We checked out the big names, including Spotify, Apple MusicAmazon Music, YouTube Music And Deezeras well as smaller ones like Tidal, QobuzNapster and Pandora Premiumto see how each platform compares to your subscription dollar. Most services offer music catalogs of around 100 million tracks and are supported by a multitude of different devices.
Since all services have basically the same libraries, we evaluated each of them based on:
- Ease of use
- Cost
- Features
- Sound quality
Although YouTube Music objectively offers the “worst” quality based on numbers alone, most people won’t notice a difference, especially on phones or Bluetooth speakers. The biggest benefits for Spotify users, in particular, are the service’s ubiquity, community features, and the ability to easily pair with other devices.
Apple’s also gets high marks due to its suitability for iOS and Mac users, as well as its ability to listen to higher quality streams at no extra cost. If the service were more accessible to PC users and smart home fans, Apple Music would easily become the service we’d recommend. In short, Spotify is better for users of almost any phone, smart device or computer.
