some technical help. Both Apple Music and Spotify use advanced algorithms to generate music recommendations based on a user's history and preference. But there are some differences.

Spotify shows music discovery and recommendations on the whole home page, where you can see new audiobooks, playlists, and studios that you may like. Spotify also updates some playlists weekly based on global music trends, with which you can find which songs are most played around the world or in your current region recently. Besides, Spotify supports helping you form your preference by offering you the option of excluding or including playlists from your taste profile. In general, Spotify is extremely sophisticated in discovering new music and providing you with accurate recommendations.

Apple Music is also an expert in this feature. The tabs Listen Now, Browse, and Library on the Apple Music app show you personalized results of mixes, playlists, songs, albums, and stations based on your listening history and your preference. You can easily find new music that suits your taste. But compared with Spotify, Apple Music needs to improve its ability to gather metadata to generate the worldwide trend.

Part 5: Cross-Platform Availability

Music has penetrated nearly every field of our life, we need to enjoy music on more hardware and software platforms other than only with music streaming apps. Therefore, the cross-platform availability or compatibility of music streaming services comes to be another factor for our choice.

Both services are available for Android, Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, ChromeOS, CarPlay, PlayStation 5, Xbox, and DJ software. To be specific, you can get Spotify and Apple Music on computers, iPhones, iPad, Android phones, smart watches, smart TVs, smart speakers, cars, game consoles, and other common devices.

However, Apple Music focused on its Apple Ecosystem, nearly all Apple devices support Apple Music. But in recent years, Apple Music can also be found in some non-apple devices such as Android phones and Windows computers. But the app has not supported all Android or Windows yet. Your device should have Android 5.0 (Lollipop) and Windows 11. Whereas Spotify has a wider compatibility with devices and systems. Spotify is available for Linux, Wear OS, PlayStation 4, and Android Auto as well, except for most Apple systems and devices. So if you are loyal to Apple devices, both Spotify and Apple Music are good for you. But when you plan to enjoy music streaming with more devices, then select Spotify.

Part 6: Social Feature

Music streaming is more a social method than a way to indulge in music alone. These services offer a host of features to cater to their customers' different preferences, including social features.

Spotify has been a trailblazer in incorporating social features into its app. It offers numerous ways for users to share their favorite playlists, tracks, and albums with friends and followers. One of the most notable features is the public playlist, which enables users to share their playlists with the Spotify community. Spotify also allows users to collaborate on playlists with friends, adding to the social experience. Furthermore, Spotify’s integration with Facebook means users can connect with friends on the platform and view the music they are listening to.

On the other hand, Apple Music's social features are more subtle. The app allows for following friends and sharing playlists on your profile. You can operate to share or hide your playlists, find or follow friends, and unfollow and block users. The Listening Now tab shows music that your friends are listening to and sharing. The other social feature on Apple Music is "Friends Mix", which is a playlist that the app creates for you based on what your friends are listening to.

Overall, while both services have social features, Spotify is the clear winner in terms of its quantity and quality. With features such as playlist sharing and collaboration, as well as more extensive social integrations, Spotify brings a stronger social experience to the music streaming world. Apple Music, on the other hand, falls short in terms of its social features.

Part 7: Exclusive Content

As the most prominent two music streaming services in the world, to make their service unique and irreplaceable, both Spotify and Apple Music have their exclusive content.

Apple Music often has exclusive live concerts, documentary films, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage of popular artists, early album releases, and unique music videos. Some of the most notable exclusive content on Apple Music has included content from artists like Taylor Swift, Drake, Beyonce, and Adele. It offers a 24/7 worldwide radio station featuring exclusive interviews, news, and premieres. Besides, Apple Music sets an Apple Music Awards that is an annual awards ceremony that recognizes the achievements of musicians across various genres.

Spotify is unwilling to lag in the competition struggling for exclusive content. Spotify has a well-known exclusive podcast strategy, which aims to heavily invest in exclusive podcasts as a key differentiator in the highly competitive streaming market. The strategy involves signing deals with podcasters and production companies to create podcasts that are only available on the platform. It collects plenty of podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience, which is one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Additionally, Spotify has exclusive music releases from some artists, like Taylor Swift's "Folklore (Sessions)" and Billie Eilish's "Live at the Steve Jobs Theater." It also provides content with popular personalities like Barack and Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. In 2022, Spotify integrated audiobooks into its massive music library, making it more comprehensive and involving the full side of the audio industry.

Part 8: User Interface

This part will look at the user interface of Spotify and Apple Music app to show you their designs and difference.

Spotify's user interface is simple and intuitive, with a clean design that emphasizes the music itself. When you open the app, you'll see a page full of your recent playlists and curated playlists that the service recommends based on your listening history. The app's main navigation menu is located at the bottom (on the mobile) or the left (on the desktop) of the screen, with large icons for Home, Search, and Your Library. The Search section offers a search bar on the top and shows you the most searched music below, while the rest part displays your creations for playlists, podcasts, audiobooks.

Apple Music's user interface, on the other hand, is more complex and has a more traditional visual style. The main menu options are separated into five sections (on mobile), Listen Now, Browse, Radio, Library, and Search. The first section mainly shows you your current listening and some top picks and your recent plays. The Browse part also displays new music and some collections. The Rdio part is for radio stations. The Library section aims to give you intuitive classifications based on the recently added, playlists, artists, etc. While the Search tab offers you the feature to look for songs. Generally, Apple Music offers more features and options for advanced music connoisseurs.

Part 9: Conclusion – Apple Music vs. Spotify, Which Is Better?

Both Apple Music and Spotify are quite outstanding music streaming services and have their advantages and disadvantages. Spotify has a comprehensive music library integrated with songs, playlists, albums, podcasts, and audiobooks, offers up to 320 kbps audio quality, and provides sophisticated music discovery and extensive social features, and cross-platform compatibility. Spotify even allows free users to listen to its full music library. Apple Music, on the other hand, has a 100-million music library and live stations, offers up to 3,730 kbps quality, recommends new music to your preference, provides advanced social features, boasts exclusive content, and the high compatibility for Apple devices.

Spotify wins in terms of library content, cross-platform availability, music recommendation, social feature, price, and interface design. Apple Music, on the other hand, excels in audio quality and compatibility with Apple devices, exclusive hit albums and music videos, etc.

So Apple Music vs. Spotify, which is better? Ultimately, the answer depends on personal preference and need. If convenience is essential, and audio quality is not a priority, choose Spotify. However, if you are an Apple device user and prioritize audio quality, choose Apple Music. Anyway, what suits you is the best.

Extra Tip: How to Transfer Apple Music Playlists to Spotify?

In this section, we will provide a few useful tips on how to transfer your Apple Music playlists to Spotify if you're planning to switch from Apple Music to Spotify. You can easily complete the transfer process by utilizing the TuneCable Apple Music Converter program, which is designed specifically for Apple Music users. This program enables you to download songs, albums, playlists, iTunes downloads, and other Apple Music content to your local computer, while keeping the lossless audio quality intact. You can also convert tracks to a variety of plain formats like MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF, ALAC, and FLAC. Furthermore, it can assist in transferring Apple Music playlists to Spotify effortlessly.