By Olivia Koravos
There is much to be offered by Apple Music, but there is also much to be offered by Spotify. It is interesting to see, to say the least, such a divide between the two, and just how strongly people feel about their choice of music application. With a university registered email that requires students to re-apply every year, both Apple Music and Spotify allow students to pay just $4.99 a month for their services. Because of these rivaling prices, each app has to, therefore, compete with the other and includes services and perks that lure students to their product.
Apple Music offers some features that Spotify does not. To start, Apple Music has more video content offered to its users than Spotify does. Many do not use this feature but it is still available for customers to use. Every once and awhile, Apple Music will have album exclusives, meaning an artist will release their album on Apple Music before releasing it anywhere else. In addition, iPhone users can access Apple Music directly through Siri, asking the program to play anything from Apple Music’s selected features with the touch of a button and a single command. Mac users are known to particularly enjoy using Apple Music as they are familiar with using iTunes music library.
Spotify has a wide array of features that do not correlate with those of Apple Musics. For example, they have a ‘Discover Weekly’ section and it is a feature that many of its customers use every Monday when a playlist refreshes, adding in and changing out new songs. This section shows users songs and artists that they may not be familiar with, but is still curated to the user’s listening habits. In addition, Spotify allows users to see exactly what their friends and family are listening to in real-time if they follow them. This is located on the right-hand side of the desktop Spotify app. For users who might temporarily (or permanently) want to hide what they are listening to from those who follow them, they do have the option to switch to private.
There are many similarities between these two apps that go beyond pricing. Both of these apps have a recommendation section, have browse tabs that closely mimic one another, and even audio quality options that many might not aware of. Apple Music and Spotify include a radio section and even show users who are at the top of the charts. With that being said, it may be a tough choice for somebody when deciding whether or not they should use one of these two apps. Music is important to many and having the best possible listening experience is one that takes a bit of time, for the specific benefits within vary from person to person.