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Music streaming services are surprisingly not one-size-fits-all, and one service may be better for your needs than another. If you’re switching between Spotify and YouTube Music, Spotify offers higher quality streaming, social features, and many AI-powered features, while YouTube offers subscribers a simpler experience and integration with YouTube Premium.
Also: Spotify vs. Apple Music: I’ve used both music streaming services, and my preference is clear
I’ve swapped between Spotify and YouTube Music and compared their features to help you decide what’s best for you.
features
| spotify | Youtube Music | |
| price | $12.99/month (individual plan) | $10.99/month (individual plan) |
| lossless audio | Yes | No |
| bundle? | No | Yes |
| spatial audio | No | No |
You should choose Spotify if…
1. Audio quality is important to you
By default, Spotify Premium streams music at up to 256 kbps, which falls within the limits of the AAC codec. Most people will not be able to tell the difference between this bitrate and a higher bitrate. However, Spotify Premium also supports 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC lossless audio.
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If you consider yourself an audiophile and want easy access to high-quality streaming, Spotify has more options than YouTube Music.
2. You love sharing music
Spotify has many social features, including SharePlay on iOS, Spotify Wrapped, integration with Jams, Discord and TikTok, social recommendations, and the ability to follow your friends on Spotify. If you follow friends on Spotify, the app can create mixed playlists that include both of your favorite songs, let you see each other’s activity, or let you start a listening party and listen together in real time.
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In addition to sharing music, Spotify is integrated with Discord to play games and chat with your friends while listening to music. On TikTok, you can easily save songs from the video-sharing app to your Spotify library. In addition to social apps, Spotify Tap integrates with many consumer audio products, letting you launch the app and listen without opening your phone.
3. You want lots of AI-powered features
Spotify integrates AI into many of its playlist creation and music discovery features, including recommendations created by Spotify based on your interests and Instant Playlists, which generate playlists from prompts. Spotify also offers Prompted Playlists, which also creates a playlist from a prompt, but the feature refreshes songs daily or weekly.
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Spotify subscribers can also access an AI DJ that recommends old songs you might have forgotten about and suggests new genres, playlists, and artists you might be interested in.
You should choose YouTube Music if…
1. You are crazy about YouTube
You can bundle an ad-free YouTube Premium and YouTube Music subscription together for $13.99/month, which is $1 more per month than an individual Spotify subscription.
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If you spend a lot of time on YouTube and often watch live performances, official music videos, or more obscure songs that aren’t on mainstream streaming platforms, YouTube Music may be a better choice for you.
2. You want a simple streaming service
If AI DJs, third-party app integration, different bitrates, and a flood of playlists sound too complicated for you, then YouTube Music is right up your alley. The main attraction of YouTube Music is that customers can listen ad-free, download songs for offline listening and easily switch between audio and video.
author’s choice
I prefer Spotify to YouTube Music. I enjoy Spotify’s music search features, and the service offers multiple mixes across genres, artists, vibes, and languages to expand your musical rhythms. Additionally, the user experience of the YouTube Music platform is very simple and lackluster, which I don’t like.
