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As two of the best music streaming services, Spotify and Apple Music are close competitors when it comes to listening to all-important music. Spotify has the largest share of the global music streaming market, but the two streaming services are more closely matched when it comes to total US subscribers. That said, this doesn’t mean that one service is less suitable for everyday music listeners than others.
Read on to find out why Apple Music is the best music streaming service for testing and personal listening today. Be sure to check out the full showdown between Apple Music and Spotify.
1. Improved sound quality
Apple Music sounds great. When it comes to resolution and bitrate, Apple Music “Lossless” offers full “CD quality” at 16-bit/44.1kHz, and up to 24-bit/192kHz for true Hi-Res audio. The only drawback is that high resolution output is not supported on Windows desktops.
The Apple Music mobile app consistently delivers great sound with a natural-sounding balance across all genres of music.
The Apple Music mobile app consistently delivers great sound with a natural-sounding balance across all genres of music. It’s my go-to music provider for reviewing headphones on the move, sounds pretty great through the various Sonos speakers and components scattered around the house, and excels at high-res streaming services like Tidal and Qobuz. It’s an alternative. (opens in new tab).
You might think that all music streaming services sound the same. Of course there is no difference, but the difference is very subtle. Generally speaking, the difference comes down to the file formats supported by the provider and the streaming data rates used. These directly affect the level of detail that can be heard in a track, and most listeners should be able to distinguish a compressed music file from say Spotify rather than a CD-quality file streamed via Apple Music. .
You don’t have to be a discerning audiophile to hear the benefits of streaming music with lossless audio. you just have to listen.
2. Easy-to-use interface
In addition to a redesigned TikTok-like home feed that was introduced last month, Spotify will try to enhance the user experience’s “personalized feel” by inserting computer-generated comments between tracks. Following DJ, he seems to be going through something of an identity crisis.
Apple Music’s Browse tab feels perfectly tuned to my musical tastes with a great mix of playlists, hits, new releases, and spatial audio content.
On the other hand, Apple Music has focused on the traditional music experience since Apple Music got a major redesign for iOS 10. The interface looks smart, and the clean, easy-to-navigate tabs do a great job of organizing the artists and music genres I like. There seems to be more focus on podcasts, audiobooks, and video content that isn’t.
Apple Music’s Browse tab feels perfectly tuned to my musical tastes with a great mix of playlists, hits, new releases, and spatial audio content.
Speaking of which, Music Library Tracker (opens in new tab) is a third-party app for iPhone and iPad developed to integrate with the Apple Music library to track changes in spatial audio content. As an Apple Music subscriber, automatically discover which tracks and albums in your music library are also available with spatial audio without having to spend hours searching through your favorite artists’ historical catalogs. Price is $3.99 / £3.99 (via iOS app store), but if you don’t want to pay, Follow the developer’s Twitter account Track new spatial audio releases.
3. Apple Music Sing Karaoke
Karaoke on Apple Music Sing is the best! It builds on the lyrics functionality of streaming services, making it easier to sing along. This feature adds a separate volume control to the song’s vocals, so you can sing to yourself if you want (very few options for complete silence). Alternatively, you can sing with the original singer in the background at full or low volume as you like. Some songs have the ability to split words between multiple singers to allow for duets, or to allow a friend to sing backing her vocals while taking the main vocal.
As you might imagine, the Apple Music Sing extension isn’t available for all tracks. Compatible songs are organized into playlists, so it’s easy to find the perfect match for the new feature.
Even though Spotify Karaoke offers a more competitive experience with its built-in scoring system, its implementation doesn’t seem to be as robust as that offered by Apple Music Sing.
4. Apple HomePod 2 integration
No other music streaming service has its own audio component. AirPods headphones don’t really support lossless audio, but Apple’s HomePod speakers do, making him one of the best smart speaker music systems on the planet. The newly launched HomePod 2 sounds just as good as the original, with a few more smart home features added. Just like the original, HomePod 2 uses built-in microphones to acoustically “map” the room it’s placed in, adjusting its audio output to sound best for that room. Everything happens automatically without you having to do anything.
HomePod 2 is the ideal model for taking full advantage of Apple’s lossless 16-bit/44.1kHz (CD quality) and spatial audio content.
Part of Apple’s fully tuned ecosystem, HomePod 2 is the ideal model for making the most of Apple’s lossless 16-bit/44.1kHz (CD quality) and spatial audio content. However, we should also point out that if you have AirPlay-enabled speakers, you can also listen to lossless audio while using Apple Music connected to your playback device via AirPlay.
Additionally, some speculate that HomePod speakers may actually be able to exceed lossless resolution support, as they already share a 24-bit/48kHz audio signal between other HomePod speakers in a multi-room setup. I have a suggestion.
5. Apple Music Classic
Apple Music has focused on expanding its reach by introducing classical music lovers to the platform through a dedicated Classical app that is free to existing subscribers.
Many of the best music streaming services have a great selection of classical music content in their libraries, but searching for classical works often feels inaccessible. This is because search for most streaming services uses metadata that catalogs content by artist, genre, song title, album title, and cannot handle the complex ways classical music is cataloged. is.
Search is often irrelevant when it comes to finding specific classical content, but the dedicated Apple Music Classical app (available from the App Store) (opens in new tab)) uses more powerful metadata, allowing you to search by composer, work, conductor or even catalog number to find a specific recording instantly.
The app claims to offer over 5 million classic tracks and complete productions, from new releases to famous masterpieces, and your favorite playlists are seamlessly integrated with your music library, easily accessible from the regular Apple Music app. can be played back.
If, like me, you’ve spent a lot of time searching for specific recordings or versions of classical music, you’ll understand how stronger metadata can help provide more accurate search results. prize. As their music libraries continue to grow, other streaming services have learned a thing or two from Apple Music Classical’s stronger metadata implementation to deliver the exact content that music lovers of all kinds desire. can help you find the .
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