Amazon Music and Spotify, seem to be two of the most well-known music streaming services. Both are music industry warriors in their own right, with massive music catalogs, podcasts, and extra content such as video and music stations.
Amazon Music vs. Spotify: The Battle of the Streaming Giants Spotify was the first and last word in music for years. The answer is becoming less obvious as the Swedish company’s competitors have grown by leaps and bounds. In fact, you could argue that there isn’t much difference between them any longer.
Amazon Music and Spotify both provide millions of tracks on demand, apps for nearly every device, and competitive pricing — at least when compared to days since you had to buy any album you wanted to listen to. So, which is superior? Here are some things to think about when deciding whether Spotify or Amazon Music is good for you.
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What’s the difference between Amazon Music and Spotify?
Amazon Music and Spotify share numerous features and nearly identical song catalogs. However, there are a few differences that may sway potential listeners toward one service over the other.
Amazon Music
The key difference with Amazon Music is it’s easy and fully compatible with Alexa. The already-famous voice assistant is found in many homes, cars, and tech accessories. Accessing Alexa is simple because Amazon Music already includes the use of Alexa. It allows users to access their favorite streamed music hands-free. This feature is especially useful if you frequently drive. It works similarly to how you might use Alexa to control smart home items with commands like “Hey Alexa, open the garage door,” but with commands like “Hey Alexa, play some relaxing jazz music.”
Spotify
If you’re more interested in finding styles of music and podcasts and filtering sounds based on your mood, using Spotify’s smart algorithm is a treat. Spotify playlists also have a “enhance” function that allows users to invite random music into playlists that match the mood and style of the ones you’ve already marked as favorites. A “recently played” music option is also available, allowing users to browse the music they’ve listened to in the last three months of streaming.
Prices
Amazon Music
There are several Amazon Music plans to choose from, including Free, Amazon Music Prime, Unlimited, Unlimited Family, and Single Device.
As part of your Amazon Prime membership benefits, you already have access to an expansive music service called Amazon Music Prime. It is ad-free, has on-demand access to nearly 2 million songs, and is extremely popular among existing Prime members because they see it as a free benefit.
There’s also an Amazon Music Free membership, which works in a similar way to radio listening. You won’t be able to select a specific song, but you can select a genre. You’ll need to upgrade to the Music Unlimited Plan if you want access to Amazon’s entire music library. It includes tens of millions of songs.
To get access to Amazon Music, you must purchase an Amazon Prime membership, which also includes Amazon Prime videos.
Amazon Music Unlimited is available to Prime members for $8.99 per month for a monthly subscription or $79 per year for an annual subscription. Customers who do not have access to Prime pay $9.99 per month.
Spotify
Spotify offers a variety of subscription plans, including Free, Premium, Premium Duo, Premium Family, and Premium Student.
The ad-supported version of Spotify is completely free, and it might remind you of the once-popular Pandora app. That rose to prominence as a result of a radio-like algorithm that sorted songs according to preferred artists and genres. In return for enduring ads and limited capacity to skip over certain songs, the free Spotify plan allows you to listen to any song through the mobile or desktop app. If you don’t want to listen to commercials, Spotify’s premium plans are ad-free, allow more users, and allow multiple people in the same house or office to listen at the same time.
Premium will cost around $9.99 per month, with Premium Duo at $12.99 per month, Premium Family plans at $15.99 per month, and the student plan at $4.99 per month. Membership incentives and special offers do appear from time to time, but they are not common.
Special Features
Amazon Music
Aside from Alexa compatibility, Amazon Music’s other standout feature is something called “X-Ray Lyrics.” It’s a handy feature for difficult-to-understand songs, allowing lyrics to scroll by almost karaoke-style as the song plays. Amazon also launched Car Mode earlier this year, which is a minimally useless interface that makes driving and listening easier.
Spotify
Spotify’s ability to figure out what you like to listen to is based on an advanced algorithm. Whereas Amazon may allow you to read lyrics, Spotify provides you with the songs you already know and love, as well as others that may not have ever charted but match your preferences. It’s a fun way to increase your coolness by discovering new artists, discovering classics from bygone eras, and broadening your musical horizons. Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” feature and other playlists are also a fun way to broaden your musical horizons without getting bogged down by typical top 40 radio mixes.
App Interface
Amazon Music
The Amazon Music mobile app is simple to use and has received positive feedback from Amazon customers. The streaming service’s desktop app, on the other hand, is a no-frills, bare-bones experience. However, because using Amazon Music via the company’s desktop browser is so simple, it’s unclear why anybody would want to download the desktop app. Avoid using the desktop app and instead, use the Amazon Music mobile app or a web browser.
Spotify
Spotify really shines in this category. Spotify’s desktop app is more user-friendly and less distracting than its Amazon counterpart. The Spotify desktop app outperforms Amazon’s in terms of offline downloads, playlist features, and a system that makes listening from your home office feel like a professional-grade experience. Its mobile app is set up in a similar way, with simple features and a relatively simple design.
Sound Quality
Amazon Music
When it comes to paid plans, Amazon takes the lead because its Music Unlimited memberships include CD-quality music streaming. Some Music Unlimited songs are even available in Ultra HD, which is a significant improvement over CD quality. The average listener, on the other hand, may not be able to tell the difference. If you’re listening to music through standard headphones, it won’t make much of a difference. If you’re streaming music to surround-sound speakers or other specialized audio equipment, it can make a big difference.
Spotify
It loses this Amazon Music vs. Spotify battle because they don’t offer any kind of CD-quality plan. The popular service is expected to launch its HiFi plan by the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022, but this has yet to happen.
Is Amazon Music included in Prime for free?
For eligible Amazon Prime members, Amazon Music Prime offers unlimited, ad-free on-demand streaming of playlists and stations, as well as millions of songs and albums.
Can I listen to Amazon Music offline?
Songs from Amazon Music Unlimited and Amazon Music Prime can be downloaded and played offline. Choose the song, album, or playlist that you want to save. Select Download from the More Options menu.
Do Amazon Music downloads have a time limit?
Because you didn’t renew your Amazon Music subscription, it may have expired. You can renew your membership on Amazon by going to “Your Account” and selecting “Renew Your Membership.”
Conclusion
In the end, the Amazon Music vs. Spotify debate comes down to your listening preferences. Amazon Music is likely your best bet if you like the convenience of Alexa integration and already use Amazon as a Prime member. Spotify is probably the right service for you if you don’t already use Amazon services on a regular basis, prefer discovering new music based on your mood and taste, or want an entirely free option. In any case, happy listening!
