Apple Music vs Spotify

[Winterfibre]

One word Deezer!!

 

[whsbuss]

The problem with these constant comparison discussions is that each service does some things better than the other. Like for example, radio is much better in apple music than Spotify, but Spotify's playlist selection is better. These kinds of differences muddy the water on which is better. It all depends on what you want out of the service. If you rely heavily on Apple devices though ( you have macs, iPads, iphones, watch) , then apple music integrates MUCH better between all of them.

One thing to keep in mind though is that Spotify's service is GOING to change no matter what people say or argue otherwise ....if they go public. My reasoning for this is twitter, facebook, and every other service that goes public is forced to change things since money is the key driver when becoming public. In my opinion a few things get better and a whole lotta things get worse. Example: Facebook now saying they want to make content from friends more relevant to people in 2018 (THE WAY IT USED TO BE BEFORE THEY WENT PUBLIC).

Some great points..... just wonder what investors will do regarding the pending lawsuit.

 

[jonnyb098]

Some great points..... just wonder what investors will do regarding the pending lawsuit.

Who knows. Spotify is a great service, but I personally use Apple Music for a variety of reasons, most of which are that my 5000 + song library is integrated and apple’s iPad app is miles ahead of Spotify for the simple fact it supports split screen on iPad Pro.

The Spotify lawsuit is a big deal and subscribers just need to be aware things are going to change if they go public. Considering Spotify is bleeding cash, this suit doesn’t look very good for going public

 

[tonyr6]

Sound quality is a major issue. If it sounds like crap it does not matter how many songs or what UI they use. Too me Apple Music sounds the best which is why I always come back to it.

 

[lah]

I voted for Spotify. Even though I think Apple Music looks better, easier to navigate, has better curated playlists and superior radio, I stick with Spotify due to the discover weekly and their other generated playlist. Love their end of year and other playlist they generate based off your listening habit.

 

[lukin]

I keep reading that people think Apple Music has superior radio, but I find their radio extremely frustrating. I've been a Spotify user and have actively been trying to find a substitute and since I'm in the Apple ecosystem and all my music is already in iTunes I was hoping it would be the answer.

My Spotify 'cons':

• I can't stand the way it's organized. Perhaps its because I've used iTunes for so long, but not having one screen where I can find all my music, sort it, etc is frustrating. I've got my 'Songs' view of songs I've saved to my library. If I want to add an album to my library, I have to go to 'Albums'. Do I already have that song in my albums when I add it to my library? I don't know. Is that song on a playlist or in my library? I don't know. I thought I had it in my library but I don't see it. Which playlist? Ugh.
• Song limit. I have a lot of songs. I want to have it in my library, and I can't add my own library for access across all devices. I think this probably comes from the past years and years of having all my songs in my library vs searching for and streaming whatever whenever, but I want it in my library!
• Radio stations are very repetitive. Those first 20 songs are typically on point, but then it seems to repeat. Go to a different device and start the radio station? It plays the same songs all over.

My Spotify 'pros':

• Discover Weekly / discovery in general. I've found a ton of new stuff from this. I really like being able to discover new music easily.
  
• Other user generated playlists with my interests. Easy to find, browse, and listen. A great way to find new music as well.
  
• Radio. I also have it as a con, but a new station is normally good. When it gets repetitive I can create a new one that will be good for a while.

My normal use case is radio stations. I listen while I work so I'll go to a song that I want to listen to depending on my mood or whatever and launch a radio station. I want the radio station to introduce me to new songs, deep cuts, as well as the stuff I already know. Again, Spotify does this but just can't keep it up. I want to hit play on a radio station and have it run for hours and it's just not capable of doing this. So I figured I'd try Apple Music.

I've given it a couple weeks to learn about me and I find that Apple Music radio does nothing other than play the most popular songs of the most popular artists. For example, I created a radio station off of Pink Floyd's 'Coming Back to Life' and here's the songs that played:

• Pink Floyd - Coming Back To Life
• Guns N Roses - November Rain
• Rolling Stones - Paint it Black
• Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
• CCR - Fortunate Son
• Pink Floyd - Mother
• Animals - House of the Rising Sun
• The Who - Pinball Wizard
• Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
• Beatles - Let it Be
• Metallica - Enter Sandman
• Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
• ... more and more

Don't get me wrong, this is all good stuff for me. If I had to make a list of the most popular songs I've heard a billion times that I'd rather not listen to again for a while, most of these are on there. I've tried other songs and have generally found the same thing. It finds appropriate artists and genres to put in there, but it's all stuff I don't really want to hear yet again. I've yet to hear one new artist or song.

The curated playlists are alright if you come across one that fits your mood/interest at that point in time. I haven't found myself using them too much yet.

This became longer than I intended. Has anyone else had the same experience with Apple Music radio? A better experience? Any advice to get deeper cuts / more unknowns when using the Radio?

 

[Rigby]

This became longer than I intended. Has anyone else had the same experience with Apple Music radio? A better experience? Any advice to get deeper cuts / more unknowns when using the Radio?

You've pretty much exactly described my experiences. In terms of new music discovery, Spotify is far superior IMO, since Apple Music can't match either its personalized playlists nor its wealth of user generated playlists. Apple Music is generally way too much tilted to the latest pop songs for my tastes. For some reason it also keeps suggesting hip hop music to me, even though I explicitly excluded all related genres during setup and "unlike" each and every hip hop song it suggests. Really annoying. Did I mention that I hate hip hop?

I think what we are seeing here is that Spotify is just far ahead when it comes to its algorithmic recommendation system. They also have more user data than anyone else from their large subscriber base and the huge number of user playlists (over 2 billion) that they can mine to improve their recommendations.

On the other hand, Apple's ecosystem integration is definitely convenient for Apple users. If they didn't have this inbuilt advantage they probably wouldn't stand a chance. As it is, I'll probably return to Spotify when my Apple Music trial is up and subscribe to iTunes Match to get my own songs into the cloud.

 

[dotnet]

I've got hundreds and hundreds of ripped CDs in my music library, many of which are not available for streaming (or online purchase). I need those available on my devices on the go along with the streaming content (which is only about 10% of my library). Spotify simply doesn't qualify.

 

[0970373]

I was a long time free Spotify user and tried Apple Music at launch w/ the free trial. It was awful and I had to completely rebuild my library & playlists from a backup. I went back to manually syncing my library in iTunes but then found a 3 months for $.99 Spotify trial. I gave it a shot and was hooked. So I was a paid subscriber for a couple of years and loved it..and then I got an Apple Watch & Apple TV. After reports of improvements in AM, I gave it another shot. After 2 months of AM, I decided to buy an annual subscription to Apple Music last year and cancelled my Spotify premium.

While Spotify, hands down, has better play lists & UI, integration was what sold me. I also approached my Apple Music setup differently this time around (I only uploaded what was missing from the digital catalog rather than every mp3 I had) and was able to avoid my previous issues. Apple Watch integration was really key for me. I was also having some technical issues w/ Spotify that ultimately never got resolved despite doing and trying everything Spotify asked me to do.

I was also really really disappointed that Spotify bought Snowy (for Apple Watch sync/control) just to kill it. It weighed heavily in my final decision to cancel my Premium account.

Anyway, I'm mostly happy w/ Apple Music now and the playlist problem is resolved by using the Houdini transfer app, which moves my playlists almost perfectly. In additional to transferring the Discover Weekly playlists, I also put Daily Mixes into playlists so that I can transfer them as well.

I do wish Apple Music would work on the UI though. I don't need big icons and would like the option to list albums the same way they list songs. I'd also REALLY love landscape mode and I do miss being able to control the music from any device like Spotify Connect.

At the end of the day, the better product is what suits your personal needs better. For me, that became Apple Music.

 

[nburwell]

I currently subscribe to both Spotify and Apple Music. I generally flip flop back and fourth between the two services.

For AM, I love how it integrates with all my iOS devices. Plus, I actually enjoy the UI. However, the curated playlists, along with their chill, favorites and new music mixes could definitely use improvement.

For Spotify, their discover weekly playlist is second to none. In addition, Spotify’s playlists blow AM’s playlists out of the water IMO. I’m not an overly huge fan of their UI though. But that just may be me. Plus, I like being able to listen to Spotify on my PS4 and Google Home (can’t do that with AM).

In the end, I do prefer Spotify because of their superior playlists and music recommendations. But I’m going to keep both services for now since I’m paid up until March for both Spotify and AM.

 

[Norwegian_Imposter]

Has anyone here tried the app SongShift? does it still transfer songs between the two if say I go on the "free" Spotify package?

 

[nburwell]

Has anyone here tried the app SongShift? does it still transfer songs between the two if say I go on the "free" Spotify package?

You should be able to. I used the Houdini app to move playlists from Spotify to Apple Music when I was on the free tier and it worked fine.

 

[Norwegian_Imposter]

You should be able to. I used the Houdini app to move playlists from Spotify to Apple Music when I was on the free tier and it worked fine.

awesome its only the discover weekly playlist that keeps me with Spotify. Much prefer AM in general

 

[Venderious]

Since last year, I switched from Spotify to Apple Music. I mainly made the switch because Apple Music allows me to also sync local files over iCloud, so I can also listen to unreleased music wherever I go. The only thing I miss from Spotify are the curated playlists and suggestions. Other than that, I don't look back.

 

[Norwegian_Imposter]

Since last year, I switched from Spotify to Apple Music. I mainly made the switch because Apple Music allows me to also sync local files over iCloud, so I can also listen to unreleased music wherever I go. The only thing I miss from Spotify are the curated playlists and suggestions. Other than that, I don't look back.

Look at the app SongShift that will shift the playlists across.

 

[Rigby]

Look at the app SongShift that will shift the playlists across.

The problem is that by not listening via Spotify it cannot continue learning what you like and don't like, which is a big part of how they fine-tune their personalized playlists.

 

[Norwegian_Imposter]

The problem is that by not listening via Spotify it cannot continue learning what you like and don't like, which is a big part of how they fine-tune their personalized playlists.

True but Apple Music should learn it instead. That’s my thinking anyways haha

 

[0970373]

Has anyone here tried the app SongShift? does it still transfer songs between the two if say I go on the "free" Spotify package?

Yes and it works ok. Houdini is better at matching (nearly 100% matching available music vs SongShift missing tons of songs). Both work w/ the free Spotify accounts.

As an aside, I did contact the SongShift developer about the low matching % and he said he found the problem and it will be fixed in the next update. I look forward to the sync feature so that playlists that update on Spotify are automatically synced. But until the matching problem is fixed, stick w/ Houdini.
[doublepost=1517181114][/doublepost]

The problem is that by not listening via Spotify it cannot continue learning what you like and don't like, which is a big part of how they fine-tune their personalized playlists.

It looks more at the songs you save to your library or add to your playlists. You might just have it playing the radio or daily playlists or someone else playlists but what if you don't like those songs? Spotify takes into account what you save. I haven't actively listened to Spotify in a long time but the playlists are still accurate because I have a large library of saved songs and still add artists/music I do like into my saved library.

This is a good article that explains it pretty well. I'm sure the algo has been more refined since but basic concept still holds true. https://qz.com/571007/the-magic-that-makes-spotifys-discover-weekly-playlists-so-damn-good/

 

[Rigby]

True but Apple Music should learn it instead. That’s my thinking anyways haha

The problem is that Apple Music has nothing comparable to Discover Weekly.

It looks more at the songs you save to your library or add to your playlists. You might just have it playing the radio or daily playlists or someone else playlists but what if you don't like those songs? Spotify takes into account what you save. I haven't actively listened to Spotify in a long time but the playlists are still accurate because I have a large library of saved songs and still add artists/music I do like into my saved library.

This is a good article that explains it pretty well. I'm sure the algo has been more refined since but basic concept still holds true. https://qz.com/571007/the-magic-that-makes-spotifys-discover-weekly-playlists-so-damn-good/

Well, that article says that it also takes into account if you skip songs, how often you play them, if you follow recommendation links on Spotify and other things. None of this is possible of you just transfer the playlists and listen elsewhere. I'm pretty sure the Discover playlists will quickly lose some of their magic if you do that. I remember when I started with Spotify how it got uncannily good after a few weeks of listening, and over time it adapted as I discovered new music and sub-genres.

 

[0970373]

The problem is that Apple Music has nothing comparable to Discover Weekly.

Well, that article says that it also takes into account if you skip songs, how often you play them, if you follow recommendation links on Spotify and other things. None of this is possible of you just transfer the playlists and listen elsewhere. I'm pretty sure the Discover playlists will quickly lose some of their magic if you do that. I remember when I started with Spotify how it got uncannily good after a few weeks of listening, and over time it adapted as I discovered new music and sub-genres.

Can confirm that my Discover and Daily playlists are still A+ so 100% possible and have retained said magic. Would it be further refined if I was still using Spotify? Probably. Does it make those playlists inaccurate/bad/not worth it? Absolutely not.

Even this video says that it's what you add to your playlists that weigh into the Discover playlists heavily. And yes, I do transfer my "recently loved" smart playlists from Apple Music back to Spotify to give the algo something to munch on. But this is how I do it and it works for me. Everyone has their own way in managing their music/streaming.

 

[Nick Milner]

I switched to Apple Music so I didn't have to switch off social sharing every time I wanted to listen to something. Also, I pretty much moved entirely into the Apple ecosystem so it made more sense anyway.

 

[qube_TA]

I don't really care for either platform as they both require far too many plays for an artist to make any meaningful revenue. However I think if Apple wanted to appear at least to be the fairer provider they should make more of a play for the revenue they share with the artists, particularly independent ones. With endless festivals hogging up the available avenues for live performances and therefore making revenue from performing unless you're a Taylor Swift type of artist with huge backing from a label to ensure a bagillion streams you're only every going to be making music as a hobby. It would be nice to see Apple, given that much of the music we listen to was made using their hardware recognised this and ensure a healthy return to the musicians that create the music streamed to their devices.

 

[tkermit]

I don't really care for either platform as they both require far too many plays for an artist to make any meaningful revenue.

I realize I may be an outlier, but, personally, I've continued buying a fair amount of music even though I've also been subscribing to Apple Music since the very beginning. A lot of the purchases I've made would not have taken place had I not first discovered the artist or been made aware of an album release through Apple Music. Other things that I've streamed but did not buy I almost certainly would never have bought (or listened to) if I hadn't had access to them through a music subscription, meaning, if anything, artists are now making more money off of me regardless of how little streaming revenue they see.

 

[AidenL]

So, I spent today selecting playlists and liking a lot of tracks.

Hopefully this will improve my AM experience and close the gap with Spotify.

 

[whsbuss]

So, I spent today selecting playlists and liking a lot of tracks.

Hopefully this will improve my AM experience and close the gap with Spotify.

Maybe. Spotify suggests too many songs I don't care for but they are better at it. AM has the best quality music