{"id":324049,"date":"2025-11-07T19:50:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T00:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/?page_id=249525"},"modified":"2025-11-07T19:50:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T00:50:24","slug":"apple-music-vs-spotify","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/entertainment\/streaming\/apple-music-vs-spotify\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Music vs. Spotify"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n <\/span>\n \n\n\n

Apple Music vs. Spotify<\/h2>\n\n\n

Spotify<\/a> leads the music streaming industry worldwide, with 285 million Premium (paid) subscribers<\/a> as of Q3 2025. Features such as its universal device compatibility, dynamic social sharing options, and industry-defining music discovery tools\u2014including prompt-based AI Playlists<\/a>\u2014have added to the provider’s immense popularity. Older sources like past reporting<\/a> and archived estimates<\/a> reflected much smaller counts that predate these updates.<\/p>\n\n\n

Apple Music<\/a> stands out as one of the largest music streaming services, with a catalog of over 100 million songs<\/a>. Another standout feature is Apple Music Radio with exclusive artist interviews, curated programming, and the personalized Discovery Station<\/a>. Apple does not disclose Apple Music-specific subscriber counts; independent analysis from MIDiA Research<\/a> estimates roughly 110 million Apple Music subscribers as of mid\u20112024 (published 2025), and Apple\u2019s financial communications<\/a> confirm it reports only aggregate paid subscriptions across Services.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/span>\n \n\n\n

Apple Music vs. Spotify Premium Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Apple Music and Spotify Premium broadly align on plan types (individual, family, and student), but exact prices and promos change over time and by region. The table below reflects historical pricing; for current rates, check each provider\u2019s official pages, such as Spotify Premium plans<\/a> and Apple Music<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n
\n
\n \n
\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n
\n \n <\/td>\n \n
Apple Music<\/a><\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
Spotify Premium<\/a><\/center>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n
Monthly price<\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
$9.99\/mo.<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
$9.99\/mo.<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n
Annual price<\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
$99\/yr.<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
$99\/yr.<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n
Student plan<\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
$4.99\/mo.<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
$4.99\/mo.<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n
Family plan<\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
$14.99\/mo.<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
$14.99\/mo.<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n
Number of songs<\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
60 million<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
50 million+<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n
Ad-free listening<\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
Yes<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
Yes<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n
Free trial length<\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
3 months<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n
\n
3 months<\/font><\/center>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n <\/table>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Music library<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Spotify and Apple Music now market catalogs at the 100\u2011million\u2011plus level, and the industry delivers well over 100,000 new recordings per day on average<\/a>. Its New Releases<\/strong> tab houses the latest tunes, exclusive live sessions, and new singles every Friday. Also, to note, Spotify opens its entire music library to its free subscribers\u2014though, your experience will be peppered with ads and limited to shuffle mode with a handful of skips while using its mobile app. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spotify’s numbers are rivaled by Apple Music\u2019s catalog, which likewise sits at over 100 million songs<\/a>. Full\u2011album exclusives are now rare across major streaming platforms; Apple more often differentiates through curated programming and event partnerships rather than hard exclusivity\u2014for example, its Super Bowl Halftime Show sponsorship (learn more<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music discovery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whether you’re a free or Premium subscriber, Spotify creates playlists based on your tastes (as tracked by algorithm) and your saved songs within the app. Core options like Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and Daily\/Niche Mixes remain, and prompt\u2011based AI Playlists<\/a> now let you generate and refine mixes using natural\u2011language prompts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you create an account with Apple Music, personalization combines human curation with algorithmic recommendations. The always\u2011on Discovery Station<\/a> is designed to surface songs you\u2019re likely to enjoy but haven\u2019t heard yet, alongside your personalized mixes and Apple Music Radio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offline listening<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On paper, both streaming giants offer huge numbers when it comes to downloads. With Apple Music, you can associate up to 10 devices with your Apple ID for Apple Music and purchases (with a maximum of 5 computers within that 10), and downloads are constrained mainly by your device storage rather than a published per\u2011device track cap. For details, see Apple\u2019s guidance on device association<\/a>. The older user discussion<\/a> that circulated a specific numeric track limit should be treated as historical context rather than current policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following closely behind, Spotify permits offline listening on up to 5 devices per account and requires each device to go online at least once every 30 days to keep downloads active. Spotify\u2019s current help center does not state a per\u2011device track\u2011count cap; storage and the device limit are the practical constraints. See Spotify Support<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Streaming quality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The sound quality of Spotify and Apple Music depends on multiple factors\u2014including codec and bitrate choices, mastering sources, and your playback setup\u2014and many listeners find differences subtle in everyday use. As noted in this discussion of contributing factors<\/a>, older recordings and remasters can complicate comparisons. They’re pretty similar, especially when compared to vinyl, high-quality digital sources<\/a>, and CDs. <\/p>\n\n\n <\/span>\n \n\n\n

The Bottom Line<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you’re a music enthusiast who loves finding new songs and artists and wants the latest in algorithmic and prompt\u2011based discovery, you’ll be happy with Spotify. If, on the other hand, you prefer a vast catalog with curated radio, personalized mixes, and an always\u2011on Discovery Station, you can’t go wrong with Apple Music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple Music vs. Spotify Spotify leads the music streaming industry worldwide, with 285 million Premium (paid) subscribers as of Q3 2025. Features such as its universal device compatibility, dynamic social sharing options, and industry-defining music discovery tools\u2014including prompt-based AI Playlists\u2014have added to the provider’s immense popularity. Older sources like past reporting and archived estimates reflected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":0,"parent":2286,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/template-reviews.php","meta":[],"categories":[1315],"tags":[],"post_author":[],"yoast_head":"\nApple Music vs. Spotify - Reviews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A review of Apple Music vs. Spotify\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/entertainment\/streaming\/apple-music-vs-spotify\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Apple Music vs. Spotify - Reviews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A review of Apple Music vs. Spotify\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/entertainment\/streaming\/apple-music-vs-spotify\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reviews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Reviewscom\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Reviews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/entertainment\/streaming\/apple-music-vs-spotify\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Entertainment\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/entertainment\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Streaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/entertainment\/streaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Apple Music vs. Spotify\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/\",\"name\":\"Reviews.com\",\"description\":\"Your Guide to the Best Services\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Apple Music vs. Spotify - 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