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All of my friends use Spotify. I am the only one using Apple Music.

tonyr6

tonyr6

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 13, 2011
1,741
734
Brooklyn NY
Although they all use MacBook's and all except on use iPhones they all use Spotify. This means when they share playlists I can't view them as I use Apple Music. I did try Spotify once, but I like listening to full albums and Spotify is good for playlists. Still annoyed that they all use Macs and mostly iPhones, but they all use Spotify. I though more Mac users would use Apple Music but none of my friend use it.
 
Yeah, all my friends use Spotify too. I've tried Apple Music a couple of times but never quite liked it. I generally am able to find full albums when I want on Spotify, no problems there.

It works just fine on Macs and iPhones! In fact, one thing I particularly like is that I can control playback from whatever device is handy. Like if Spotify is open on my Mac and playing music, I can open the Spotify app on my iPhone in the next room and change tracks, etc. Also works the other way around: say I have my headphones connected to my iPhone but I'm sitting at my Mac, i can have Spotify open on the Mac and skip tracks using the next track key on my keyboard.
 
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I mean, if you're ok with jailbreaking your phone, check for this app called Spotilife. It apparently just restarts the trial.
 
tonyr6 said:
Although they all use MacBook's and all except on use iPhones they all use Spotify. This means when they share playlists I can't view them as I use Apple Music. I did try Spotify once, but I like listening to full albums and Spotify is good for playlists. Still annoyed that they all use Macs and mostly iPhones, but they all use Spotify. I though more Mac users would use Apple Music but none of my friend use it.
Click to expand...

Another vote for Spotify here - I cancelled Apple Music two years ago and spent that money on Spotify - no regrets - I find it better for syncing across all my Mac's and iOS devices and a better overall song selection of music

Apple_Robert said:
I prefer Apple Music as I don't have to worry about commercials. And sharing a playlist is not something that comes up with me as I am in the 30+ age group.
Click to expand...

No “ads” on the paid version of Spotify
 
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My initial reason for going with Apple Music was being able to upload ANY sound file (including, of course, albums I had but they didn't) and having it available everywhere.

This is still an advantage but it's not as important to me as it was then.

I'm considering changing. Spotify's app is just faster and searching is more complete. The master-quality double-cost version of Tidal is also attractive but really only for my desktop setup where I have studio monitors for listening.
 
I’m liking my Tidal Masters while it lasts...got a year promo last Nov for $80US (plus or minus) from Best Buy. If that comes around again I’ll snap it up but not holding my breath. If not, not sure what service if any I’ll use, may just have a nostalgic year with my (25 years of ripped CD) catalogue...
 
BrianBaughn said:
My initial reason for going with Apple Music was being able to upload ANY sound file (including, of course, albums I had but they didn't) and having it available everywhere.
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You can do this with Spotify. It's not as straight forward as it is with Apple Music, but it's doable.
 
In my experience Spotify does a much better job finding music that caters to my tastes. I really like their automatic rotating Daily Mix playlists. I have found a ton of bands I never knew existed this way.

Many people say algorithms take the personalization out of music on Spotify. However these algorithms are based on the listening habits of real people, so the human element is definitely front & center.
 
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RunsForFun said:
You can do this with Spotify. It's not as straight forward as it is with Apple Music, but it's doable.
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The only thing with is that Local Files are not synced with Spotify servers. Therefore, you cannot ask Google Assistant or Alexa to play a local song from Spotify. You can use AirPlay or Bluetooth, but it's just an added step that I do not want to do.

iCloud Music Library that is bundled with Apple Music is the saving grace here. I have download many songs you can't find on either service (mostly covers from other artists). With this, I can use Siri to play these songs as it's directly uploaded to Apple's iCloud Music servers, without Bluetooth or AirPlay.
 
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AxiomaticRubric said:
In my experience Spotify does a much better job finding music that caters to my tastes. I really like their automatic rotating Daily Mix playlists. I have found a ton of bands I never knew existed this way.

Many people say algorithms take the personalization out of music on Spotify. However these algorithms are based on the listening habits of real people, so the human element is definitely front & center.
Click to expand...

This.

Last year I got fed up with Spotify's library layout, more than occasional bugginess and clunky UI to the point where I switched to Apple Music but it only took a month to realize how indescribably far ahead Spotify's recommendation algorithms are than Apple's. It's not even a competition.

I don't know what wizardry those Spotify coders get up to, but god does it work. I came right back to Spotify and just put up with the gripes that made me leave initially, because the actual music listening experience is so damn superior.

Discover Weekly & Daily Mixes are phenomenal, but the real MVP for me is Song Radio. In my experience, it doesn't just simply create an endless cue of similar songs based on one single track, but based on how you respond to the tracks it plays (skipping the song, adding it to your library, replaying it, etc.), the queue actually grows and evolves organically into unexpected, interesting musical directions.

25 tracks in and you're listening to music that is a completely different genre from the song you initially chose and you don't even realize it because it all happens so seamlessly.
 
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I'm using Apple Music mainly because of superior library management. I like that I have in my library only what I added there. For example, if I select the artis view, there are only albums and songs I actually liked. Other services just show the whole artist page with all their material. Which is dumb.
 
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tonyr6 said:
I though more Mac users would use Apple Music but none of my friend use it.
Click to expand...
For me the reason is that Apple Music is a piece of crap. The Mac app is an ugly, memory hungry, confusing mess and the Android app is somehow even worse than that, it doesn't promote discoverability the way that Spotify does and the playlists are also worse.
 
tonyr6 said:
Although they all use MacBook's and all except on use iPhones they all use Spotify. This means when they share playlists I can't view them as I use Apple Music. I did try Spotify once, but I like listening to full albums and Spotify is good for playlists. Still annoyed that they all use Macs and mostly iPhones, but they all use Spotify. I though more Mac users would use Apple Music but none of my friend use it.
Click to expand...

Sometimes, being an Apple user does feel like the whole world is against you.

Stay the course.
 
Just before I chatted with someone on Facebook. They sent me a song you guessed it was on Spotify which I don't have. Really everyone uses Spotify but no one on Apple Music.
 
Even my kids who are Apple daft use Spotify. Everyone says the same, it's not the difference in available tracks, it is the interface and the way Spotify work that is good. I have tried Apple Music a couple of times when a free trial comes up and last just a few days at best before returning to Spotify.

It would absolutely suit me better to use Apple Music.

These days I don't even bother looking for music on Spotify it knows me so well now, producing playlists like;

On Repeat - current tracks I listen to often
Repeat Rewind - past favourites
Then a weekly discover playlist of new tracks matched to me

And this is the key, for me at least. Spotify gets its right 98% of the time when suggesting music. Hence I rarely need to actually go and look for something to listen to.
 
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tonyr6 said:
Just before I chatted with someone on Facebook. They sent me a song you guessed it was on Spotify which I don't have. Really everyone uses Spotify but no one on Apple Music.
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I don't understand the issue. Is it that hard to look up the song in Apple Music?
If you prefer using Apple Music, this should be a trivial thing.
 
tonyr6 said:
What about playlists? Have to search each song separate is a pain.
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I honestly don't know.
I try to be a problem solver
But the only solutions I can think of for you are these:

1) search for every song people send you on Apple Music
2) Quit Apple Music and join Spotify instead
3) Pay $10 extra per month (or whatever it costs) and have both Spotify and Apple Music - best of both worlds.
 
tonyr6 said:
What about playlists? Have to search each song separate is a pain.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean, if you are setting up a new specific playlist then certainly you would need to search for the tracks individually to create the playlist. Guessing that is not what you mean?
 
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