The debate between Apple Music and Spotify is one that is consistently prevalent, usually controversial and always heated. Users are extremely loyal to their platform and will constantly defend their choice, no matter the evidence or situation. This is not surprising, considering how important music is to people, especially college students. Music acts as the mood setter for student’s lives. Studying for an important exam? Crank up some jazz or classical music to get your mind focused. Getting ready to go out with your friends? Turn on some fun throwbacks to which everyone can belt their hearts out. Music is a part of our everyday lives, so it’s no wonder the debate on which platform is the best is a heated one.
Both platforms have very similar offerings to users for the same monthly fee. Features such as collaborating on playlists, platform generated mood and rewind mixes, wrapped playlists and yearly listening overviews just to name a few.
A crucial feature of Apple Music that could be argued sets it above Spotify is the sound quality it offers. It recently implemented Dolby Atmos into its platform. Dolby Atmos is surround sound technology that has been applied to a large portion of Apple Music’s song library. This addition allows most Apple Music tracks to have a surround sound experience as if the song is playing all around you, not just into your ears. As an Apple Music user myself, I think that this addition of Dolby Atmos noticeably enhances the sound quality of the songs it has been applied to.
Another aspect of Apple Music that users love about the platform is the sleek aesthetic of the app. Apple Music allows its users to seamlessly queue songs, create playlists and discover new music. This may seem like a pretty common feature that applies also to Spotify, and it is, but many Spotify users agree that Apple Music is an easier platform to use due to its sleeker appearance.
One perk that is unique to Spotify that could be a deciding factor between Spotify and Apple Music is the new AI Playlist feature. Earlier this year, Spotify released a new feature, known as AI Playlist, which allows users to type mood specific prompts into an AI playlist generator. This generator then gives the user a playlist of songs specific to the mood or vibe they asked for. Prompts like, “Give me an indie folk playlist to give my brain a big warm hug,” or “A relaxing music to tide me over during allergy season” can be inputted into the AI playlist generator.
Back in 2023, Spotify came out with AI Dj, which allows users to play a stream of similar songs based on one’s listening history. Apple Music has a similar feature such as the personalized station that is based around your listening history. Active Spotify user Luz Chapa commented on her love of AI Dj .
“I use it a lot at home when I’m driving around with my friends,” Chapa said. “We all have different music tastes, so it’s good at adapting to our preferences as they change while we hangout.”
As an Apple Music user, I am biased towards the platform. However, I can appreciate how Spotify has recently utilized AI within its software. It is something I feel that Apple Music will replicate soon enough, and I look forward to when it does. Until then, I will always believe that Apple Music is better, but I can see why people love Spotify, as well. This, I feel, is just the nature of the conversation between Apple Music and Spotify.
The comparison between Apple Music and Spotify is a valid, yet specific one. There are very few differences between the two platforms, however the differences boil down to two main things: experience or discovery. Apple Music allows its users to experience their favorite songs with the best sound quality, whereas Spotify makes it easy for users to discover new music based on their current preferences. Another Spotify user, Alyssa Castelli gave her opinion on both platforms.
“Apple Music is preferred for aesthetics and sound quality, but many favor the algorithms and the format of Spotify that allow users to access new music more easily,” Castelli said.
At the end of the day, both platforms are solid choices yet the debate is one that will never die.
