The Spotify and Apple Music battle continues, and while both sides have gathered loyal supporters, I’ve always swayed in Spotify’s direction simply because of its array of fun features and new music discovery.
However, when it comes to audio streaming quality, Apple Music is leaps and bounds ahead, and since we’re still waiting for Spotify HiFi there’s no surprise that audiophiles gravitate towards Apple Music. But Spotify is getting it right with all its unique social features, which Apple Music should take note of – and I wanted to see what else it had to offer.
I’ve been using Apple Music alongside Spotify for about a month, and despite the noticeable difference in audio quality, there are other Apple Music features that have stood out, for better or worse. Bear in mind, my journey with Apple Music is still underway, and I’m still experimenting to this day, but so far, these are the features that have grabbed my attention.
1. Presentation of albums
Apple Music and Spotify present albums in similar ways: an enlarged album cover with the title and artist name underneath, but Apple Music’s album art is much more striking than Spotify’s. While its animations add character to each album, my favorite feature is the album descriptions under the Play and Shuffle buttons.
As a dedicated album listener, understanding the context behind a body of music is one of the most important assets of a listening experience. So, when it comes to Spotify, I find myself doing a lot of the research myself. With Apple Music’s album descriptions, I get just the right amount of information I need before I press the Play button.
2. Discovery Station
Spotify has your dedicated Release Radar and Discover Weekly playlists, but Apple Music’s Discovery Station takes it to another level.
Unlike Spotify’s playlists that are generated every so often, Discovery Station is an endless stream of new songs, which you can refresh to hear new suggestions. There’s also no way for you to view all tracks in the station, as a random song is played as soon as one finishes. You also can’t view the whole queue, which I think boosts the feature’s surprise element.
It also packs a very broad range of artists and genres – mine played me new songs from Blood Orange and TV Girl, as well as tracks from artists I already enjoy, including Doechii, Radiohead, and Pinkpantheress.
3. Synchronized lyrics
Every now and then, I like to use the lyrics feature while I stream my favorite songs and albums, and it’s a big help, especially when I’m doing some studying for an upcoming live gig. Apple Music’s lyrics are a great feature, and they’re much better than Spotify’s for two main reasons.
The first being that its synchronization to songs is perfectly matched, and even packs a karaoke-style highlight feature that guides you across each line. I can also rely on Apple Music more when it comes to providing lyrics to new music on the day of release, an area where Spotify lags.
4. Not all music is Dolby Atmos supported
This is where we get into the ‘dislike’ portion of my first impressions.
When I first signed up for my Apple Music trial, I was looking forward to seeing how the audio quality differs from Spotify’s, and though there’s a significant difference, I just assumed that all music would be Dolby Atmos-supported. But this isn’t a major setback for me, as Apple Music’s Hi-Res Lossless and standard Lossless audio qualities still pack a punch.
5. The amount of Apple Music-curated playlists
One of my favorite things about services like Spotify is its focus on social features, allowing you to view playlists created by other users and music fans just by using the search hub. I’m not a huge fan of playlists curated by streaming services themselves, and Apple Music is inundated with them.
I personally prefer listening to playlists made by users and music fans, and this is simply because they have their ears to the ground more than streaming services. You can find any random user’s playlists in Spotify just by searching for it, but with Apple Music, you have to follow other accounts to view them.
6. Not a lot of interactive features
Aside from Discovery Station, New Music Mix, and your own personal Station, I’ve found that there aren’t a lot of innovative and engaging features in Apple Music that make my streaming experience as personal as Spotify does.
With Spotify, I can always rely on features like Daylist and Blends for a fun and engaging listening experience, and the fact that they regenerate as often as they do keeps me on my toes.
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