So just trying both out at the mo, free Spotify and Apple’s free three month trial, Spotify seems to have a better more user friendly interface but obvs due to quality and ads I generally stick it on Apple which I find a bit clunkier and less intuitive to navigate around.

What do people reckon is the better of the two to opt for for the full fat version long term? Have iphones around the house but PCs not mac if that makes a difference.

Apple pays artists almost double per stream, if that factors into your decision at all!

I did a 3 month free trial of spotify premium recently, currently on a 3 month trial of Apple Music.

I haven’t found a compelling reason (from the features) to choose one over the other TBH.

Apple will be royally screwed when people finally realise that iPhones are not worth the premium that Apple seem to think they are.

At that point Spotify will seem like the cool choice

[maybe]

We are a Spotify family but I’m the only one with an Android device – the others have no interest in Apple Music.

I used to be a Mac user (about 20 years ago) but I now dislike the whole Apple ecosystem.

At that point Spotify will seem like the cool choice

What about when Spotify go bankrupt as they’ve funded their expansion with massive loans & have never turned a profit?

Of course the beauty of streaming services is that if the one you’re using does go pop, you can just sign up with another right away!

On iphone I think Apple Music is the better, slicker bet. Works nicely with Sonos too since they sorted the app out (Spotify is probably fine too). Have 6 months Apple Music from EE bundled and I might well pay for it after, having previously had no real interest in streaming, so it’s clearly woring its way into my listening. This may or may not be a good thing.

Zilog6128 probably has the most compelling reason long term to be honest.

Thankfully the exclusivity deals (artist’s new album on only one platform for weeks/months) seem to have gone away. So the only compelling reason to choose or stay with one is if it’s what your friends/family use or you have a load of playlists saved.

We’re Apple-centric so Apple Music made more sense for us.

I do wonder at what point Spotify will make a profit, they’ve lost over a billion dollars in the last couple of years and it’s not like they have any other business propping that up.

To borrow a phrase…

Spotify it just works, does everything I want it too if it stops I’ll go somewhere else.

If you happen to be allergic to Apple and Spotify do go under, there’s always Deezer which is much of a muchness, albeit owned and financed by Orange.

Apple is cheaper if you do a year subscription.

Apple will be royally screwed when people finally realise that iPhones are not worth the premium that Apple seem to think they are.

Just you and ballmer on that one I think.

iPhones are not worth the premium that Apple seem to think they are.

The after-market for iPhones seems to not support your opinion. What price a second-hand Android phone?

Your confusing premium and idiots buying 3 year old tech CZ.

But hey what’s your opinions on music streaming?

Just bought a couple of Sonos/Soni and as I have prime have decided to try Amazon Unlimited at 7.99. seems to have all I need at the moment.

Am I the only person that uses google music?

Apple Music doesn’t work with Alexa if that’s a consideration.

I fully hate apple music with a passion, so spotify wins for me by quite a long way. I like iPhones and android phones. Both good.

While I have an iPhone and iPad I find Apple Music deals confusingly with the stuff I’ve bought. I think this maybe due to the fact I buy some stuff off iTunes and then change the categories etc. Apple Music then duplicates this by suggesting I download the unadulterated original from the cloud. Whatever it does I don’t like it!

Spotify is great because it has been around so long. I have a really old iPod touch that even now works with an old Spotify app. However the Spotify catalogue and my own music don’t really work seamlessly together.

I’m with belfastflyer. Google Music does the best job of bringing my music and the wider catalogue together. It’s the only one I consistently pay for.

I really like the aesthetic of Tidal (the cheaper subscription). The text and photos associated with their playlists feel a lot better thought out.

Just about everyone in my office is on Spotify whether they are on Apple, Windows or Android. I like the fact that it isn’t tied to one OS, with no reason to favour one of the other. Oh and it works.

I like the fact that it isn’t tied to one OS

are any of them?

The things I like about Spotify are

1) the little biog bit that tells you about the artist you are listening to, and

2) the way that the ‘album’ section for each artist  actually contains albums and not just more singles à la Apple Music

I’m a long time Apple user but I use Spotify. I just find it easier to use than Apple Music (I did a 3 month trial of it).

Spotify can even be used through a Web Browser – no apps needed – so just log in anywhere you fancy.

Apple Music for me. It always has the music I want to listen to. We are on a family subscription it works well. Great for new releases too. Probably Spotify is the same.

Google music is pretty good, but also doesn’t work with Alexa.

TBH Spotify is the best I’ve used.

In the long term, Apple will buy Spotify.

Spotify has never turned a profit, Apple has a tonne of cash in reserve.  They’ll wait until Spotify are bankrupt or nearly bankrupt so the price is nice and low and then buy them.

Aren’t all streaming services losing money hand over fist (including Apple)?

Make the most of £10 a month while it lasts – sooner or later they will be charging a lot more.

We have an Alexa and the house is rigged up with several chrome cast audios which all work well with Spotify. Only issue I have is that I got an Apple Watch for Christmas and (surprise) there’s no Spotify app for it which is really annoying.

Gave a trial of Apple Music a go and managed to copy some Spotify playlists over using an app called SongShift. I could then sync with the watch and listen whilst running without the phone. This was good but once the trail was up, I haven’t bothered renewing with Apple. I think Spotify is better and need the Chromecast compatibility. I can work around the Apple watch issue.

Spotify has never turned a profit, Apple has a tonne of cash in reserve.  They’ll wait until Spotify are bankrupt or nearly bankrupt so the price is nice and low and then buy them.

So true! They’ve already bought shazam, which is one of the best things about Spotify because it means you play all the songs you’ve ID’d as a playlist…

Got into the habit of using Alexa to use voice commands to control music through Sonos. It plays with Sportify but not with Apple music. A shame as apple music plays better with the car.

Aren’t all streaming services losing money hand over fist (including Apple)?

I was under the impression it was hugely profitable for them (despite being far more generous re. artist payments than Spotify).

Strangely no figures in the article saying they are…

https://qz.com/986641/unlike-spotify-apple-music-would-rather-make-money-than-have-400-million-users/

Got some figures? It’s very easy for Google or Apple to write off a lot of costs associated with a service to make them look like something else. I’d be interested to see some actual figures with a decent breakdown.

We use Spotify even though we have mainly Apple products at home. Integration with Sonus is a real bonus.

I’ll let Apples free trial run and get a full fat trial of Spotify to try along side.  I’m trialing the free version of Spotify and I find the ads too annoying and the lower quality is really noticable as I’m streaming it through the hifi, Apple’s quality sounds the same as my CDs.

Looks like Spotify is going to get my cash.

Thanks for the feedback folks.

Changed from Spotify to Apple Music. Changed when I got an Apple watch, I can dictate what music I want while I’m cycling (and skip forward/backward etc)

It’s different but it’s around the same I find.

I’m a long time iTunes user so tried the Apple Music trial first then tried Spotify. I settled for Spotify. More of the music I like was there (especially older and more obscure stuff), works better with other devices (Alexa, my Soundbar etc) and the price is about the same (they also do a family sharing option). I also preferred the way it let me discover new music.

Can you upload your own music collection to spotify like you can on Google play

Apple also has the better CarPlay app, I hate Spotify

I’ve been using Apple Music pretty much since launch, I got suckered in by the 3 month trial and haven’t looked back despite a near-hatred of subscription services over buying. Frankly though unless your music tastes are so set in stone you never buy any new music it’s just the better structure. Anyway, that’s not the point here.

I’ve never used Spotify, but I tried to ‘do the rounds’ on the long free trials to save a few quid. I missed Spotify but Google Music was okay, Groove was terrible (unless you’ve got an Xbox because you can occasionally play your playlists live in some games) and Apple the best, but there’s not much in it really.

For me, must-haves are, CarPlay app and Shazam interface (ie I can Shazam a new song I’ve heard and like and add it directly to a playlist).

Apple is let perfect, if you’re playing a curated playlist and close the app, when you return you can pick up from where you left off, but only skip forward and back, you can find the playlist again unless you search for it and it’s a faff to switch playlists as you seem to have to go backwards 3 steps to go forward one.

Content wise I’ve never not been able to find a track , but then I’m not into Hungarian reggae either.