Looking for a new place to get your music fix? Spotify and Amazon Music are some of the biggest and best streaming services out there, but are they right for you? Our guide will help you decide.
Monthly subscriptions to music streaming services are fast becoming the main way which most of us listen to music. They’re simple and easy and each platform offers its own stand-out features and advantages. We’re taking a look at the main contenders to help you choose between Spotify and Amazon Music.
There are multiple tiers of both service depending on your budget, your willingness to hear adverts as well as music and the amount of features you want. We’ll outline those as well as explaining the difference between the two music libraries.
What’s the difference between Amazon Music and Spotify?
Spotify has a free entry-level subscription. You’ll pay nothing but only get six ‘skips’ and hour and worse streaming quality, plus there are adverts on non-premium Spotify. However, pay £9.99 per month and you’ll get rid of the ads and open up the whole library. There’s also the option of a £16.99 per month family membership or a 30-day free trial.
Amazon’s music offering has a slightly more complex list of options. Firstly, you’ll get the base version of their music library included with Amazon Prime, which costs £7.99 per month. If you want the expanded library of Amazon Prime Music Unlimited, that will cost £9.99 per month, or £7.99 per month if you’ve already got a standard Amazon Prime membership.
Amazon offers a similar family plan to Spotify coming in at £14.99, and there’s also a £3.99 option which only allows users to listen to Amazon Music Unlimited via an Amazon Echo or Fire TV device.
It’s worth noting that during extended use, we’ve found Spotify to work more smoothly and encounter less issues. It also offers better suggestions to help you discover new music, which is a huge plus for those who are curious to add to their personal favourites libraries.
Spotify Premium vs Amazon Music Unlimited
Those wanting the more high-end plans — Spotify Premium and Amazon Music Unlimited — will get access to the very best offerings from these providers.
For example, Amazon Music Unlimited’s library has 90 million songs, rather than the two million on the basic Amazon Music Prime library. Spotify has a similar offering but slightly less, with over 80 million songs on offer. Bear in mind, both outlets also offer podcasts too, so if you’re a pod fan it’s worth checking that your favourites are available on your chosen platform.
When it comes to music too, some artists are available on one platform and not another.
For Spotify, one of the real bonuses of Premium over non-Premium is the improved streaming quality and the lack of ads. The sound quality goes up from 128kbps to 320kbps. It’s a big difference, making for an audible improvement and more immersive listening experience, especially if you’re pairing the app with some of the best wireless earbuds out there.
When it comes to streaming quality though, Amazon wins. Music Unlimited offers lossless audio streaming across many of its tracks, albums and content. This is partly because Amazon Music HD — which used to be a separate, pricier tier of Amazon’s offering — is now included with Amazon Music Unlimited.
Amazon Music vs Spotify verdict: Which one should you get?
Having noted some of the key differences, Amazon Music Unlimited looks like the choice for those who are prioritising streaming quality and those who use Alexa devices.
However, Spotify‘s user interface generally works better and is more accessible in our opinion. It also does more to help you discover new music — with tempting bespoke playlists like your own personal ‘Discover Weekly’ mix.
Ultimately, which you choose will depend on your priorities. During personal use we’ve found Spotify to be slightly more intuitive and enjoyable, but no-doubt audiophiles will be drawn to Amazon by that extra audio quality.
For more on audio check out our best budget earbuds guide or head over to the RadioTimes.com technology section for the latest new devices and deals.