I, like many others, am sick of Spotify's nonsense. I'm sick of having an AI DJ shoved down my throat in the same way that I'm sick of paying a whopping $12 a month for a music streaming service that doesn't pay artists fairly. Where does all that money go? Seriously?
So I've decided: enough is enough. No more Spotify. Bye, bye. I've written articles here at Tom's Guide about this for months now, and I know many readers feel the same way. You want to quit Spotify, but it's just too darn good.
Why I'm switching from Spotify
There are so many reasons why I want to leave Spotify. For starters, Spotify (allegedly) pays only $0.006-$0.006 per stream, which is astronomically lower than Qobuz, which paid "US$0.01873 per stream" in the financial year 2024. This is the highest out of any music streaming services that I've personally come across. Apple Music (allegedly) pays $0.01 per stream, which is around $0.008 less than Qobuz, but way better than Spotify could even dream of.
Then we come onto the topic of Spotify's CEO, who has made many a controversial investment that I don't personally agree with. It's just a whole fiasco of unethical nonsense, and I'm over it. I'm ready to go.
I will, however, miss Spotify a lot. I love my Discover Weekly; I love my Release Radar; I love how well the algorithm knows me; I love the Spotify-exclusive Spotify Sessions with song covers that scratch my brain just right.
And most of all, I'll miss Spotify Wrapped day. You know those memes where it's like "The worst person you know is about to get even worse"? That's me on Spotify Wrapped day. I await Spotify Wrapped day more than Christmas. Trust me, I'd rather have Spotify Wrapped ten times a year than celebrate my birthday.
It's not all doom and gloom, though: you can get Spotify Wrapped-adjacent features from services like Last.fm, which tracks your "scrobbles" (plays) and shows your most listened songs and artists. It doesn't hit the same, but it'll do. I guess.
What I like about Apple Music so far
Before we get any further, please allow me to set the scene so as to manage your expectations of me. I'm an Apple girlie through and through. I have an iPhone, a MacBook, and AirPods. Therefore, my experience of Apple Music will be far superior to someone who has a Samsung phone and Sony earbuds. So if you particularly hate Apple, then maybe this isn't the article for you.
I had an Apple Music free trial ages ago, but never opted to subscribe. In my subscription era, I've been using Apple Music for about three days, and I'm already a big, big fan. There are a few main reasons why, and I'll get into them now.
The algorithm already knows me
Even though I've only just made my account and transferred my Spotify data over, Apple Music already seems to understand my music taste deeply. When I was using Qobuz, my song radios would be full of artists and genres I never listen to, which confused me.
Not with Apple Music. The algorithm must be different, because it just gets me. Apple Music makes you a personalized station (so, for example, mine's called "Erin Bashford's Station") that plays both songs you have saved, and songs you don't yet know but will probably like. It took nine songs for Apple Music to recommend a non-favorited track, and oh boy, did I love this track suggestion. It recommended "It's Random" by Dora Jar, which is a groovy acoustic indie pop track, and meshed perfectly with the rest of my playlist.
Unfortunately, you can't skip back a track once it finishes, so if you like a song, you need to favorite it quick!
Here's an example of what my Apple Music homepage looks like.
As you can see, there's a lovely selection of new releases — by artists I actually listen to, which is a nice change from Qobuz, which recommended obscure stuff I wasn't into — and tracks I know and love.
You can also see that I've already found two pre-made playlists — for my two fave genres, alternative electronic and alternative rock — and made use of the random mixes. I'm not missing Spotify's "Altar" playlist or "All New Indie" or my Daily Mixes right now, and that's saying something. I used to be addicted to those things.
Obviously, only time will tell, but I'm already impressed with how well Apple Music knows me from just the songs I've imported from Spotify.
The radio shows
As someone who hosted a radio show for three years at university, radio will always hold a special place in my heart. If you genuinely love discovering new music, there's nothing better than a specialist radio show curated and hosted by a DJ who knows their stuff. I'm not talking about commercial radio ("Next caller gets a free Ferrari *jingle noise**car horn**foghorn**cash register noise*!!!"). I'm talking about specialist radio.
Thankfully, Apple Music has a ton. I love Zane Lowe's show, Matt Wilkinson's show, and the Apple Music Club DJ Mixes. Here's what they look like in the app.
There are hours and hours and hours of content for me to stick my teeth into, and I can't wait to start listening. I already watch some Zane Lowe episodes on YouTube, but it's nice to be able to do it in the Apple Music app, too (which doesn't count towards my social media screen time limit — score!).
I'm already discovering new music and understanding more depth with my favorite artists thanks to the interesting interviews and supplemental content in Apple Music. For example, Tame Impala's recent interview with Zane Lowe was so illuminating into his creative process, and now I'm listening to the new album with a completely different lens. I wholeheartedly recommend checking out Lowe's interviews — they're excellent.
The hi-res streaming
This one is nice and quick. I love how hi-res Apple Music's files are. I use AirPods Pro 2 to listen to 50% of my music and my Edifier R1280T to listen to the other 50% (we don't talk about the 10% of the time I use my Bose Smart Soundbar to play music).
As I've got AirPods, I'm privy to Apple's super-elusive hi-res Bluetooth codec, ALAC. This codec is kind of like LDAC on Android. However, you can only get this codec on Apple Music. It's really annoying, but hey, that's Apple for you.
Thanks to ALAC, music sounds so much better wirelessly on Apple Music with an iPhone than Spotify, and even better than Qobuz. The instrument separation is second-to-none, and I swear I feel even more immersed in the tracks than I ever have before. Qobuz and Tidal still sound better with a wired connection — USB-C — but Apple Music is the way to go for wireless listening.
Apple Music is the one to beat if you've got AirPods — trust me. It makes me wonder how I ever survived with another streaming service.
What I don't like about Apple Music
Although the music quality, diverse library, and radio shows already have me hooked, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. There is one major thing I don't like about Apple Music.
No seamless device switching
Unlike Spotify, it's not quite as easy to switch between devices on Apple Music. I often open my work MacBook in the morning and am greeted by a "Switch device for playback". This occurs after I've played music on my personal MacBook between working hours.
To further prove my point, I opened up Apple Music on my iPhone and my work MacBook while writing this article. I played a track from my phone, and then played another track from my MacBook.
Apple Music gave me the old "More than one device trying to play music at a time". But both are mine! I want to be able to control the decks from my phone and my computer! Why is that so hard? Why can't I do that?
If I've got a really good shuffle going on my work Mac at 5pm, I can't switch it onto my phone or personal Mac for post-work grooving. This is a major disappointment, and I hope Apple does something about it ASAP.
Spotify just trusts you and pops up with the green banner that allows you to seamlessly switch between devices. I long for this feature on Apple Music. I yearn. Nay, I crave.
So although I like most of what I see, Apple Music isn't perfect. But hey, I like it a heck of a lot better than Spotify right now. What do you think? How do you feel about Apple Music? Let me know in the comments!
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