If you listen on Spotify's web player, it streams in AAC at 128Kbps for free users or 256Kbps for premium.Īpple Music streams 256Kbps AAC files and now has lossless and spatial audio on select songs.

On mobile you can choose what bit rate to stream, in increments up to 320Kbps, which is handy especially if you're worried about using up too much mobile data. Spotify uses the Ogg Vorbis format or AAC. The free version of Spotify lets you listen to songs on demand, but many playlists and albums can only be listened to on shuffle.ĭoes Apple Music or Spotify have better streaming quality? And if you're a student, you'll get access to Hulu and Showtime (ad-supported) as part of your Premium subscription. Spotify also offers a Premium Duo subscription for two users who live at the same address for $13 (£13, AU$16). The caveat (aside from the interruptions) is that many albums and playlists require you to listen in shuffle mode rather than sequential play and there's a limit of six skips per hour.Īpple Music lets free users stream Beats1 Radio, or you can listen to songs from your iTunes library.

Spotify is the only one of the two music services with a free, ad-supported tier, so even if you don't want to pay for the premium version you can still listen. 30, 2021, while Apple Music is offering six months free for new users through Best Buy. Spotify is offering three months of its premium version free to new users until Sept. You can stream any song from the catalog on demand, plus listen to songs offline. It costs $5 for students, $15 for an Apple Music family plan or $16 for a Spotify family plan. Apple Music and Spotify cost the same (mostly)īoth Spotify and Apple Music offer a free three-month trial period for their premium services, which normally cost $10 (£10, AU$12) a month.

Spotify premium itunes