As a digital technology expert and avid music lover, I‘ve watched the music streaming wars unfold with great interest over the years. Ever since Spotify launched in 2008 and Apple Music followed suit in 2015, these two services have been locked in an intense battle for subscribers and market share. While both platforms offer vast music libraries, algorithmic recommendations, and multi-device support, there are some key differences that make each one better suited for different types of listeners. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll dive deep into the nuts and bolts of Apple Music and Spotify to help you determine which service deserves your hard-earned dollars.
Tale of the Tape: Spotify vs Apple Music by the Numbers
Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let‘s take a quick look at some key statistics that highlight the scope and scale of Apple Music and Spotify in 2023:
| Metric | Spotify | Apple Music |
|---|---|---|
| Total Users | 456 million | 88 million |
| Paid Subscribers | 195 million | 60 million |
| Available Countries | 178 | 167 |
| Song Library | 70+ million | 75+ million |
| Podcast Titles | 4.2 million | 60,000 |
| Maximum Audio Quality | 320kbps Ogg Vorbis | 24-bit/192kHz Lossless |
| Revenue (Q4 2022) | €3.2 billion | $4.7 billion (estimate) |
| Music Catalog Size | 70 million songs | 75 million songs |
Sources: Company reports, Music Business Worldwide, Statista
As you can see, Spotify maintains a sizeable lead in terms of total users and paid subscribers, thanks in large part to its popular free ad-supported tier. However, Apple Music is slowly closing the gap, with a 17% year-over-year increase in subscribers in 2022. Both services are available in over 160 countries worldwide, making them the two most widely accessible streaming platforms.
When it comes to sheer music volume, Apple Music boasts a slight edge over Spotify with approximately 5 million additional tracks. But Spotify more than makes up for this with its unparalleled podcast selection, offering over 4 million titles compared to Apple‘s paltry 60,000. Of course, quantity doesn‘t necessarily equal quality, but having more content to choose from is generally a good thing.
Perhaps the most significant difference between the two services is audio quality. While Spotify maxes out at 320kbps using the Ogg Vorbis format, Apple Music offers true lossless audio up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution. We‘ll explore what this means for sound quality in more detail later.
Finally, it‘s worth noting that both Spotify and Apple Music are generating massive amounts of revenue, with Spotify raking in €3.2 billion ($3.37B) in Q4 2022 alone. Industry analysts estimate that Apple Music earned around $4.7 billion in the same quarter, although Apple doesn‘t break out specific revenue figures for the service.
Music Discovery and Personalization: Man vs Machine
One of the biggest challenges with streaming services that offer 70M+ songs is finding new music that aligns with your unique tastes. Both Apple Music and Spotify use complex algorithms to analyze your listening habits and generate personalized playlists and recommendations. However, the two services take somewhat different approaches.
Spotify is well-known for its flagship "Discover Weekly" playlist, which serves up 30 new tracks tailored to your tastes every Monday. It‘s uncannily good at surfacing lesser-known artists and deep cuts that fit your vibe. According to Spotify, over 17 billion tracks have been streamed from Discover Weekly playlists to date, with more than half of all listening hours now coming from Spotify recommendations.
So how does it work? Spotify uses a combination of collaborative filtering and natural language processing (NLP) to understand your musical preferences on both a macro and micro level. On the macro side, it looks at high-level similarities between you and other listeners to see what else they‘re playing. But it also analyzes more granular data points like the actual audio content of each song using machine learning models that can detect specific categories like genre, mood, tempo, instrumentation, and more.
Spotify data scientist Ajay Kalia explained it to The Verge like this: "We look at things like what else you‘ve been listening to and what are the similarities between those songs in terms of the actual audio content. We also factor in artist and popularity, and put it together in a way that you still get familiar songs but also get songs that are new and that you‘ve never heard of before."
Apple Music, on the other hand, takes a more human-centric approach to curation and music discovery. While it certainly uses algorithms to power features like its "For You" personalized playlists, it also relies heavily on human tastemakers to create hand-picked playlists and radio stations.
As Jimmy Iovine, Apple Music‘s co-founder and legendary music producer, told The Verge: "I just don‘t believe that algorithms on their own can do the job. You need human curation with algorithms. Spotify has a good product, but it‘s not going to be enough in the end. The labels want to be in business with Spotify, but they want to make as much money as possible. And if Spotify builds everything on the back of the labels without being a true partner, it‘s going to be difficult for them to survive."
This human-led approach can be seen in Apple Music‘s many celebrity-curated playlists, like Nile Rodgers‘ Funk & Soul Classics or Billie Eilish‘s "me & dad radio." By tapping into the tastes and expertise of established artists and music experts, Apple Music aims to create a more authentic and artisanal feel compared to Spotify‘s data-driven approach.
So which method is more effective for music discovery? It‘s hard to say definitively, as it largely comes down to personal preference. In my experience, Spotify‘s algorithmic recommendations are scarily accurate and have introduced me to countless new artists that have become personal favorites. But I also appreciate the more handcrafted feel of Apple Music‘s playlists, which often include fascinating liner notes and backstories that add valuable context.
Spatial Audio and Lossless: How Apple Music is Pushing the Boundaries of Audio Quality
If you‘re a discerning audiophile, you know that not all music streaming services are created equal when it comes to sound quality. While Spotify and most other platforms use compressed audio formats like Ogg Vorbis or AAC, Apple Music has embraced higher fidelity listening with the introduction of lossless audio and Dolby Atmos spatial audio in 2021.
So what exactly is lossless audio, and why should you care? In simple terms, lossless audio is a type of audio compression that preserves all the original data from the studio recording, resulting in sound quality that‘s indistinguishable from the master. This is in contrast to "lossy" formats like MP3 or AAC, which discard some data to achieve smaller file sizes at the expense of audio fidelity.
Apple Music offers lossless streaming at up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution, which is significantly higher than CD quality (16-bit/44.1kHz). According to Apple, this means you can hear music "exactly as the artists and engineers intended it to be heard in the studio." Of course, you‘ll need a compatible playback device and high-quality headphones or speakers to fully appreciate the difference. But for those seeking the most authentic and detailed listening experience possible, Apple Music‘s lossless tier is a game-changer.
As musician John Oates put it, "I think what Apple is doing with this lossless streaming is incredible because it really allows the true artistic representation of music to come through. You don‘t get that from compressed formats."
In addition to lossless audio, Apple Music also supports Dolby Atmos spatial audio on select tracks. This immersive format uses object-based audio mixing to place sounds in a 3D space around your head, creating a more realistic and expansive soundstage. When listening on compatible hardware like the AirPods Pro or Max, it can feel like you‘re in the room with the musicians.
Zane Lowe, Apple Music‘s co-head of Artist Relations and radio host, described the impact of spatial audio this way: "It‘s not even just about the way it‘s going to end up sounding, it‘s very much how songs are going to feel. It‘s something that has never happened before. Artists are going to be able to create an entirely new listening experience."
As of early 2023, Apple Music offers over 7 million tracks in lossless quality and thousands in Dolby Atmos. Meanwhile, Spotify has yet to launch its long-awaited "HiFi" lossless tier, originally announced way back in early 2021. While Spotify has stated that HiFi is still in the works, it remains to be seen when it will actually launch and how it will compare to Apple Music‘s offerings.
The Future of Music Streaming: Predictions and Analysis
As we‘ve seen, Apple Music and Spotify each bring unique strengths and innovative features to the music streaming market. But in an industry as fast-moving and competitive as this one, both services will need to continue evolving to stay ahead of the curve.
One key area to watch will be exclusive content deals with artists and record labels. In the past, Apple Music has scored major coups like exclusive streaming windows for albums like Drake‘s "Views" and Frank Ocean‘s "Blonde." Spotify has mostly eschewed this strategy in favor of collaborative partnerships with artists and a more "proactive" approach to getting new releases on the platform quickly.
As Spotify CEO Daniel Ek explained the company‘s stance, "The old-world paradigms of doing exclusives are not working for us, and we believe these exclusivities end up hurting, rather than enhancing artists‘ connections with fans. It puts artists in the position of having to choose between services, which we think is incredibly unfair and limiting."
However, with giants like Amazon, YouTube, and Tidal also vying for exclusives and listener attention, the pressure for Spotify to play the exclusivity game may increase. As for Apple Music, its deep pockets and tight integration with the broader Apple ecosystem give it a potential leg up when it comes to securing hot new releases.
Another trend to follow is the increasing importance of podcasts and other non-music audio content. Spotify has invested heavily in this area, spending over $1 billion to acquire podcast studios and ink exclusive deals with top creators like Joe Rogan, Alex Cooper, and Gimlet Media. The company now bills itself as the "world‘s leading audio platform" and sees huge potential in the growth of the global podcast market, which is expected to reach $55 billion by 2028 according to some estimates.
Apple, on the other hand, has taken a more cautious approach to original podcast content. Despite inventing the podcast medium with iTunes back in 2005, Apple didn‘t get into funding exclusive shows until 2019. While it has started to ramp up its podcast ambitions with series like "The Line" and "Run, Bambi, Run", it still lags far behind Spotify in terms of sheer volume and star power.
Finally, both Apple Music and Spotify will need to continue innovating on the product side to keep users engaged and entertained. This could involve anything from new audio formats and AI-powered discovery tools to more immersive streaming experiences that blend music with video, AR, VR, and more.
As Zane Lowe told Billboard, "I think we‘re just scratching the surface of how streaming services can be powerful vehicles for artist solutions…Artists will want to find new ways of presenting their stories and making their music felt and heard on a deeper level, and we‘re going to be part of that."
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, both Apple Music and Spotify offer fantastic value for most music fans. With massive libraries that span all genres, algorithmic recommendations that put highly relevant music at your fingertips, and seamless integration across your devices, you really can‘t go wrong with either one.
If money is tight, Spotify‘s free ad-supported tier is a great option that still lets you listen to any song on demand, albeit with some limitations. For the full on-demand experience, the paid versions of Apple Music and Spotify are identically priced at $9.99/month for an individual plan or $14.99/month for a family plan.
Ultimately, your choice may come down to your priorities and preferences as a listener. Do you care most about sound quality and want the highest fidelity experience possible? Go with Apple Music and its lossless/spatial audio. Are you a podcast fanatic looking for tons of exclusive shows with top talent? Spotify is probably your best bet. Already use a lot of other Apple products and services? Apple Music will fit right into your existing ecosystem.
Only time will tell how the music streaming landscape will evolve in the coming years. But one thing is certain: with Apple and Spotify leading the charge, the future of music has never looked brighter or sounded better. So pick a service, press play, and lose yourself in the music. Your new favorite song is out there, just waiting to be discovered.
