Apple Music or Spotify?

Category: accessible Devices

Post 1 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Monday, 22-Feb-2016 20:47:59

So, apple Music has been out for a while, and I've been using it for several months. Frankly, it makes my heart happy. I can find literally anything I can think of on there - and I listen to a lot of unique music not really played in North America that much. For less than a meal out for 1, I have access to all of this, and I love it. If they encorperated lyrics, I'd be in musical heaven. But then there's Spotify, something I can use on more platforms than my PC and Iphone. My question? Which one is better/more user friendly? And why do you feel that way? As a side note, is there anything beyond shazamming your own iphone or searching online which can find you song lyrics? Any apps?

Post 2 by LittleSneezer (The Zone-BBS is my prison, but I like it here.) on Monday, 22-Feb-2016 21:30:07

I love Apple Music. I think it's great that you can download songs from there and play them alongside music already on the iPhone, such as music previously purchased on iTunes.

Post 3 by forereel (Just posting.) on Monday, 22-Feb-2016 23:12:21

I like Apple music best because the artist get paid better due to it being a subscription service.
I've tried many services and as to accessible, they have pros and cons.
I like the fact music can be purchased as well if you like it. That is one thing I don't like about Spotify.

Post 4 by DevilishAnthony (Just go on and agree with me. You know you want to.) on Tuesday, 23-Feb-2016 0:24:34

Isn't Spotify subscription based as well though?

Post 5 by contradiction (aww, I always knew my opinion mattered to you!) on Tuesday, 23-Feb-2016 5:52:13

I actually enjoy Spotify quite a bit. It, too, is a subscription service (with the same cost as Apple Music). I love being able to play my music on any phone or computer, and since I pay for premium (there is a free version of Spotify), I can download the music to my and play it whenever I'd like.

Post 6 by sia fan bp (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Tuesday, 23-Feb-2016 9:54:46

I like spotify more for what danni said but also because I like making my own
playlists and I could listen to albums before I add them to my collection. oh,
and because it's free! you have to pay to buy a song on apple music so...
that's out for me.

Post 7 by DevilishAnthony (Just go on and agree with me. You know you want to.) on Tuesday, 23-Feb-2016 11:02:41

I signed up for Spotify last night and am exploring it.

I've got a big playlist on Apple Music with 117 of my favorite songs. Is there a way to make a radio station from that playlist? I don't see it in the options, even under the more section.

Post 8 by sia fan bp (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Tuesday, 23-Feb-2016 12:18:32

I don't think so, anth. you can though with spotify. You could make a radio
station of artist, or song. :)

Post 9 by forereel (Just posting.) on Tuesday, 23-Feb-2016 12:49:31

As you saw Spotify has a subscription side, but most people go the free way because it is available.
This pays artist less or from the free subscribers nothing.
If you press the applications key on one of the songs in your playlist, you'll find a tag that says play that songs radio.
As to using a Playlist, no.
Maybe enough of your songs are similar you'll hear them on one of the stations you create with one of the songs.

Post 10 by sia fan bp (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Tuesday, 23-Feb-2016 14:09:08

true, wayne. :)

Post 11 by The Roman Battle Mask (Making great use of my Employer's time.) on Tuesday, 23-Feb-2016 23:01:38

I've found spotify to be flakey from an accessibility point of view on iOS. It works but sometimes I lose focus. APple music works better so I'll stick with it.

Post 12 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Wednesday, 24-Feb-2016 14:10:43

Thanks all. Sounds like I'm sticking with Apple Music then. I have no problem paying such a rate for my music. people work hard to create content. While I've listened to music for free for a number of years, I'm at a stage in my life where I can afford to pay.

Post 13 by Shadow_Cat (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Wednesday, 24-Feb-2016 15:49:23

I use Apple Music, mostly because I know it's accessible, and because I don't have to download an extra app on my phone. I just subscribe and it's there. That, and they've got a huge variety of content.

Post 14 by silly_singer (The girl who's always lost in a melody) on Wednesday, 24-Feb-2016 20:57:05

I love Apple Music.
It is nice and accessible out of the box, and the seamless integration with Siri
on Apple TV and IOS is slick! :)

Post 15 by contradiction (aww, I always knew my opinion mattered to you!) on Thursday, 25-Feb-2016 5:00:55

See, I have no Spotify issues; I haven't for almost a year now. If you use the free version, all you can do is shuffle your favorites playlist, Anthony. You cannot play it in order unless you have premium. I guess because I had Spotify before Apple Music, I'm a bit biased, but I'm sticking with it until Apple Music gets a feature I don't have. I pay the same amount for what, in my opinion, are better perks.

Post 16 by forereel (Just posting.) on Thursday, 25-Feb-2016 10:17:42

I've used Spotify subscription service as well. It works well for me too. I had no accessibility issues.
I use and have used both services on the computer and my iPhone.
I love that Siri stuff though. Lol

Post 17 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Thursday, 25-Feb-2016 18:26:31

People are talking about playlists being better on Spotify? How so? In my experience it's pretty easy to create your own custom playlists on Apple Music as well.

Post 18 by sia fan bp (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Thursday, 25-Feb-2016 19:08:29

better? hmm... for me it's because I can't pay for apple music but my friend has an adele playlist on her apple music so... yeah. but I think you could share your playlist with spotify and apple music. not sure though.

Post 19 by DevilishAnthony (Just go on and agree with me. You know you want to.) on Friday, 26-Feb-2016 1:02:13

If I could make a radio station out of this huge playlist, so I could discover all kinds of other songs, I'd pay for it. The only other way is to add each track one by one, if you can still do that on Apple Music. There used to be a new station button and you could search and add as many songs or artists as you wanted, but I haven't seen it lately.

Post 20 by Scarlett (move over school!) on Friday, 26-Feb-2016 16:07:42

I prefer spotify personally. I've been using it for years, and I didn't want to have to transfer all my music over to apple music, as in, make my playlists from scratch.

I also had terrible issues with my apple music and existing library not integrating well at all, even when I used the fixes it was still hit and miss for me.

Post 21 by boots and denim (Zone BBS Addict) on Sunday, 12-Jun-2016 14:54:03

I love Apple Music a lot. It made it so I don't have to buy every single
album that I want. I never wash a huge streaming guy but I like the fact
that I can upload/match my own personal collection with new stuff that I
want. Totally happy with it now that most of the kinks have been worked
out.

Post 22 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Monday, 13-Jun-2016 16:27:16

So, Spotify was having a premium trial for $0.99, so I took a look. One thing I'm curious about. With apple music, if you sort your files by artists, you can see each individual album inside the artist's "folder" With spotify, as I can see, if you go by artist, it just shows all the songs under that artist, regardless of album. That for me is really frustrating. Am I wrong about this? I originally wanted to test Spotify because I can play it on more devices than apple music.

Post 23 by forereel (Just posting.) on Monday, 13-Jun-2016 21:26:33

It goes in headings. You can see both just songs, or albums.
I'll sign on and see how it goes, because I don't use mine often, but I know you can do both.
You also have videos too.

Post 24 by forereel (Just posting.) on Wednesday, 15-Jun-2016 23:10:03

Okay. Here’s what I do to see albums in Spotify.
If on the computer I search for the artist.
When the results come back, I click on artist.
Once I do that, I have songs, albums, or videos.
If on the iPhone, I search for the artist.
I click on the artist.
Now I see recent releases and I click the song right under that.
It shows the song, but if I swipe down, I get a listing of albums and if I keep swiping down other stuff.
I hope that helps Remy.

Post 25 by Jack Off Jill (why the hell am I posting in the first place?) on Thursday, 16-Jun-2016 4:42:57

love spotify, been using it for a couple of months now. I'm also an android user, and for awhile it was google play music for me. Which is just as good. But I decided to try spotify for the 99 cent premium for three months. I got good results and love that I can make a radio station out of my favorite artists.

Post 26 by forereel (Just posting.) on Thursday, 16-Jun-2016 12:08:09

They've done well with the app, so I'm happy to hear Android works good for you too.
We'll see what Apple comes down with coming up.
I think the sound quality's a bit better with Apple, but that might be my imagination.
I do understand you get different quality between pro and regular Spotify, but I'm running the pro version, so I expect it to be par.

Post 27 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Thursday, 16-Jun-2016 20:21:08

Thanks Forereal. I'll try that. I've got a couple more months before I cease Spotify. I wish there was an import feature. I've got a great apple music library which I'd hate to rebuild.

Post 28 by Winterfresh (This is who I am, an what I am about. If you don't like it, too damn bad!!!) on Friday, 07-Oct-2016 6:57:37

Spotify all the way. Tried apple music and wasn't really a fan. Spotify's selection
of music is better, in my opinion, more eclectic. I have spotify premium and it
seriously is my best purchase. The radio on spotify is more extensive as well. I
found if I put a certain genre's radio station into my apple music, it'd only play a
few songs like it and be done. Also, spotify has a weekly discover feature, to
show you artists like the ones you already have saved and a daily mix thing I
just found out about. It includes the songs you have along with some other
artists you might not have. Also, new music Friday is the best. They compile a
list of a bunch of stuff that comes out that week and you can go through it, and
if you have premium, save the songs you like. You can also download songs so
you can listen to them offline.

Post 29 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Friday, 07-Oct-2016 12:56:14

Apple music also has a weekly discover feature tailered to the style and type of music you've liked. You can also download for offline listening through them too. As for eclectic music, I can't speak to Spotify, but as a listener of unique music, anything from european metal, to video game soundtracks, to entirely different music, I can certainly speak to its eclectic side as well. I like that you can use spotify on a variety of devices, though I've noticed it doesn't seem all that accessible, even for a partially sighted on the Iphone right now. When looking at artists' albums, they all get lumped together as a single element in Voiceover and you can't select individual ones. Really my only big issue with spotify is how it divides artists, albums and songs. In apple music, if you choose to listen by artist, it will lead to the artist's albums once you click on that artist. Spotify seems to do it all by song when viewing by artist. Could be I'm just doing it wrong, too though.

Post 30 by little foot (Zone BBS is my Life) on Friday, 28-Oct-2016 5:26:29

I honestly like none of them being that you have to paoy for both of them. I prefer jango radio.

Post 31 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Friday, 28-Oct-2016 12:53:46

I'd say 10 dollars a month is pretty darn reasonable though. It's basically Netflix for music, but with more choice. Unless you're financially destitute, and then, fair enough.

Post 32 by forereel (Just posting.) on Friday, 28-Oct-2016 15:10:52

Even the financially destitute, can listen to the free version, so.
You know I read an article a few days ago, maybe a week.
They poled people and most felt $10 was to much to pay for a streaming service.
If you think about it if you buy one album from any artist, you'll pay at least 7 or 8 dollars.
I think people just hate to pay for services, but want them.

Post 33 by Shadow_Cat (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Friday, 28-Oct-2016 17:34:00

I'd say both services are very reasonably priced, given what you get for said price. I'd take either over a free service any day.

Post 34 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Friday, 28-Oct-2016 20:01:14

And at least you can support the artists. You're not actually buying their albums, but if you don't want to pirate, then both are a fantastic service.

Post 35 by forereel (Just posting.) on Saturday, 29-Oct-2016 13:02:18

And that is why I pay both for physical, or downloads, and streaming services.
Artist make me happy, they need to be financially rewarded.

Post 36 by Imprecator (The Zone's Spelling Nazi) on Thursday, 03-Nov-2016 13:20:08

How's the bitrate on both services?

Post 37 by Shadow_Cat (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Thursday, 03-Nov-2016 15:34:34

Not sure how it is on Spotify, but it's good on Apple Music. Don't know the exact bit rate, but I think it's good.

Post 38 by forereel (Just posting.) on Thursday, 03-Nov-2016 16:07:44

Apple has actually raised the bit rate.
It is at 300 something now.
You can tell too.

Post 39 by Winterfresh (This is who I am, an what I am about. If you don't like it, too damn bad!!!) on Friday, 04-Nov-2016 1:34:21

I've never had any accessibility issues with spotify on my phone, and it has that
weekly discover feature as well. I also think spotify's radio and playlists are more
extensive.

Post 40 by Senior (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Saturday, 05-Nov-2016 18:55:53

I have never used any of Apple's modern music services. I have no need. I have been using Spotify for 6 or 7 years and I am happy with it. I can create playlists with hundreds of songs, put them on shuffle so they play in a random order, have no ad interuptions, discover new music, play albums I don't have in my collectin. The service is very good for me. It's a shame the lyrics feature has gone.

I use Spotify with Jaws 18 on Windows 10.1.

Post 41 by Imprecator (The Zone's Spelling Nazi) on Tuesday, 08-Nov-2016 10:49:30

Does Spottify have dsp plugins?

Post 42 by starfly (99956) on Wednesday, 09-Nov-2016 9:54:35

I currently am in between jobs, so giving google play music a run for its money. So far what I do like about google play music, works on both my fave platform "android" and my IPhone 7+. NO need to figure out how i'm going to move play lists around be apple's music and google's. If apple would allow me to add it to my bill for sprint then I would scratch my head possibly and switch.

Post 43 by forereel (Just posting.) on Wednesday, 09-Nov-2016 15:41:06

Apple music Amazon, Spotify, and Napster, both work on both Android and Apple devices.
Your playlist and all transfer.

Post 44 by starfly (99956) on Saturday, 12-Nov-2016 12:19:20

My biggest issue is I can not add apple music to my sprint bill, so no go at this time.

Post 45 by forereel (Just posting.) on Saturday, 12-Nov-2016 16:48:42

Nope, can't do that.
Now Sprint is adding Napster. You might want to give that a trial run.
Your content won't go with, but it might be interesting to play with.

Post 46 by battle star queen (I just keep on posting!) on Thursday, 24-Nov-2016 17:59:54

Personally, I prefer Pandora one, now known as Pandora plus.