Why I Broke Up With Apple Music (And Got Back With Spotify)

Earlier this year, I made the decision to switch from Spotify to Apple Music. Apple music was the last service I hadn't committed to within the Apple ecosystem and I kept hearing amazing things about the interface and sound quality. So I decided why not complete my soul-selling to Apple and just make the switch.

Switching between providers

One barrier that kept me from switching over the years was the thought of having to re-add all the music I've found over the years and recreate all my playlists. Previously, there wasn't any easy way to do this. However, this year I found Song Shift, an app that syncs your music and playlists between music provider platforms, and this was the catalyst to me finally doing so.

Using Song Shift is super easy—you just connect your accounts to the app and then choose how you want to sync the music. You can pick and choose exactly what you want moved over, but you also have the option to sync your entire library or specific playlists. It is a paid service but is quite affordable considering how much time and effort it saves you.

What I liked about Apple Music

The sound quality of Apple Music is unparalleled. By supporting 24-bit/192kHz, it has been deemed one of the best streaming services. In Lehman's terms, the sound is crisper, clearer, and overall more enjoyable especially if you're listening over a quality sound system.

While the difference is minute when streamed over bluetooth on the stereo in my car, I really did notice how beautiful the sound was when I listened with my Apple AirPod Max headphones. Good to know that Apple's products support their own vision of bringing studio quality sound to the household. But if you're not planning on investing in sound-forward speakers or headphones, then this benefit probably won't matter to you as much.

Content-wise, Apple Music holds the upper hand when it comes to exclusivity for music. They have deals in place with many of today's popular artists to have the rights for early content releases. They have an extensive music content library of over 60 million tracks, so you're bound to find music you love on there.

If you’re already an Apple user, they offer a subscription bundle called Apple One. It gives you 6 of their services for one discounted price, making it an easy choice if you’re already paying for multiple services from them. Apple Music is included in this subscription bundle so for some, you’ll save money by making the switch.

Why I got back together with Spotify

It seemed behind every 'pro' supporting my Apple music choice was a back-handed 'con' that came back to bite me in the ass. For example: although the sound quality is preferred on Apple Music, the music was unplayable every time my network wavered.

Spotify provides variable streaming quality options which allows for an uninterrupted playback experience. I've been a Spotify user for well over 6 years and unless my network cut out entirely, I've never had an issue with songs buffering.

In the short 2 months that I had Apple Music however, there were countless moments where my music would suddenly cut out. It made me glaringly aware of how much the data network ebbed and flowed throughout different areas in the city. A rude awakening that I didn't need to have.

Even though this was frustrating, the main reason I ended up back with Spotify was because of the content library. Although Apple has exclusive partnerships with Artists, Spotify has the upper hand when it comes to indie and other smaller artists. They also have mixtapes from artists that can't be found on Apple Music.

Spotify also has superior playlist curation. Not only do they pump out and update thousands of playlists, they also collaborate with tastemakers and artists to create personal playlists. Beyond the playlists, their content recommendation algorithm is also the best I've tried. Whether you're listening to a playlist you've made or just through your saved songs, once your through with your own music, Spotify will automatically recommend similar music. This feature is often how I passively discover new music and is something I seriously missed when I made the switch.

The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was the day I discovered Apple doesn’t have a service like Spotify Connect. If you’ve always been a Spotify user, you may not have even thought about how useful this feature is. Spotify Connect essentially allows you to shift your music listening from device to device seamlessly. If I was listening to a playlist on my phone and wanted to move over to my desk, I could just select a different device (such as my laptop or iPad) on the music player interface and the song will pick up where I left off on the new device. Seems standard, doesn’t it?

Well, Apple Music doesn’t have this feature. If I paused the music on one device, my other devices don’t recognize what I was previously listening to. Meaning I’ll have to open up whatever playlist I was on and manually select the song I want to continue on. I honestly never knew how much of a luxury this feature was until I didn’t have it anymore.

Different listeners have different wants and needs when it comes to their streaming provider. Maybe my preferences are biased as I’ve been with Spotify since the beginning and am now used to all of their offerings. But unfortunately, even with the superior sound quality and shared ecosystem with all my devices, Apple Music and I weren’t able to make it work.