On Tuesday, Apple launched their long-awaited music streaming service, Apple Music, which, like nearly every new Apple product ever, is being billed as a game-changer. Years ago, Apple positioned itself at forefront of music consumption with the releases of iTunes and iPod, forever altering how we experience music. Now, the company is attempting to reclaim its dominance in the audio game by going against the current streaming leaders—specifically, Tidal, Rhapsody, and the largest of them all: Spotify.
As part of iOS 8.4, Apple Music offers a three month trial for users, followed by a $9.99/month plan. Alternatively, there is the option of using Apple Music as an ad-supported free service. Are there any differences between Apple Music and other major streaming services, such as Spotify?
The quick answer: Yes—but not a whole lot.
Spotify streaming service features:
- A monthly fee of $9.99 with 30-day free trial
- Free service provided with ads
- Offline listening available with paid subscription only
- Family sharing available for $5 per month, per additional user
- Music library size of $30 million and more
- Available on Windows, Mac, PlayStation 3 and up, Android, iOS, Windows Phone
- Streams music at a bit rate of 320 kilobits per second (kbps) in Advanced Audio Coding*
- No social interaction
Apple Music streaming service features:
- A monthly free of $9.99 with a 3-month free trial
- Free service provided with limited features
- Offline listening available with paid subscription only
- Family sharing available for $14.99 per month for up to six shared people
- Music library size of 30 million
- Available on iOS, Mac, Windows, with Apple TV and Android coming in Fall
- Streams music at a bit rate of 256 kilobits per second (kbps) in Advanced Audio Coding
- Social interaction through new feature called Connect
*The bit rate of streaming music directly impacts the quality of sound. The higher the bit rate, the better the quality.
It's clear the differences between Spotify and Apple Music are few when it comes to the basics; neither service offers anything significantly different. Spotify is the same price (although a little bit more expensive for sharing), offers better quality sound and slightly more extensive music library. Apple Music, however, is slightly cheaper when sharing membership, has new features that Spotify does not provide (such as Beats 1 Radio, "For You" and "Connect"), but offers no upgrades when it comes to the quality of their sound or music library.
Additional services provided by Apple Music include Beats 1, which is a 24/7 worldwide radio service conceived by Trent Reznor that provides free programming from the likes of Dr. Dre, Zane Lowe, Elton John, Pharrell Williams, Jaden Smith, and many more. The only downfall here? These programs are not podcasts: they need to be caught in real time (you know, like actual radio stations) or it's missed entirely. Spotify provides a radio service as well, Spotify Radio, which allows you to discover radio channels based off of artists you select. It doesn't provide original programming like Apple Music does, however.
Additionally, Apple Music provides hyper-customization through its "For You" feature: Similar to Netflix, it develops an understanding of your taste by your previous selections and existing iTunes library, providing you customized music recommendations. Apple Music also assists its users with finding new music, which Rolling Stone says makes the process of discovering new artists a little easier. Spotify offers similar services (radio stations are improved by liking or disliking songs) but doesn't offer as much personalization as Apple Music.
NTRSCTN interviewed Tom Jelneck, who is a tech expert for Fox News Orlando, as well as owner of Target Web Solutions, an Orlando-based SEO and digital marketing agency. We asked him on his personal take of the new music streaming service in comparison to other leading options.
NTRSCTN: How is Apple Music different from any other music streaming service? Tom Jelneck: Apple Music is poised to capture the attention of loyal iPhone users across the globe (in over 100 Countries) with the June 30th release of its subscription service. So, how does it differ from other services like rival Spotify? From the surface, not by much. Both have slick, easy to use interfaces, both offer a ton of songs and variety, both offer reasonable pricing models and both are constantly adding new tracks, new artists and new playlists. If you dig a bit deeper in, you'll notice four areas of distinction though:- Pricing. Both subscription services run around $10.00 a month, BUT Apple has a clear distinction here, they are offering a family plan which includes access for up to 6 family members for $14.99. Spotify on the other hand charges and additional $5.00 per additional user. Both Spotify and Apple Music offer a free trial, so that makes it appealing to kick the tires on both until you settle on one.
- Music Choice. Both Spotify and Apple Music offer a ton of variety in terms of artists & music but Apple Music seems to be offering more of an Indie music variety / selection.
- Ease Of Use. Spotify has a very slick UI, as does Apple Music. Both let you import music from your own medium into the library which is great if you are out to create party lists, etc.. Apple Music DOES let you pull in your existing iTunes music directly into the Apple Music interface which should make it easy for existing Spotify users to make the move over to Apple Music.
- Compatibility. If you're an Android user you won't be able to use Apple Music YET. There are a few rumors around a future release date of an Android based app though.
It has been confirmed that Apple Music provides sound quality similar to that of iTunes (256 kbps), whereas Spotify offers sound quality that is slightly greater (1,411 kbps). Is this something listeners will distinctively notice? While the average Joe/Cindy may not notice a difference while listening to Apple Music, audiophiles may. Apple Music's streaming rate falls in the middle range in terms of quality. A true audio snob may detect some distortion or lack of brightness as opposed to other providers like Spotify and Google Play who stream at 320Kbps. In order to really notice a difference, you would need very high quality headphones/sound system and a highly trained ear.
Of all the available music streaming services out there, which do you personally use? Why?
--
It seems that there aren't any startling differences between Spotify and Apple Music, however, enough details have been improved on Apple Music to make someone like Jelneck make the temporary switch.
The one distinct feature of Apple Music from Spotify and other music streaming services is its brand-new artist centric social network—Connect. Like a Twitter for artists, Connect is described by Apple as "a place where musicians give their fans a closer look at their work, their inspirations, and their world. It’s a main line into the heart of music—great stuff straight from the artists."
The point of the service is to provide an unfiltered and unedited connection between artists and their fan base in order to better understand the process of their artistry, inspiration behind songs, and give a glimpse into the development of their work. Connect allows users to interact with each artist by posting comments and clicking like on postings (which artists can respond to themselves). Postings can also be shared through other social media forums, such as onto Facebook or Twitter. It's a truly interactive service that is not provided by any other existing music streaming service and, as such, is the defining feature of Apple Music.
You can follow Tom Jelneck on Twitter.
