Spotify vs Apple Music

[Moominho]

I've recently changed to Spotify after being a subscriber to Apple Music from the start. I didn't like the latest update in ios10, the recommended playlists are crap, and the fact I can't look at my previously played songs in the up next section annoyed me. I also didn't like the interface very much.

I'm now using Spotify, which looks a lot nicer. I'm still getting used to it though, and not having my iTunes music in it (although I apparently synced it) means that I am mainly listening to new music. But it is enjoyable so far.

Does anyone have any preferences?

[FN2TypeR]

Spotify by a country mile for me, I have really fallen out with Apples itunes software on their phones these days, that and Apple Music interface is crap compared to Spotify imo.

[Moominho]

FN2TypeR said:

Spotify by a country mile for me, I have really fallen out with Apples itunes software on their phones these days, that and Apple Music interface is crap compared to Spotify imo.

Yeah I have found the same. It's a shame, as I use a lot of apple products and it would be easy from a syncing point of view. But I have found Spotify to have a vastly superior interface.

[HustleRussell]

Apple music was absolutely unusable for me unless I was connected to WiFi. For me that completely defeats the object. Spotify will reliably stream music over 3G at an acceptable bitrate.

[toon10]

I use Spotify now. I signed up to the free trial from Apple Music to extend my extensive collection downloaded to my phone. I decided Apple's version wasn't for me so cancelled. It deleted all of the stored content I had on my phone and replaced it with the steam only version. As I wasn't subscribed, I couldn't save it back offline either. At the same time, my laptop finally gave up the ghost leaving me without a way of copying 10GB worth of MY music back to the phone. Annoyed doesn't even cover it. I'd never have signed up if I knew. I didn't want to use up my data allowance and also like to listen on flights, etc.

I use Spotify Premium and it's brilliant. Much easier and nicer to navigate around. It's not perfect but all of the stuff I had from my iTunes library, I've added on Spotify now anyway so I don't miss Apple Music. I have a nice collection of Playlists so wouldn't like to go away from them now.

[callmedave]

I use spotify. (never used apple music)

What impresses me the most is the cross-platforming of it. I have it installed on my PC and PS4. when using it on either I can control it from my phone once installed you just log in and its set up.

I also like what the Discover weekly offers me.

[Moominho]

callmedave said:

What impresses me the most is the cross-platforming of it. I have it installed on my PC and PS4. when using it on either I can control it from my phone once installed you just log in and its set up.

Just realised this whilst using my phone and PC at the same time. The software is seriously slick, very impressive...

[MrB.]

I have a quick question concerning this (please be gentle, I'm a luddite when it comes to tech!). So, I've used iTunes since I bought my first iPod 13 years ago, and everything I have is Apple tech-wise. MacBook, Apple TV (3), iPhone, etc., and I love the way it all syncs up. Then I started to use Spotify on my phone and my Sonos and this is also great, but then I signed up for Apple Music and am now paying for it and Spotify.

I tend to keep my iPod Classic in the car (Fiat Blue&Me is useless for streaming) but I've now found that although I pay for streaming through Apple Music, the albums I have downloaded on my phone, don't appear in my Library on my Mac. Do I therefore have to purchase the music to install it on my iPod? If that is the case, am I better off restoring the iPod away from Apple and syncing it all with Spotify? Would that mean that everything I have on Spotify that is checked as "Available Offline" I can put onto my iPod Classic?

[mizx]

MrB. said:

Would that mean that everything I have on Spotify that is checked as "Available Offline" I can put onto my iPod Classic?

No, only on the device it was downloaded to.

Moominho said:

callmedave said:

What impresses me the most is the cross-platforming of it. I have it installed on my PC and PS4. when using it on either I can control it from my phone once installed you just log in and its set up.

Just realised this whilst using my phone and PC at the same time. The software is seriously slick, very impressive...

Haven't tried controlling from my phone, I usually just listen on the phone or on PC. Unlike on PC the phone app shows what you listened to recently from the home screen, but that's only what you played on the phone. Audible is quite good with this sort of thing, though you don't really need it for Spotify, it syncs your position on every device, and if you use Kindle, wispersync can sync seamlessly from where you last read to to the same place on the audiobook.

Spotify connect is great too. I have Samsung multiroom speakers, and the only link between them and my PC is their hub which is also wired into the router. If you're listening on PC, you can chose any of the speakers and start playing to them instantly, though you need a phone to change speaker groupings etc. from the Samsung app.

Another thing I'm not sure most will have noticed, if you added some local files to Spotify, you'd probably think it isn't that useful as you can't shuffle them with your saved Spotify tracks? If you click on the album names from there, you can then 'save' them from the single album display, and it will appear among everything else. You can use that to download them to another device of course too.

[Progressive]

Recent convert to Spotify. Listen all weekend via the laptop and all week via the iPhone. Basically an endless source of new, high (enough) quality music constantly delivered to my ears.

The best part for me is (re)discovering some amazing genres and artists that I wouldn't have the time, money and inclination to explore without Spotify. For example early techno music, of which their is hundreds of excellent artists.

[prout]

Same story here - switched from Spotify to Apple Music, then back to Spotify. Apple's user interface was poor by comparison, and the sound quality (to my ears anyway) wasn't as good.