When looking at an audio streaming service like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and the like, there is only one question at the forefront of the mind: “What is the better option?” Such a question is open and broad and can have a vast array of interpretations but for most people that question simply means “Will it play the music I like?” As far as Spotify is concerned, it can do all of that and more.
One of the greatest edges Spotify has over other music service providers is that the service offers a freemium version with ads. This allows anyone at any time to create an account and start listening to their favorite artists.
And of course, you can subscribe to premium at any time, and more importantly, cancel at any time without worrying about getting locked out of your account.
Spotify also boasts a catalog of over 100 million songs, in addition to thousands of podcasts, audiobooks and music videos — whereas Apple delegates books and podcasts to their own apps, with separate subscriptions.
Additionally, Spotify has an easily readable and efficient user interface, in-app text resizing for those with impaired vision and automatically generated transcripts of music and podcasts.
Couple this with the fact that Spotify has a dedicated web version and it’s evident that Spotify is far more accessible than YouTube Music.
Another ball in Spotify’s court is the sheer value you get from it and its bundles as opposed to some other services.
For those attending college, which is likely most people reading this, Spotify offers a special subscription that bundles Spotify Premium and Hulu for only $5.99 a month.
Compare this with YouTube Music, which offers no additional services. Rather, if you want anything extra with your YouTube Music subscription, you’re going to have to buy YouTube Premium, which comes in at $7.99 a month.
Of course, no article about Spotify would be complete without mentioning Spotify Wrapped. In this annual social media phenomenon, casual listeners and connoisseurs come together to share their listening habits with the world.
While it’s true that Apple Music and YouTube Music have developed their versions of Wrapped, let’s just take a moment to be honest with ourselves here. No one in the history of humankind has ever said “Hey, check out my Apple Music Replay” or “Look at my YouTube Music Recap.” No, the one everyone cares about is Spotify Wrapped and seemingly will be for the foreseeable future.
All in all, Spotify offers a wide variety of features for a great price and goes to show that there is value to be found in an app that does many things as opposed to one that tries only one.
That being said, Spotify isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The app is lacking in a few key areas, most notably that Spotify is notorious for not paying their artists, reportedly offering their content creators less than half a cent per song streamed.
This, of course, is unsustainable for most indie content creators, and as such, has been a key reason why the music streaming industry has become so saturated with apps.
With so many new competitors in the audio streaming market, only time will tell if Spotify’s legacy will be a match for the emerging apps of the future.
Out of 75 votes, 52 voted for Spotify; 18 voted for Apple Music; 3 voted for YouTube Music and 2 voted for Soundcloud.
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