Spotify vs Apple Music

Users share experiences, preferences, and reasons for sticking with, switching from, or comparing Spotify to alternatives like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, and others, focusing on UI, discovery, recommendations, and platform support.

πŸ“‰ Falling 0.3x Other
4,221
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#3751
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Keywords

AM UX PS WiFi Last.fm last.fm FM YouTube PC UK spotify music apple music apple playlists listen songs albums youtube radio

Sample Comments

epanchin β€’ Mar 15, 2019 β€’ View on HN

Like many people, I use spotify for music discovery. I don’t feel Apple Music can offer the same quality of recommended tracks for me/moods.

tsukikage β€’ Dec 21, 2025 β€’ View on HN

Spotify used to be good, but have enshittified their UI past the point of usability for me. It really wants to play me tracks that are profitable for Spotify, not tracks I want to hear.What you say is still true of the Amazon and Apple offerings, though. Haven't tried Youtube Music, so can't comment on that.

doikor β€’ Feb 5, 2018 β€’ View on HN

I'm on the same boat. My 3 month trial for Apple Music just ended and switched back to Spotify. Most of the time I don't want to bother to choose what I listen to and for that the discovery features in Spotify just seem to work.

bad_user β€’ Mar 15, 2019 β€’ View on HN

I pay for Spotify due to their app.It runs on all the platforms I want it to run, including on Linux or on my Playstation, you can easily switch devices, picking up where you left off, you can remotely control devices, etc. The suggestions engine isn't spectacular, but works. I also like to see what my friends listen to. They also have the best integrations with other apps.The music selection could use some improvement but it's much better than Apple's Music and getting bett

DrManhatten β€’ Jul 14, 2011 β€’ View on HN

I had a similar experience; falling-out-of-love gradually. They have a good selection of music, I think, although of course there are things missing. But, its all big-label music and when I was using Spotify all the time, I felt that my music tastes were gradually becoming less interesting. There is very little indy music and while you can look at your friends music/listen to radio/look for similar artists its not really suited for music discovery. It was when I realised that youtube would let y

suivix β€’ Oct 10, 2011 β€’ View on HN

Seems nice but would I want to use this and Spotify?

dabockster β€’ Mar 1, 2018 β€’ View on HN

This is the big reason why I switched to Apple Music. Spotify has an amazing UI/UX, but it doesn't change the fact that I don't want to listen to the same stuff each week. I have FM radio for that.

moolcool β€’ Dec 14, 2025 β€’ View on HN

Missing last.fm support is the only thing keeping me from switching from Spotify to Apple Music

tyre β€’ Nov 28, 2024 β€’ View on HN

I use Apple Music over Spotify whenever possible. The Spotify UX has always been, to me, inferior. Thank you for your work!

EasyMark β€’ Feb 19, 2024 β€’ View on HN

I'm a big metal and jazz fan. I don't use spotify (or haven't for a while) but on apple music I curate my own playlists and get most of what I would get from surfing the high seas and rearranging folders and albums in a fraction of the time. I know you can do the same on Spotify, so it's good enough for me.