OPINION: Not to get too ‘hipstery’ about it, but I started using Spotify long before it was cool – yonks before ‘Spotify Wrapped’ was ever considered to be part of our shared culture, and yet, this was the first year where I didn’t use it as my main streaming service of choice. Nope, that accolade now goes to Apple Music.
For context, if it hadn’t been for Apple offering me a three-month stint on Apple Music for the price of one then I never would have made the jump.
After being gifted a pair of AirPods Pro 2 last Christmas, I was curious to see what ‘Spatial Audio’ was all about and whether or not Apple’s service could bring out the best from the earbuds.
Needless to say, it did.
Hi-res audio makes a big difference
At this point, it’s no secret that Apple Music boasts higher quality streaming than Spotify (or at least it does until the long-awaited Spotify HiFi comes along), but making the switch felt like a huge shift right from the jump. All of my favourite tracks suddenly sounded better than ever – injected with new detail that I simply hadn’t been able to ascertain when listing via Spotify.
It really is one of those things that you need to experience for yourself to gauge just how big the leap is. I’m a long way from ever joining the ranks of audiophiles, but I couldn’t quite believe just how much detail has been left on the table all this time, and how moving to a higher codec could make such a notable difference.
A solid coat of paint
As great as the audio quality is, any app in 2024 needs to wow you with its presentation and to that end, I found myself quite enamoured with Apple Music – but not initially.
Compared to Spotify’s kitchen sink design which, while familiar, does throw as much as it can at you at any given time, Apple’s take is far more scaled back.
All of the things you can dive into, whether they be albums, playlists or algorithmically enhanced stations, are all presented with large thumbnails which helps you to take in what’s on screen and feel as if you’re being offered up something that you would actually like to listen to, as opposed to a bombardment of options, one of which might stick.
Apple Music
Apple Music gives you access to over 100 million songs and 30,000 playlists, ad-free. Listen online or off, across all your devices, and hear sound all around in Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. You can now try 1 month for free!
- Apple
- Get 1 month free
- £10.99 p/m
Sign up
In fact, whether by design or not, I found myself discovering new music with Apple in a way that never occurred with Spotify. From my experience, the latter of these two services feels more akin to something like Instagram or TikTok, wherein once it latches on to something that it believes I find interesting, it’s just served up to me time and time again.
Taking a chance on some new hits
I still consider 90s pop-punk to be my comfort food in the world of music, but after having that same dish presented to me incessantly by Spotify’s various playlists, I found myself questioning why I even liked the sound of this genre to begin with.
By comparison, Apple Music not only paired me with new bands, but also unearthed music from my favourite artists that had simply gone under the radar. What helped with music discovery though is the radio section of the app, something that Spotify needs to replicate as soon as possible.
At the time of writing, Apple has six in-house radio stations which range from standard chart hits to round the clock country music, but if you’d prefer something a bit more familiar then the app also lets you listen to all of the major national radio stations (which soon allowed Heart 90s to become the unofficial background music of the Trusted Reviews office). This radio section is even available to non-Apple Music subscribers, so I highly recommend giving it a look.
A winner on price
The final cherry on top however comes in the asking price for Apple’s service, with all price tiers (except the student option) being cheaper. Most notably, the ‘Family’ option on Apple Music costs £16.99/$16.99 a month, while Spotify’s rings in at £19.99/$19.99 over the same period.
The pricing alone makes a solid case at a time when people are trying to look for ways to cut down on their monthly spending, but after the months I’ve spent with Apple Music, it has now overtaken Spotify as my preferred music streaming service, and I think you’d feel the same way if you gave it a try.
