Spotify vs Apple Music vs Google Play Music? Which is worth your money?
It’s a logical debate to have if you’re about to spend your money on a music streaming app - especially when you consider that these apps require monthly payments.
There are many music streaming apps out there today - plenty more than we’re covering in this article. Most of them have their own unique selling points, although some are just cashing in on the general template offered by existing ones. In that case, they’re usually copying one of our three focal apps - Spotify Premium, Apple Music, or Google Play Music.
These three can be considered the big dogs in the music streaming game - Spotify was the first to get the bandwagon rolling, then Apple Music and Google Play Music came along with a similar model, both drawing on their extensive rights to music to create massive libraries of songs for users to listen to whenever they want.
If you’re wondering which of these apps to download, then read on. Bear in mind that all three can be tested for free before purchase.
The Similarities
Before we get started, it’s worth pointing out that all of these music streaming apps give you access to tens of millions of songs, whenever you want, so long as you’re connected to WiFi or mobile data. All of them allow you to store songs offline to listen to when you’re not connected, and all of them feature pretty much all popular music as well as extensive back-catalogues of all the greats, small bands and independent weirdness.
They’re all built off of a similar model, and feature information about the artists and usually lyrics to songs as well. To put it bluntly, they’re all amazing apps that give you unhindered access to more music than you could possibly listen to over a single lifetime.
Battle of the Titans
The music industry has gone through countless changes in the last few decades - chief among them was the rise of people illegally torrenting music online. While fines were put in place for websites hosting illegal content, the internet simply works too fast. No one could ever have hoped to keep a lid on torrenting - it had long since become the norm - why would anyone pay $20 for an album when they could just download it for free? Record sales were reduced to people with a strong desire to support artists and people who couldn’t figure out how to work the internet.
A third way eventually emerged in the form of music streaming apps. These multimillion-dollar enterprises filled the void and made everyone happy - they put money back into the music industry (albeit not as much as record sales did) and gave listeners all the music they could ever ask for without making them have to download and store it. The big fish soon emerged - anyone could have guessed that Apple - the creators of the iPod - would be one of them, and Google, well that was also pretty obvious. Once Spotify had the lead it seemed evident they weren’t going to lose any ground either.
Google Play Music
The behemoth music streaming app was established in 2013 as a result of the growing popularity of Spotify and its copycats. Boasting an epic library of more than 40 million songs, Google Play Music allows users to store 50,000 of their own songs offline without taking up tons of space on their device, making it the most formidable app of choice for those who want to build a substantial music collection. The service includes a massive amount of playlists to suit different moods - way more than the other two.
The app costs US$9.99 for a single account and $14.99 for a family account with six members. The free version is limited to ad-supported radio stations and has a 30-day free trial available for users to get a feel for the full version.
The app is going to be replaced by YouTube Music in 2019, which will keep all the same features while promising to increase the amount of content and throw in some cool new features. Existing Google Play Music accounts will be automatically switched to YouTube Music, so don’t worry about losing all your saved data.
Apple Music
Before there was music streaming, there was iTunes. Apple Music was established in 2015 and holds more than 35 million songs, making it the more or less on par with the other giants in terms of content. Users can store up to 100,000 of their own songs to stream back, which beats Google Play Music.
The app is $10 per month, or $15 for the family plan, although the first three months are free. There currently isn’t any permanent free version of the app, however. Some unique features of Apple Music are the 24/7 live radio stations that feature DJs - making the app more ‘people focussed’ than the others.
Spotify Music
Spotify is the longest running of the three, and in many ways it has the best design, although less colourful than Google PLay Music, it’s very easy to navigate and especially easy to share songs with your friends. The app holds around 40 million songs as well as podcasts and videos. While it’s also just $10 per month for premium, the family plan is significantly more expensive than the other two at $30 per month.
That being said, Spotify free holds the same amount of music - interrupted by ads - and they have a 50 per cent discount for students. Spotify allows you to save up to 10,000 offline so you don’t even have to be connected to the internet to use it. The app has a strong built in recommendations system and provides users with various playlists to suit their mood.
Overall
When comparing the three, it’s impossible not to consider that when Google Play Music becomes YouTube Music in 2019 it will include YouTube Red, which essentially gives it unlimited songs that the other apps won’t have. You’ll be able to listen to practically anything.
Spotify has the most well balanced design and without doubt the best free version - it also has the best student discount.
Apple Music is still somewhat new, but it features some of the best user-made playlists and radio stations, as well as the most potential to upload your own music.
Our favourite is Google Play Music for content, and Spotify for all round user experience. Sorry Apple Music.