Apple Music vs. Spotify: Whereas Apple Music nonetheless lags behind Spotify with regards to paying subscribers, in my view, Apple Music is the higher service. It gives extra superior options like dwell lyrics, karaoke, lossless and spatial audio.
And for music aficionados, you’ll be able to add your personal ripped recordings and MP3s. You’ve full management over your music library. Plus the Apple Music Classical app provides you a first-class expertise studying and discovering classical music.
Listed below are the 9 issues maintaining me on Apple Music — and why it is best to change away from Spotify. It’s also possible to watch the video proper right here.
Apple Music vs. Spotify: Why Apple Music is best
Apple launched the web music revolution with the iTunes Music Retailer in 2003. It was the primary method to simply, legally purchase digital music on the web. Within the 2010s, when the smartphone launched Pandora and Spotify into the stratosphere with music streaming, Apple needed to sustain with the occasions.
The corporate launched Apple Music in 2015 to a considerably gentle response. It’s had a sluggish begin, however right this moment, it’s simply essentially the most feature-rich streaming music service. And should you’re satisfied, you’ll be able to join Apple Music utilizing our hyperlink proper right here.
Desk of Contents: Apple Music vs. Spotify
Stay lyrics and karaoke
Construct a playlist dwell with your pals
Add your personal music
Edit track titles, data, quantity, album artwork and extra
Lossless, higher-quality music
Spatial audio
Bespoke expertise for classical music
Hearken to dwell radio
Apple Music pays its artists extra
No. 1: Stay lyrics and karaoke
Slide up and down on the Microphone to regulate the amount of the lyrics.
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Spotify has lyrics for songs, however nothing like Apple Music. The lyrics are timed right down to the phrase, together with musical breaks.
Tapping the microphone button, you’ll be able to even flip down the vocals for singing alongside, karaoke-style.
No. 2: Construct a playlist dwell with your pals
This characteristic is an absolute killer.
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
With a bunch of pals within the automotive, you don’t must move your unlocked cellphone round, asking folks what songs to play subsequent. Faucet the SharePlay button and have your pals scan the QR code. (They don’t have to subscribe to Apple Music; it’ll use your subscription.)
Different folks can add songs to the queue from their very own telephones.
This characteristic is new to iOS 17. For those who purchased a brand new iPhone 15, you’ve bought it already. In any other case, head over to Settings > Normal > Software program Replace to get it. Everybody must run it for it to work.
No. 3: Add your personal music
Simply drag and drop MP3 recordsdata into the Music app.
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
I’ve quite a lot of customized music in my library — dwell concert events, ripped CDs and vinyl recordings that aren’t even on the iTunes Retailer (a lot much less Apple Music). Spotify gives some convoluted course of by which you’ll be able to import music, but it surely’s not simple.
In Apple Music in your Mac, you simply open any MP3 file in Music.app and it’ll add it to your library. On a PC, you are able to do the identical from the brand new Music app on the Microsoft Retailer for Home windows 11.
Add it and it’ll sync throughout all of your units.
No. 4: Edit track titles, data, quantity, album artwork and extra
Edit all of the track metadata.
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
When you’ve added your personal music, click on ⋯ and click on Get Data to edit the track title, enter the album identify, add album art work and extra.
The truth is, you’ll be able to edit all of the music in your library, even tracks you’ve added from Apple Music.
You possibly can substitute album artwork you don’t like. If there’s a collab album and it messes up the artist identify, you’ll be able to simply change it to a cleaner one. You possibly can even regulate the playback quantity per track. You possibly can reorder songs in an album — for instance, I rearranged Gustav Holst’s The Planets to match the order of the photo voltaic system. And made my very own art work.
All of the edits sync throughout all of your units, though you’ll be able to solely edit track data on a Mac or PC.
Apple Music vs. Spotify No. 5: Lossless, higher-quality music
Change to Lossless audio high quality in Settings, should you’re so inclined.
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
For one thing like two years now, Spotify has been promising a brand new HiFi tier. That is anticipated to come back at a further price on high of a Spotify subscription, and can allow you to play lossless, uncompressed, higher-quality variations of your music.
Or, you may get that on Apple Music at no further price. Immediately.
Simply go to Settings > Music > Audio High quality to show it on. Change from Excessive High quality to Lossless. Any album that has the Lossless brand below it should play uncompressed if you’re plugged into sure audio system.
No. 6: Spatial audio
Spatial Audio makes you are feeling such as you’re surrounded by a mud storm. I imply, dwell music.
Photograph: Apple
Spatial audio is one other distinctive characteristic of Apple Music. It goes past a easy stereo combine — it sounds such as you’re in the course of the stage, with the sound coming from throughout you. It tracks the place of your head, so the sound follows you as you flip round and transfer, actually promoting the impact.
Spatial audio can rework the best way you hear the albums and love by coronary heart.
Spatial audio is accessible on AirPods and Beats merchandise (AirPods 3, AirPods Professional, AirPods Max, Beats Match Professional, Beats Studio Professional) and newer iPads — the complete listing is right here. Verify for the Spatial Audio brand below an album within the Music app.
No. 7: Bespoke expertise for classical music
After all, every part in Apple Music Classical comes with beautiful art work. How far they’ve come.
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Classical music is in contrast to trendy common music. (On this case, ‘trendy’ refers to something made within the final hundred years or so.) Composers write works that may be carried out by dozens or a whole bunch of various bands and orchestras.
The notion of writing a track, performing it your self and releasing it as soon as on a single album continues to be, within the grand scheme of issues, a fairly novel thought.
Apple acknowledged how normal streaming providers are failing to do justice to classical music, so the corporate acquired Primephonic and reworked it into Apple Music Classical — included in your normal Apple Music subscription.
Shopping Apple Music Classical, you’ll be able to soar into any of their many curated collections or playlists should you don’t know the place to begin — you simply know you just like the clarinet, for instance. You possibly can browse by composer, lookup your favourite works, browse completely different recordings of them and add them to your library.
Learn our deep dive on the brand new app right here.
Apple Music vs. Spotify No. 8: Hearken to dwell radio
You possibly can at all times flip this on should you can’t discover the rest.
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Generally you simply wish to put one thing on, and also you don’t know what you’re within the temper for — you’re overwhelmed by decisions and but none of them sound interesting. When that occurs to me, I placed on Phish. That motivates me to select one thing, something, fairly shortly.
However there’s a greater method. You possibly can at all times placed on Apple Music 1, Apple’s dwell radio station.
No. 9: Apple Music pays its artists extra
If you wish to help the work of your favourite artists, you’ll give them extra help with Apple Music. Greater than twice the help, in actual fact — musicians earned a median of $3.00 per 1,000 streams on Spotify in 2024, in comparison with $6.20 on Apple Music, in line with a Duetti trade report.
Artists are sometimes given the quick shrift because the music trade continues to evolve. A simple method to assist is to easily use the streaming platform that pays twice as a lot.
One Extra Factor™: An actual native app, on all platforms
Apple makes apps for Home windows and Android. And… they’re each actually good apps.
Screenshot: Apple
Some folks say they just like the Spotify interface greater than Apple Music, however frankly, I don’t get it. Apple makes a completely native app on each platform it runs on: the iPhone app seems and behaves like an iPhone app, the Mac app seems and behaves like a Mac app. Even the Android app respects how Android apps feel and look, and the brand new model for Home windows 11 adopts Microsoft’s new design aesthetic.
Spotify on the Mac is a glorified internet app that (mainly) runs inside Google Chrome. It seems misplaced and it drains your battery greater than a local Mac app would.
I perceive this isn’t vital to most individuals — however for me, that is Quantity 0. Non-native apps are a non-starter. I like utilizing apps that look and work like all the opposite apps I exploit each day.
Apple Music vs. Spotify: Join Apple Music
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We initially revealed this text on Apple Music vs. Spotify on July 22, 2023. We up to date the data.
