You guys have certainly noticed that nothing is free these days — including listening to music. Sure, you can find almost any of your favorite songs on YouTube, but who wants to constantly be interrupted by ads?
There is also Pandora and ‘free versions’ of Spotify and Apple Music, but you will again be interrupted by pesky ads and won’t be able to access the features of a paid subscription. If you’re thinking about buying a music subscription, but can’t decide whether to go with Spotify or Apple Music — two of the biggest and most popular music platforms — Valley wants to break down three ideas to make your decision easier.
One of the most obvious pros of both platforms is the ability to create and share playlists, which, let’s be real, we need a playlist for every mood, event, activity, and special occasion in our lives. Both incorporate an impressive song catalog to create these playlists — Spotify with about 30 million songs, but Apple Music reigning superior with approximately 40 million.
Another feature of Apple Music is that you can integrate your personal iTunes library —that is to say, any music you’ve already purchased or downloaded— into the Apple Music library. With this integration, users can browse their own music combined with Apple’s customary catalog. Spotify has a similar interesting feature, “Discover Weekly,” which allows you to listen to song recommendations based off of what you normally listen to. It is much like a predetermined Itunes library.
As far as radio goes, Apple Music offers a variety of radio stations that cater to different artists or genres. Beats 1 is also available as a 24/7 live radio station. Spotify has mood-based playlist and many auto-generated choices for radio stations.
I know what you’re probably thinking: “If you ain’t talking money, I don’t wanna talk.” For poor students like us, Apple offers a three-month free trial and decreases the standard $9.99 to $4.99 for a student membership.
Additionally, with Spotify’s student discount, you can get 50% off a Premium subscription, also originally priced at $9.99. You can access their three-month trial period for 99 cents per month.
Beware — Taylor Swift fans won’t be able to access her music on Spotify.
Valley maintains that both Spotify and Apple Music have pros and cons. They are both user-friendly and we encourage you to take advantage of the trial periods to choose your favorite.
