Spotify vs Amazon Music: Which Service is Best? -2024
In the music streaming industry, two names that stand out are Spotify and Amazon Music. Both offer wide collections of songs, high music quality, and unique features.
Both are best at providing value and a unique music listening experience to their users. Spotify is well known for its music discovery features, while Amazon Music has expertise in providing lossless audio quality. But which music streaming service is best for you?
The answer to these questions might depend on factors like pricing structure, audio quality, and music library. Let’s start with a detailed comparison of Spotify and Amazon Music, which will help you decide on the right music service.
Spotify vs Amazon Music Overview
Features
Spotify
Amazon Music
| Individual Plan | $10.99 | $10.99 |
| Student Plan | $5.99 | $5.99 |
| Family Plan | $16.99 | $16.99 |
| Free Trial | 30 Days | 30 Days |
| Sound Quality | 320 kbps | 3730 kbps |
| Availability | 184 Countries | 50 Countries |
| Songs | 100 Million | 100 Million |
| Podcasts | 5 Million | 70,000 |
| Audiobook | 350,000 | Not Available |
| Offline Listening | Available | Available |
| Users | 615 Million | 82.2 Million |
Spotify vs Amazon Music: In-Depth Comparison
Spotify and Amazon Music are the two big names in the music streaming industry. Each provides valuable music content to users. Spotify, a Swedish music streaming app, launched in 2006, while Amazon Music launched one year later, in 2007.
Free Tiers
Both music streaming platforms offer free plans to their users, but there are some restrictions and limitations that might be annoying if you want to listen to music in a smooth flow.
Spotify
Spotify works on a freemium model, allowing you to access its features with some restrictions. The free plan gives you access to the entire music library, but you might get annoyed with the ads that often pop up while listening to music streaming.
You’re restricted to six skips per hour and unable to access the offline feature.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music has more restrictions on its free plan than Spotify. Unlike Spotify, it provides access to limited libraries and does not allow on-demand playback.
It gives you six skips per hour, and you’ll face pesky ads while listening to music. You can’t download songs on the free plan.
Winner: Spotify
Spotify is the winner as it provides more features than Amazon Music in the free plan.
Premium Plans
Price can be important in choosing a service if you’re short on budget and want to enjoy more for less.
Spotify
Spotify offers different plans, which you can choose according to your preferences and needs. The prices of these plans vary from region to region, so it is recommended that you check the prices according to your region.
| Plans | Prices |
|---|---|
| Individual | $10.99 |
| Duo | $15.99 |
| Student | $5.99 |
| Family | $16.99 |
Spotify offers four types of plans, ranging from $5.99 to $14.99. Its discounted plans are also available for students. The Duo plan is very economical for two people living under the same roof.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music has a different pricing structure, which is especially beneficial for Amazon Prime Members. It basically has two paid models: one is Amazon Music, which has 2 million songs in its music library, and the other is Amazon Music Unlimited, which has 100 million songs. The overview of Amazon Music plans is given below:
| Plans | Prices |
|---|---|
| Individual | $10.99 |
| Student | $5.99 |
| Family | $16.99 |
Amazon Music’s unlimited plan costs $10.99, but if you’re a Prime member, it will cost you $9.99 per month. Moreover, for Amazon Prime Users, Amazon Music is totally free of cost.
Tie
This round is a tie because both music streaming apps have the same prices. Spotify gives you more options, like duo and mini plans, while Amazon Music gives special discounts to Amazon Prime Members.
Audio Quality
Audio quality is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing the right music service because it directly impacts your music listening experience.
Spotify
In the free version, Spotify offers its users a maximum sound quality of 160 kbps. The paid version offers five different options, which you can adjust according to your mood.
At its maximum bitrate, Spotify consumes almost 150 Mb per hour. Unfortunately, Spotify has not introduced its lossless audio HiFi feature, but we can expect it later this year.
Amazon Music
When it comes to sound quality, Amazon Music beats Spotify. Because Amazon Music provides high resolution and lossless sound quality at no extra cost. Like Spotify, Amazon Music also gives you different options for sound quality, which are given below:
In HD quality, Amazon Music uses around 330 Mb per hour, while Ultra HD sound quality consumes 750 Mb per hour. To fully enjoy music in its best quality, you’ll need quality headphones that can support lossless audio quality.
Winner: Amazon Music
Amazon Music is the clear-cut winner in this round.
User Interface
A good user interface is vital in enhancing the user experience. Nobody likes navigating through cluttered menus or dealing with confused layouts.
Spotify
Since its launch, Spotify has been constantly improving its user interface to enhance the user experience. It has a dark boxy theme with splashes of neon green color, offering an easy to use interface, allowing you to navigate it effortlessly. It has mainly three main sections: Home, Search, and Library.
When you open the app, the Home tab welcomes you with recently played songs and personalized playlists. It is like a central hub where you can easily access your recently played songs and explore new music.
The search tab lets you search for anything in the ocean of music in no time. You can search through different categories like Pop, Rock, Indie, and R&B.
The Library tab is exactly what it sounds like-a place to store and organize your favorite music content. It also features different filters to help you find your required content quickly.
Spotify allows you to store your playlists, albums, favorite songs, and download content. You can drag any songs on the desktop app and drop them in your desired playlist.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music has a dark theme layout similar to Spotify, providing a simple, intuitive, visually appealing look. It also has a navigation bar at the top of the screen, allowing you to navigate through it easily.
It has three sections: Home, Search bar, and Library. Moreover, its web player has a dedicated Podcast tab for podcasts. Unlike Spotify, Amazon Music has no drag and drop option. Amazon Music also offers filters that help you find your desired product.
Draw
This round is a draw because both music streaming platforms offer almost the same layout and functionality.
Content Availability
Content can be very important in choosing the right service because everybody wants to have their favorite content on their fingertips.
Spotify
Spotify has worked hard to make its music catalog wide and huge by partnering with major record labels, independent artists, and content creators.
Through partnerships and agreements, Spotify has been able to offer an extensive library catering to different users’ preferences and moods.
Spotify offers more than 100 million songs by famous artists like Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Post Malone. In addition to songs, Spotify also offers 5 million podcasts and 350,000 audiobooks by famous personalities.
Amazon Music
Amazon is also not behind Spotify in terms of Content availability. Amazon Music also has 100 million songs in its library for Amazon Music Unlimited users and a large number of podcasts. However, it doesn’t offer audiobooks, which can be a drawback if you want to listen to songs and audiobooks on the same app.
Winner: Spotify
Spotify is the winner because it has more variety of content than Amazon Music.
Music Discovery
Both apps offer millions of songs, playlists, and albums, but sometimes you might not know what to play next. At that time, music discovery tools play their role.
Spotify
In my opinion, what makes Spotify different from other music streaming apps is its music discovery tools. These tools help you discover new content according to your tastes. Spotify uses machine learning algorithms to analyze your activities on the platform and curate playlists for you accordingly.
Spotify offers different music discovery tools, such as Daily Mixes and Release Radar, which help you explore newly released songs. Discover Weekly is another excellent feature that is updated every Friday and recommends songs you might like.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music also uses advanced algorithms to analyze your habits and curate personalized playlists for you. However, I personally found that Amazon Music mainly focuses on recommending trending songs.
Amazon Music offers different music discovery features like New Releases you might like, Albums for you, and Playlists for you, which play a great role in enhancing your music experience.
Winner: Spotify
Spotify won this round because Spotify creates more personalized playlists than Amazon Music.
Compatibility and Availability
In today’s digital world, everybody wants to access their music library on any device. Luckily, both music streaming services are compatible with a wide range of devices.
Spotify
Spotify is compatible with Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, smart speakers, gaming consoles, and smartwatches, giving you different access options through any device. Spotify also shows compatibility with Google Assistant and Siri.
It can be integrated with Alexa, giving you a hands-free experience by allowing you to control the music through voice commands.
It has mobile and desktop apps and a web player catering to different users. In addition to this, Spotify is also integrated with the car music system, giving you an opportunity to lessen the boredom of driving by listening to your favorite songs.
In short, it is very difficult to find a device which is not compatible with Spotify. Spotify is available in more than 184 countries.
Amazon Music
Like Spotify, Amazon Music also has a mobile app for Android and iOS users and a desktop app for Windows and macOS users. If you want to listen to your favorite tunes without downloading the desktop app, you can use the web player.
Amazon Music is mostly compatible with Alexa-enabled devices, the Echo series, smart speakers, tablets, Fire TV, wireless earbuds, and car music systems. It has a built-in Alexa feature, using which you can control your music through simple voice commands, but it can’t be integrated with Google Assistant. It is available in 50 countries.
Winner: Spotify
Spotify wins this round because Amazon Music is mostly compatible with Alexa-enabled devices, while Spotify is compatible with almost 380 devices.
Additional Features
Both music streaming apps offer additional features that play a vital role in enhancing your music listening experience.
Spotify
Spotify offers a plethora of additional features to improve your music-listening journey. Its sleep timer feature can be very helpful if you are used to listening to music before sleeping.
Spotify shows you song credits that help you explore the background history of any particular favorite song.
It has a lyrics feature that allows you to sing along with your favorite songs. It can be integrated with Discord, a famous gaming community platform, allowing you to enjoy your music with your gaming community.
You can connect Spotify to Google Maps, enabling seamless integration between your music streaming and navigation.
Amazon Music
Like Spotify, Amazon Music provides its users with additional features and adds more fun to their musical journey. It offers an X-Ray feature that tells the song’s meaning, artists, and other information. Amazon Music has a lyrics feature that syncs with the songs in real time.
You can control music through your voice commands with the built-in Alexa. Amazon Music also offers an audio quality indicator, which displays the song’s current audio quality depending on your Bandwidth.
Winner: Spotify
Spotify won this round because it has more features than Amazon Music.
Final Verdict
All in all, it is very tough for me to say which streaming app is better because both apps are the best in their own way. Spotify is best in providing personalized playlists and advanced features, while Amazon Music beats Spotify in providing lossless audio.
So, it depends upon your priorities and preferences. If you prefer high audio quality, you can go with Amazon Music; otherwise, Spotify wins in most aspects. In this article, I’ve debated Spotify vs. Amazon Music in different aspects. If you find this article helpful, share it with your friends.
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