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Music is private, so selecting a music streaming service needs to be, too. Amazon Music and Apple Music provide comparable streaming options for comparable costs, however small variations between the platforms make one the most effective match for many listening habits.
We examine the 2 music giants under when it comes to pricing, playback high quality, and extra — simply in time for Prime Day.
Subscriptions and pricing
Amazon Music gives three subscription plans with completely different options: Free, Prime, and Limitless. A free plan consists of advertisements and solely permits you to shuffle an artist, album, or playlist, to not play these songs so as. Amazon Music Prime, which comes free with an Amazon Prime subscription, is ad-free however nonetheless shuffle-only. The Amazon Music Limitless plan gives shuffle and non-shuffle listening and HD and spatial audio for $9.99 per thirty days for Prime members ($10.99 per thirty days for non-Prime members). The Amazon Music Household Plan consists of as much as six accounts and is $16.99 per thirty days.
On this comparability, we shall be specializing in Amazon Music Limitless.
All Apple Music subscription plans provide the identical options, only for completely different customers. New subscribers get one month of Apple Music without spending a dime. After that, a person month-to-month subscription is $10.99 per thirty days, and Apple Music Household Plan (as much as 5 accounts) is $16.99 per thirty days. College students can select the Apple Music Pupil Plan at $5.99 per thirty days.
Winner: Tie
Music high quality
Each Amazon Music Limitless and Apple Music provide Dolby Atmos, a encompass sound expertise developed by Dolby Laboratories, as their highest streaming high quality. Dolby Atmos is a large improve to the compressed crunch of competing platforms like Spotify, which doesn’t provide playback at such a top quality. Atmos pushes ad-libs and hidden instrumentals to the foreground, making the music sound way more detailed.
Not all songs on Amazon Music Limitless and Apple Music can be found in Dolby Atmos, however tracks which can be playable at that high quality shall be marked with a label. Amazon Music Limitless tracks vary in high quality from customary definition (SD) audio to high-definition (HD) and ultra-high-definition (UHD) lossless codecs. The vast majority of Apple Music tracks, in the meantime, can be found in lossless audio as a default, which is one other win over competitor Spotify.
Winner: Apple Music
Cellular app options
Each Amazon Music Limitless and Apple Music provide an iPhone cellular app. Since most individuals take heed to music on the go, we spent our time utilizing these apps and listening to music on cellular.
On each apps, music lyrics are very simple to entry on display. On some songs, Apple Music shows a cute animation of album artwork, and an “Apple Music Sing” function lowers the artist’s voice so you possibly can extra simply sing over the music’s instrumental. Amazon Music Limitless’s “X-Ray” function shows enjoyable information concerning the artist as a music performs.
If you happen to use an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV 4K, Mac, or HomePod audio system, Apple Music is already conveniently out there in your gadget. Nonetheless, whereas Apple has a separate app for podcasts, the Amazon Music app supplies entry to each music and podcasts. Merely select your choice within the app’s “Home” and “Library” tabs by toggling between “Music” and “Podcasts” on the prime of the display.
After utilizing each apps, Amazon Music Limitless edged out Apple with a choice of urged content material that felt extra related and strong and with its inclusion of podcasts in-app. However Apple Music’s consumer interface felt extra intuitive and straightforward to make use of.
Winner: Tie
Artist compensation
In line with the most recent data made out there by Apple Music in 2021, the platform pays a mean of $0.01 per stream, although this varies by subscription plan and nation or area. No official cost data is obtainable from Amazon Music, however a 2021 estimate claims that the platform’s common payout is considerably decrease than that of Apple Music, coming in between simply $0.004 and $0.008 per stream.
Winner: Apple Music
Our winner: Amazon Music vs. Apple Music
Apple Music beat out Amazon Music Limitless by providing increased audio high quality, enjoyable app options, and better cost to artists, however we advise attempting each providers your self. Music preferences range broadly from consumer to consumer, and your favourite streaming platform might serve your wants higher than an alternate.
For instance, when you wish to take heed to the most recent pop releases, you will in all probability have extra luck discovering them in Dolby Atmos throughout each Amazon Music Limitless and Apple Music. However when you’re a traditional rock devotee, music out of your favourite artists could also be out there in various levels of high quality throughout every app. For instance, Journey’s Biggest Hits (2024 Remaster) album is obtainable in “Ultra HD” on Amazon Music and “High-Res Lossless” audio on Apple Music.
We advise benefiting from free trial gives from every platform to see which service most closely fits your streaming wants.
