It’s a pretty even match when it comes to catalogue size and platform support.Īpple Music claims over 60m tracks in its back catalogue, while Spotify's figure is 50m songs. The majority of Spotify’s 100 million active users settle for the free tier but, as the 140 million who now subscribe to the paid-for Premium service can vouch for, there’s plenty of reason to shell out: 320kbps streams, offline listening, Spotify Connect support, search and skip tracks on mobile devices, and no adverts.įrank Ocean's Blond was a timed exclusive on Apple Music Of course, there are adverts, and the data rate is capped at 160kbps, but the service is free, so it'd be churlish to complain. The desktop version is pretty unrestricted in terms of search and stream options, and while free users on the mobile app could previously only listen to playlists in shuffle mode rather than specific tracks, Spotify updated the app in 2018 to allow free users unlimited listening to as many as 750 tracks across 15 top playlists every month (including Discover Weekly), equating to about 40 hours of music playback. Staying true to its “music for everyone” ethos, it is one of the few to offer a free (ad-supported) subscription tier alongside its Premium service. If you don’t have the extra cash to splash on streaming, then Spotify should probably be your go-to service. Spotify allows for six accounts under its Family Premium plan (Image credit: Spotify)

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