Amazon Music vs Spotify. Which one is best for you?
Music streaming has flourished nowadays, as it allows you to access your favorite audio and video content around the clock on any device. Finding the music streaming service that fits (Amazon music vs Spotify) your mood is essential to have a pleasant listening experience so that you can enjoy every bit of fantastic music tracks. Spotify and Amazon Music are leading music streaming services and can be worth considering for you.
In this writing breakdown, I will be drawing a brief comparison of Amazon Music vs Spotify, which will let you know about the premier services offered by both these music streaming applications. A few differences may make one service better than the other. After going through the article Spotify Vs Amazon Music, you will have a clearer view of choosing the best music streaming service for you. Checkout these comparisons: Spotify vs SoundCloud and Apple Music vs Spotify.
Spotify vs Amazon Music
Spotify is a freemium digital music streaming application developed in 2006. It has a massive music collection of 80 million soundtracks and 4 million podcasts. This platform is available in almost 180 Countries with more than 400 million active users, of which 180 million are paid, subscribers. It was designed to address music piracy issues and provide easy access to music to the users.
Amazon Music was launched in 2007. It has a massive collection of 70 million soundtracks. Amazon is available across 50 countries with 55 million subscribers. It was the first digital music store that offered music free of digital rights management. Since its launching, it has steadily made its way in North America, Europe, and Japan.
Compatibility and Availability
Compatibility:
Spotify can be accessed on your PC through a web player or on your iOS and Android mobile device. According to Spotify, there are 379 devices that support Spotify. These devices include Speakers, Gaming Consoles, Headphones, Audio Streamers etc. You can also connect to social media platforms to share your collection and playlist.
Amazon Music can also be accessed on PC through a web player on your Android and iOS devices. Amazon Music prefers devices of the Echo Series like Smart Speaker, Smart audio sunglasses, wireless earbuds, or in-car audio devices.
Availability:
Spotify is available in around 184 countries on the globe, with 180 million paid subscribers. On the other hand, Amazon Music is available in 50 countries with about 55 million subscribers. This number further decreases to just 7 countries regarding the HD audio features of Amazon Music.
Winner: Spotify is better than Amazon Music due to its wider availability worldwide and flexible compatibility with other devices.
Free Subscription
Spotify and Amazon Music offer a freemium plan to get access to their services. Both offer similar features like Free Ads, no option to skip Ads, six skips per hour, and keep playing music playing even if your display is off. However, Spotify has extra features like full access to the content library, on-demand playback on the desktop, and a change of Audio Quality setting, which Amazon Music does not offer in a freemium plan.
Winner: Spotify is better than Amazon Music in terms of free subscription due to its extra premier services like full access to the music library and change of audio quality setting.
Pricing and Plans
Apart from the freemium plan, both Spotify and Amazon Music have three basic premium plans. The subscription cost for these plans in both applications is almost the same. A brief comparison of paid Plans of both platforms is as under
In premium plans, both platforms offer Ad Free services, full access to music and podcast content, online and offline streaming for the users. Amazon Music has a slight advantage as the subscription plan for its prime members is less than that of Spotify.
Platforms | Spotify | Amazon Music |
Free Plan | Yes | Yes |
Individual Premium | $9.99/month | Prime members: $7.99/month Non-Prime Customers: $9.99/month |
family Plan | $15.99/month | $14.99/month |
Student Plan | $4.99/month | Prime members: $0.99/month Non-Prime $4.99/month |
Others | Premium Duo: $12.99/month | Single Device Plan: $3.99/month |
Winner: Amazon Music is better than Spotify in terms of premium subscription as it offers more flexibility to budget-conscious users, which makes it more appealing; moreover, HD and ultra-HD streaming make Amazon Music superior to Spotify.
Also See: Spotify Alternatives
Better Content
Spotify has a massive collection of 82 million soundtracks with an addition of 60,000 new tracks per day. Strategic deals with the like Sony Music, Warner Music, and Universal Music Groupenables Spotify to cover every genre. Apart from Music tracks, Spotify has spent enormously buying multiple podcast companies to improve its offerings.
Amazon Music has a massive collection of 90 million songs in its gallery. It does not have massive genres like Spotify, but playlists like Pop Culture, Rap Rotation, Hits and Viral Hits make Amazon music very amazing platform. Amazon Music also offers a podcast, but its 70,000 titles are nowhere near Spotify. It also has a decent collection of video hits like Pop Video Hits, 80s Video Hits, 90s Alternative Videos, and Video Icon Series.
Winner: Regarding Content Collection, Amazon Music is slightly ahead with a more extensive music library. Both platforms have an excellent collection of mainstream and indie songs, as well as an amazing playlist that does justice to every genre.
Audio Quality
Spotify and Amazon Music offer five audio quality Settings to adjust your audio settings; however, their bitrates are different. A brief comparison of both platforms in audio quality settings is
Audio Quality | Spotify | Amazon Music |
Low / Data Saver | 24 Kbps | 24-96 Kbps |
Normal / Standard | 96 Kbps | 128-192 Kbps |
High | 160 Kbps | N/A |
Very High | 320 Kbps | N/A |
HD | N/A | 850 Kbps |
Ultra HD | N/A | 3730 Kbps |
Amazon Music’s highest streaming rate of 192Kbps takes 3.5MB per song, While Spotify’s 320Kbps will take 7.5MB per song; thus, Amazon Music saves more data. HD and ultra–HD Streaming by Amazon make the sound quality much superior to that of Spotify.
Winner: When it comes to audio quality, Amazon Music is far superior to Spotify due to features of HD and ultra-HD streaming of soundtracks.
Music Discovery
Music discovery is the tool that allows us to search for the music we like but are not currently searching for it. Spotify takes everything you like or not and runs it through a hybrid algorithm. Spotify has entire sections that take a keen interest in your moods and give you a fresh selection of new releases you never heard. Recommendations on playlists offered by Spotify can also help find the most lovable soundtracks.
Amazon Music lacks a lot in Personalization. Music recommendations are generally based on popularity rather than the music you liked. Moreover, Amazon Music’s new releases just compile a list of recently released music that does not resemble Spotify.
Winner: When it comes to Music Discovery, Spotify’s thorough approach to music discovery and recommendations according to user preferences make it better than Amazon Music.
Ease Of Use
Spotify has dark themed layout having a stationary navigation bar to the side, which gives quick access to the music library. This feature is terrific for a user who has a large number of playlists. The drag and drop function help you to drop new songs into your playlist.
Amazon Music interface is simple and easy to use. Instead of a side, its navigation bar is located on top of the screen and contains quick links for music search. It has no drag-and-drop function, but the drop-down menu is very comprehensive. Amazon Music makes good use of filters through which you can choose your required tracks.
Winner: When it comes to Ease of Use, Spotify and Amazon Music are similar as both platforms have clean and elegant designs, are easy to use, and are aesthetically pleasing.
Additional Features
Spotify and Amazon Music have certain additional features which make these platforms worth using. Both platforms have Built-in-equalizers for those who want their audio to sound in specific ways. Both have a behind-the-song feature called Storyline on Spotify and X-Ray on Amazon Music which gives information about songs meaning and the artists. The audio quality indicator feature of Amazon Music lets you know the quality of the track and the quality on which it is playing based on your internet connection. An amazing ONLY YOU feature by Spotify gives a personalized music experience by highlighting your music choices.
Winner: Spotify and Amazon Music are similar in terms of Additional Features like Lyrics, Song credits, and trivia covered, which is great for music enthusiasts.
Which is Better, Spotify vs Amazon Music
After a Comparison of Spotify Vs Amazon Music, the answer of which one is better is not an easy one. Both platforms offer exquisite services, depending on the user’s preference based on their interest in music. There seems to be no winner in this battle. Spotify Platform’s exclusive features like freemium access, better tools for discovering and sharing new tracks, better connectivity, and podcast make it better for its opponents. On the other hand, Amazon Music offers a massive collection, very high sound quality, HD and Ultra HD streaming, and Karaoke Function (Sharing Songs Lyrics).
Platforms | Amazon Music | Spotify |
Compatibility and Availability | ✔️ | |
Free Subscriptions | ✔️ | |
Pricing and Plans | ✔️ | |
Better Content | ✔️ | |
Audio Quality | ✔️ | |
Music Discovery | ✔️ | |
Ease Of Use | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Additional Features | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Spotify is well suited to those who want to have a new music experience according to their Wishlist, while those who prefer the highest quality of sound can opt for Amazon Music. Remember, no one tells you to choose between the platform. One of the cleverest ways for you is to take advantage of the free trial and access the best one that suits you without losing your music collection.
FAQs
Final verdicts
Spotify and Amazon Music are most amazing music streaming platforms that offers exquisite services to its users. On comparison of Spotify Vs Amazon Music, we come to know that Spotify have better tools for sharing and discovering music tracks as well as better connectivity worldwide. On the other hand, Amazon Music offers high quality sound music as well as HD and Ultra HD streaming, which are of fantastic quality. After going through Spotify Vs Amazon Music article, if you are still unsure about your preference, you can opt for free trial and access the best music streaming platform that best suits you without losing music collection.