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  • Apple Music VS. Spotify: The Details
Technology Articles > Entertainment > Music > Apple Music VS. Spotify: The Details

Apple Music officially launched yesterday. Apple is taking a direct shot at popular streaming service Spotify with its new music service, but how does it actually stack up to what Spotify offers?

If you are considering purchasing a streaming membership, take a look at this direct comparison between Apple Music and Spotify.

The Plan

It’s hard to imagine why Spotify doesn’t offer a family plan (it’s something that users have wanted from the start), but Spotify remains a single person plan. Apple, on the other hand, has the family thing down, and the company is making it much simpler for families to get together in order to use the new service.

Here’s how the plans stack up:

-Spotify: $10 per month with each additional person costing $5 per month.
-Apple Music: $10 per month or $15 for the 6-person family plan.

If you want to sign up the whole family, Apple Music makes more sense. If you’re solo, the price remains the same.

What You’ll Get for Free

Spotify does offer some incentive for people to sign up for the service, and Apple has decided to do the same thing. If you don’t want to pay for a plan just yet (and, hey, it’s a good idea to test out Apple Music before you commit to a plan anyway), you can get 3 months for free. With Spotify, you can listen to the service for fee all the time, but you’ll be hit with advertisements if you do go with that option. Right now, Apple Music is ad-free.

Some Extras

Apple has also launched a radio services called Beats1 Radio that will be free for members. Here’s how the freebies stack up when comparing Spotify to Apple Music.

Spotify: free streaming if you can handle the advertisements. You’ll also have access to Podcasts, some TV shows, and other free content.

Apple Music: Beats1, Siri control options, and a special look at Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 25k Song Locker.’ If you’re a Swift fan, this might be a good option for you.

Streaming Details

Apple Music streams at a 256kbps bitrate, and Spotify streams at 320kbps.

Other Options

Of course, Apple and Spotify aren’t the only streaming music options out there. You can also check out Amazon’s Prime Music, which you can sign up for at $99 per year (this is basically the Prime membership deal - Prime Music is included in this price). There’s Google Play Music, Tidal, Xbox Music, Rhapsody, and a few others out there as well. Which one is the best? Well, right now Spotify is still on top, but Apple plans to knock Spotify off of its pedestal.

The other services mentioned here are worth a look (and if you have Prime, you might as well use that), and so is the new Apple Music. As far as which company has the most music, that’s a toss up between Apple and Spotify at the moment, but Apple is also winning a lot of artist and label hearts.