Spotify VS Apple Music VS YouTube Music VS Tidal: Which Music Streaming Service Is Worth Paying For?

Playing music used to mean wiping the dust off a vinyl, switching on the amps and stereo system, and only then could we pop the vinyl into the vinyl player to enjoy an amazing range of 8 songs on 2 sides.

With music streaming services now, all we have to do is to whip out our phones. We have access to the entire collection of a million artists and music in different languages all in our pocket.

One of the advantages of subscribing to a music streaming service is also that you can listen to ad-free music at high audio quality – which can be great for house parties and in social settings with friends. Especially handy for your flights and during your travels, you can also download music to listen to offline.

Read also: Disney Plus, Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Go or Viu? Which Video Streaming Subscription Is Worth Paying For?

One question though, with all those music streaming services out there competing for your subscription dollars, which platform is best for you?

Comparison of the 4 Music Streaming Services

All four streaming services have a $10.98 per month subscription for individuals. To entice you to sign up, they also offer a one-month trial for free – to get hooked to the quality and convenience, decide if the service is for you.

While Tidal does not offer a student plan in Singapore, Apple Music, Spotify and Youtube Music all price their student plans at $5.98 per month. These plans typically have certain restrictions, including being limited for a number of years that you may be in school.

For families, all 4 music streaming services allow up to 6 accounts on the same family subscription (Including the plan holder). For those interested in the math of it, Apple Music and Tidal offer the cheapest pricing for families at $16.98 a month, which works out to $2.83 per user. The family subscription for Spotify and YouTube Music cost $17.98 a month.

However, price is only one aspect of choosing a music streaming service. So, let’s look at what unique
features each service offers.

Apple Music

The tech giant has made it very convenient for current Apple users to join Apple Music by rolling out Apple One – highlighting the importance of a well-connected ecosystem of services. This allows current users to hop on the music streaming service with other notable Apple services (which most users will have) like iCloud.

All songs on the Apple Music platform can be streamed in lossless format, enabling you to hear the highest quality available on a streaming platform. They also have unique features such as spatial audio, that allow users to immerse themselves into “3D” audio at the highest possible quality.

Other than you iPhone, Apple Music also works perfectly with other Apple devices like the iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, HomePod or CarPlay, as well as your Android, PlayStation, Xbox and other devices. By using its “Continuity” feature, Apple Music subscribers will experience their music being able to flow from one device to another seamlessly.

Notable Features: High Fidelity Music | Integrates better with Apple Devices

Great For: Current Apple users | Audiophiles

Read Also: Apple Education Store: How Much Can Students Potentially Save on Apple Products When Buying Their Gadgets

Spotify

Spotify has been synonymous with music streaming and is great for both iOS users and Android/Windows users. Its app works well on all platforms and boasts an extensive library of songs. It also has the largest library of playlists, which can be a game changer for your next house party. You can also collaborate on a playlist on Spotify to create a personalised mixtape for your loved ones.

As it turns out, having a huge collaborative playlist selection allows businesses like pubs, retail stores and even gyms to have access to a lexicon of music selection for their business premise. Giving them the opportunity to change the ambience, or to keep up with music trends for their customers.  Spotify allows third-party apps like Songkick that enable you to view when your favourite artist is performing live next. Spotify also integrates podcasts into its main application, adding the capability of tuning in to your favourite podcasts on a whim.

New features, DJ (in beta stage) and daylist, have been introduced to enhance your music personalisation. DJ works as your personal AI DJ, studying your music taste and picking out music to play for you, while daylist is a hyper-personalised playlist of new and familiar tracks which will change various times throughout the day based on your listening habits.

Notable Features: Third Party Integration | Playlist Collaboration

Great For: Students | For Most People | Retail stores & Businesses requiring in-premise music

YouTube Music

While YouTube Music is a separate service from YouTube Premium, it is also bundled into the YouTube Premium subscription.  If you already use YouTube for your daily entertainment and education, it is very convenient to get YouTube Premium, and by extension, YouTube Music, to skip the annoying ads, as well as allow you to download videos to your devices.

Getting YouTube Premium will cost you slightly more at $13.98 (for individuals); $27.98 (for families); and $8.98 (for students), but give you greater access to videos as well.

If you are already curating your playlist or usually listen to music via YouTube, getting YouTube Music or even YouTube Premium might be a suitable choice.

What is awesome is that YouTube Music also translates video performances of songs into an audio format, which you can then listen to it whilst doing other tasks at home, or in the office. This will come in handy if you love to hear covers or live performances of your favourite songs that were only available in video format.

As YouTube is a free platform that many independent artists or garage bands use to showcase their music, you can also use YouTube Music to find and listen to lesser-known artists, including those who are hidden below the radar. In that way, you get to support the arts in their most basic forms.

Notable Features: Video to Audio Translation | Play “unofficial” indie-type songs

Great For: Current YouTube Premium subscriber | Heavy YouTube user | Supporting local artists

Read Also: 15 Singapore YouTube Channels You Can Watch To Learn More About Finance

Tidal

Tidal prides itself on providing high-quality music to the masses. It brings in super high-quality music, with Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) format which plays songs close to the master recordings.

Since Tidal was founded by artists, they have ‘Tidal Originals’ which are documentary videos/special event videos that bring you behind-the-scenes and documentaries with your favourite artists. If you love your artists so much, you can purchase their HiFi Plus plan, which will pay out 10% of your plan to the artist that you listen to the most.

Notable Features: High-Quality Audio | Sony 360 Reality Audio | MQA

Great For: Audiophiles | Artist Fanbase

Read Also: 6 Podcasts That Can Help You Improve Your Personal Finance Knowledge In Singapore

This article was originally published on 15 September 2022 and has been updated to reflect the latest information.

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