With 433 million active users, there’s no doubt that Spotify is the leader in the music streaming market. It’s an excellent place to listen to music and grow as an artist. You’ll come across 11 million creators with many newbies in a constant hustle to get free Spotify followers. The more exposure one gets, the more chances are of becoming the new superstar!
But times are slowly changing. New competitive platforms have entered the market: Apple Music and YouTube Music. These music services are rapidly growing. YouTube Music has even announced it will take over Spotify as the leader by 2025. That’s a couple more years! So, what should be the next move of both the artists and users? Which platform should be chosen? Let’s find out in this detailed Spotify vs. YouTube Music vs. Apple Music comparison!
Sound Quality
Apple Music leaves all streaming platforms behind in terms of sound quality. It has developed a new lossless audio technology that offers resolutions ranging from 16-bit/44.1kHz to 24-bit/192 kHz. There’s also a spatial audio option, which uses Dolby atmos. So, you can expect a rich and immersive listening experience.
Comparatively, Spotify provides 96Kbps on average and 320 Kbps at the highest setting. The only way to improve is by using high-end headphones or speakers. As for YouTube Music, you shouldn’t really expect much. The highest quality option is 256 Kbps!
Playlist Limits
As music enthusiasts, we can confidently say there’s no limited number of favorite songs. The list just keeps growing as we age! Spotify proves to be very useful in this case. It previously had a limit of 10,000 songs per playlist, but it has now been removed so that users can add/like an unlimited number of songs. However, Apple Music allows you to keep 10,000 songs in the library. YouTube Music further disappoints by restricting you to only 5000 songs!
Plans & Pricing
Whatever service you use, the main focus should be on getting the best value for your money. But it seems like all music streaming services are competing vigorously in this aspect. All three platforms have free trials available. You can use Spotify and Apple Music without paying anything for 3 months. Meanwhile, YouTube Music’s free trial lasts a month.
You can opt for different plans once the trial is over. They include:
● Free Plan
● Student Plan
● Standard Plan
● Family Plan
The free plans for YouTube Music and Spotify are the same. You can’t remove the ads or download the songs for offline listening. In YouTube Music, you can’t avail of the background play feature either. However, you can unlock the Premium features for just $4.98 and $4.99. For Apple Music, there’s no free plan, and you need to pay to use any feature. The music streaming service connects with iCloud and allows you to sync the songs to all devices.
Conclusion
All in all, the best value-for-money service for listeners depends on their needs. If you don’t want to spend anything, Spotify is a better option than YouTube Music. We say this because Spotify has a comparatively good sound quality with no restriction on the number of songs. However, if you’re an Apple user, there could be no better option than Apple Music.
For creators, Spotify remains the best option – no matter what. It may not offer outstanding sound quality like Apple Music, but it has the largest user base. Plus, the Spotify for Artists feature makes it easier to grow.