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Access to millions of songs instantly. The ability to play any song you wish at the tap of a finger. In this day and age, streaming services open a window of possibilities in the music world.
With so many options, it is difficult to determine which music streaming option is the best. I’ve highlighted notable features of the most popular services below, in hopes that it will make your decision easier.
Spotify
The obvious favorite at NS is Spotify, used by about 68 percent of the students surveyed. Spotify is also the most popular streaming service worldwide with 320 million users and a market share of 32 percent.
One thing I love about Spotify is that it has a great selection of songs, podcasts, and unique playlists. Another thing that sets Spotify apart is that it allows you to see “Your 2020 Wrapped,” which is a collection of songs and artists you listened to the most throughout the year. Spotify also allows you to do collaborative playlists with your friends, which is another great bonus.
Spotify is $9.99 a month, but only $4.99 for college students. You can also get a family plan for $14.99 a month, which can have up to six people on it. If you have a family of six, that’s just $2.50 per person.
If you want a premium account, Spotify is probably the best music streaming service available. However, if you don’t want to pay for it, Spotify can be a nightmare.
With the free version of Spotify on a phone, you are only allowed 6 skips per hour. It also only allows shuffle play on playlists and individual songs. This makes it very difficult to listen to a specific song. Although Spotify has great features, It is just not sufficient without paying for a premium account.
YouTube Music
If you’re looking for a free option for music streaming, YouTube music is your best bet. It has fewer ads than the free version of Spotify, and isn’t always on shuffle play, allowing complete control over what you’re playing.
Unlike the free version of Spotify, YouTube music has unlimited skips, and I was able to rapidly skip over 200 songs without any issues. Like Spotify, YouTube music has a great selection of playlists, curated by both everyday listeners and the professionals at YouTube Music.
My favorite thing about YouTube music is that you can find anything and everything to listen to. Since the app is owned by YouTube, it is easy to find music videos and really any song you can think of. I have some very random songs scattered throughout my YouTube Music playlists (All 46 Hamilton Songs Played By One Band Kid in Under 5 Minutes, anyone?)
If you have a premium YouTube account, it gives you the option of switching between video and audio while playing a song (if the song has a video option).
Ultimately, I would recommend YouTube Music for anyone who doesn’t want to pay for a music streaming service. However, I prefer the overall design and features of Spotify more, making it my recommendation for anyone who wants to pay for their music.
Apple Music
According to the survey, Apple Music is the second most popular music streaming service at NS. It is a nice option for many people since it comes with Apple devices.
Apple Music is great if you previously purchased music on iTunes, since it is easy to transfer your songs to the app for free. It also has a nice user interface, and it’s pretty easy to navigate the app.
The lyric features on Apple Music may very well be the best out there. While listening to a song, the app will scroll through the lyrics for you, and you also can click on a certain lyric to go to that part of the song. You can also search for a song with its lyrics, if you can’t remember the title.
The negatives of Apple Music include that the song selection isn’t as great as YouTube or Spotify when it comes to more niche genres. The radio feature is also lacking: it is not very diverse and the songs it recommends are usually inaccurate compared to your music tastes.
Amazon Music
With four out of 103 students choosing Amazon Music as their music service of choice, it is one of the least popular at NS.
Amazon Music comes with Amazon Prime…kinda. Unlike Spotify and YouTube Music, it is completely ad-free without upgrading to “Unlimited.” The fact that there are no ads is great, but the music selection really is limited.
When I look up more obscure songs on Amazon Music, they are almost always unavailable without an Unlimited account. There is no “New England” by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers without Unlimited. “Chopin Polonaises?” Upgrade to Unlimited.
If you already have Amazon Prime, I think Amazon Music is a good option for listening to music. I don’t have personal experience with the Unlimited subscription, but from what I know, it seems like if you want to pay for a music service, there are better choices than Amazon Music.
Owning records, CDs, cassette tapes, and even downloading songs onto your device has become less common. Instead, people are likely to choose a music service, and stream songs for free or pay a subscription for better features.
There are many options out there, but ultimately it is up to the individual to decide which music streaming service is the best fit for them.
