Spotify Premium Extends Free Trial Period to Three Months

How does Spotify compare to Apple Music? I’ve never dived into it.

I’d hate to put even 3 free months into making playlists and gathering song just to find I don’t like it.

This is a terribly unpopular opinion to express here on MacRumours, so I am braced for the usual incoming hate mail/death threats/fatwahs etc…

IMHO, Spotify is much better than Apple Music.

Main thing is I can control Spotify on my Mac by using the iPhone app. I come in from outside listening to something on Spotify and it picks up and continues on my Mac. Seamless.
You Cannot do this with Apple Music. It is not possible…

I have had Spotify for many years and cannot fault the suggestions of new music etc.

Spotify understands/has learnt I don't want to or need to listen to Hip Hop/Urban whatever that crap is that Apple keeps suggesting to me. (But if that is your thing, then by god, Apple will help you fill your needs.

I listen to Classical mostly and while Apple has the same catalogue as Spotify, the search function is dismal — often incomplete and just plain wrongly catalogued.

But… give both Spotify and Apple Music a go.

All the streaming services have a broadly similar catalogue of music. Where Spotify comes into its own is for discovery of new music: it's fabulous, streets ahead of the competition. And its UI is pretty good too.

Agree.

Unfortunately its sound quality is really poor in comparison with the others so you must take your choice, sound quality vs discovery: if you are just listening on bluetooth headphones through a phone then maybe you wont notice the difference but if you have any kind of hifi setup that you want to stream your music through then all their competitors have much much better sound quality. Its such a shame, I would be really happy to subscribe to spotify but the sound quality makes it pointless.

Really?
I listen to Spotify at out on the street, at home and while at work… The quality is 100% for me. All settings are on Very High.
I also have a current Apple Music sub and the difference in quality is just not there… I mean, I see people talk about the quality difference, but, I do not hear it.

But then again I am no "Audiophile" who sits hunched next to their speakers waiting to pounce on perceived distrortions and quality issues. 🤣

This is a terribly unpopular here on MacRumours, so I am braced for the usual incoming hate mail/death threats/fatwahs etc…

IMHO, Spotify is much better than Apple Music.

Main thing is I can control Spotify on my Mac by using the iPhone app. I come in from outside listening to something on Spotify and it picks up and continues on my Mac. Seamless.
You Cannot do this with Apple Music. It is not possible…

I have had Spotify for many years and cannot fault the suggestions of new music etc.

Spotify understands/has learnt I don't want to or need to listen to Hip Hop/Urban whatever that crap is that Apple keeps suggesting to me. (But if that is your thing, then by god, Apple will help you fill your needs.

I listen to Classical mostly and while Apple has the same catalogue as Spotify, the search function is dismal — often incomplete and just plain wrongly catalogued.

But… give both Spotify and Apple Music a go.

The UX on Spotify is much better. UI also seems "lighter" but that's probably just me.

Apple Music has lossless with the base subscription. The fact that Spotify doesn't even have the feature let alone locking it behind another "tier" is enough reason for me to use Apple Music.

It depends on what you want - if you care about music discovery and a better UI, then Spotify is the way forward, if you care about quality of music and the Apple ecosystem, the Apple Music is better.

Of course, if you're listening to Apple Music without the correct equipment, then it's a bit futile anyway.

I moved from Apple Music to Spotify about 7 months ago. The reasons I switched:
1. GUI is so much better, Apple GUI can’t match. It’s seems like Apple Music is not from Apple, it’s really bad.
2. Equalization is better (it comes with premium package) you’ll need this for genres like classic rock, guitar driven music. Todays equipment are so define and designed for a bid bass sound that is not compatible with other genres, that’s where a graphic EQ comes handy, even a simple one. The Apple pre built EQ offering is the worst preset settings I have use in my life.
3. When you set the app for high quality sound there is no difference with Apple Music, at least for the genre of music I like.
4. Apple keeps pushing you recommending genres of music that you are not interested in. I don’t know why this happens but it does.
5. Better search algorithm.

When Apple release a graphic EQ and update the app to a better user experience I will give it a try, for now I have found Spotify a better option.

@arkitect haha! No judgement or death threats here. Thanks for the reply, and very interesting. Seems like I’m gonna have to try it now. I know a couple people that refuse to leave it but never explained helpful uses like you did.

I’ve always used Apple Music for the free promos and because it’s integrated. But hate some of their suggestions as well.

Thanks! 👊😃👍

The UX on Spotify is much better. UI also seems "lighter" but that's probably just me.

100% Agree. 👍