by Josh Teder

It’s 2025 and I’ve spent the past 6 months switching back and forth between Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. So, let’s actually tackle the big question first.

Why Choose Each Music Streaming Service?

Based on my experience, I think you’d go for Spotify because of its ubiquity. It’s still far and away the market leader, so it’s easier to share things with friends and family, see what your friends are listening to, collaborate on playlists, etc. It’s also well known for the playlists available throughout the service, including ones customized just for you. Though, that’s not as much of an advantage as it once was because Apple Music and YouTube Music have those now, too. And they have many of the same ones, like classical motivation, for example, which I use all of the time when I want to listen to something, but also need to concentrate on work where lyrics can be distracting.

Now, for Apple Music, I think the main reasons you’d go for Apple Music are, first, it’s better sound quality. As of this recording, it’s still the only one out of the three that supports lossless audio as well as Dolby Atmos for spatial audio music, which you can take advantage of with devices like the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro 2, as well as other headphones and earbuds. And while early Atmos mixes sounded a bit gimmicky sometimes, over the past several years, I found myself actually listening to more and more Atmos mixes because in a lot of cases, I think Atmos just makes music sound better because you have more dynamic range with these tracks. Meaning that there’s a wider gap between the quiet parts and the loud parts of a mix, which is especially important for things like classical music and orchestral works. But I will say what hardware you’re using for spatial audio does make a difference. The best sounding Atmos mixes I’ve heard have been on Apple’s headphones and earbuds as well as Sonos’s Era 300 speaker. I’ll include links to the reviews of those devices as well as purchase links to all of the devices that you see in this video down in the description and pinned comment. There you can not only check prices at multiple retailers, but see where else we’ve talked about each product by clicking the eye icon at the top right corner of the product card.

The second main reason I think you’d opt for Apple Music is the interface gives you more control over your music. Because Apple Music retains some of that iTunes DNA from the mid-2000s, it’s by far the best at allowing you to not only import and upload your own music, but also edit metadata, import album artwork, and really lets you hone in and sort your music the way you want to. Apple Music as well as YouTube Music lets you upload music that you purchase or obtain elsewhere to their cloud and then makes that music available to all of your devices, while Spotify only allows you to listen to files you have locally via your Wi-Fi network.

Now, why in the age of streaming is this so crucial? Well, it turns out actually a lot of music has not been made available via streaming services or available to purchase digitally with a digital store like iTunes, which yes, is still around. I’ve run into this situation a lot with movie soundtracks, for example. If you want to listen to John Williams’ score for The Patriot, it’s not available on streaming. You either had to buy the newly released score like I did on CD or obtain it via some other method or some scores have just disappeared altogether in some regions like another example of this was Disney’s 1994 The Santa Clause. For that one on Spotify the album appears but because of some rights dispute or something only one song is available and it’s not an orchestral piece. Or you have the inverse happen like with John Williams’s excellent War Horse score. The opening track is missing, but everything else is there.

So, we’ve covered one way to get around this issue. The other is just to subscribe to YouTube Music. Because YouTube Music has access to practically every song ever uploaded on YouTube. If you can’t find something on Spotify or Apple Music, it’s likely you’ll find it on YouTube Music. That’s the big advantage to YouTube Music. The other main reason I think people look at YouTube Music is what’s called the YouTube Music Premium Bundle. This bundles YouTube Music with ad-free YouTube for one monthly price. With this subscription, you’ll also get features like background play for YouTube and the ability to download and play offline YouTube videos.

So, that’s in general the top strengths of each music streaming service. And let’s say you decide to switch to a new service. That can seem daunting, but thankfully there are services out there that can help make this easier, like Tune My Music, which I use and who sponsored this video.

Transferring Between Services

With its powerful transfer tool, Tune My Music lets you seamlessly transfer your music between services. It works across all the major music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. Tune My Music’s matching technology finds songs across platforms, so nothing gets left behind. I was able to move more than 2,000 songs from one service to another with minimal no matches found. It saved me a ton of time from manually having to recreate playlists when I’m switching between services.

But Tune My Music doesn’t stop there. Another feature I use all the time, switching back and forth between services, is auto-sync, where it’ll keep your playlists up to date across the services you’re subscribed to. Tune My Music also has a nifty sharing feature that allows you to share playlists with friends. When they click on a playlist, they can add it to their music library regardless of the music service they use. With its rock solid transfer and syncing capabilities, plus its nifty sharing features, Tune My Music is the ultimate music companion for those looking to switch or share their music. And the best part is you can start using Tune My Music today for free using the link in the description below.

All right, now let’s dive into these apps a little more and talk about some more important differences.

Music Discovery and Features

First up is discoverability. Music discoverability is probably one of the most crucial elements of any music service, and Spotify is probably the most renowned for this with its algorithms. However, I’d say YouTube Music’s algorithm is just as good, if not better, at this point in being able to pick up on new things I’ve been listening to and figuring out what relates to it that I’ve listened to before and what other music I may like that’s related to it. Apple Music relies on a combination of algorithms as well as human curation for their service. And while I still don’t think their algorithms are quite as good as Spotify’s or YouTube Music’s at picking up when I start listening to a new song or artist and then putting those in my autoplay cues, it has in my experience gotten better over the past 2 years or so. And one thing I appreciate about Apple Music for discoverability is Apple Music Radio, which is live old school radio shows you can listen to live as well as on demand and even as a podcast like Elton John’s Radio Hour or Zane Lowe interviewing an artist you have an interest in. This is one of the ways I’ve been able to break out of my recommendation loops on Spotify and YouTube Music and gain exposure to music outside of my normal taste, expanding what I like to listen to.

Speaking of radio, moving back to the more current form of what radio stations are in most of these apps, which are auto-generated playlists based off a particular song that you select. YouTube Music will allow you to create your own radio station based off not just one song or artist, but several of your favorite artists and songs you like to listen to, which is a feature I use all of the time and love. These radio stations will then be saved in the app so you can revisit them whenever you like. Spotify also offers custom-made radio stations such as this Taylor Swift station I came across in my feed. When I scrolled down, I recognized many of my favorite songs and artists. The only difference here is this is something Spotify made for me versus I made. And you can, of course, add these to your library as well.

Spotify also features a radio DJ named X. “Hey, what’s up? Your DJ X is here, ready to go. I’m going to start off with the kind of music you’ve been jamming to lately. Benson Boone up first.” Who helps curate music to listen to using your previous listening history and introducing you to new content as well. And one really cool thing you can now do with DJ X is interact with it and make requests. “Can you give me a mix of kind of lo-fi songs from Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and started off with August by Taylor Swift and really over rotate on her Folklore album.”

“Taylor Swift’s lo-fi vibes with a focus on Folklore and kicking it off with August. Let me spin that for you. All right, here’s a mix of lo-fi songs from Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, kicking it off with August and really diving into Folklore. Check it out.” And then it just does it. Usually exactly what you ask for, though sometimes it’s not perfect, but it’s really cool.

Related to what DJ X can do is the AI playlist builder, which is in beta, where you can build playlists in a more conversational tone via text. You can tell it what kind of mood you’re in, what you’ve been digging lately, anything you want. As of this recording, YouTube Music has a similar feature while Apple Music does not.

Another big differentiating factor for Spotify is Spotify Connect, which allows you to use one device to remotely control listening on another. If you start playing Spotify on your laptop, you can look at your Apple Watch and control the music playing or go to another room, open your phone, and pause the music from your laptop or decide to play something else. Spotify Connect is also widely supported by a vast number of devices, which is what makes it such a powerful feature. Another powerful feature from Spotify is Jam Sessions, which allows Spotify Premium users to invite other users to listen to and add songs to a queue in person or virtually.

While Apple Music doesn’t have a similar feature to Spotify Connect, they do have a similar feature to Jam Sessions with their SharePlay music session, though it only works with Apple users who also have an iPhone, which is much more limited than Spotify’s feature. You can also do this from CarPlay, which is pretty neat.

While we’re on Apple Music, two other features that help differentiate it are Apple Music Sing and Apple Music Classical. Apple Music Sing is basically a karaoke mode across Apple Music. It lets you control the vocal volume on millions of songs and sing along with beat-by-beat lyrics. If you have a friend with you, you can do duets with separate background vocals and verses. And you can do this on the Apple TV with Continuity Camera, so you can see yourselves singing along. A great way to liven up a party or kill one if you’re bad at singing.

It may be quite simple, but Apple Music Classical is an app available on iOS, iPadOS, Android, and the web that comes free with your Apple Music subscription and is specifically designed for classical music with better metadata for searches and high quality audio and spatial audio, which for classical music really does make a big difference and sounds great.

Smart Assistant Integration and User Interface

Next up, smart assistants. When it comes to smart assistant integration, there are several important differences to be aware of with these services. Apple Music works with Amazon’s assistant, Google’s assistant, and of course, Apple’s own assistant on Apple devices. Spotify works with all three, even on HomePods, thanks to the ability for HomePods to start an AirPlay session from iPhones and iPads with Spotify installed. YouTube Music is compatible with Google Assistant and Gemini as well as Apple’s assistant via an iPhone or iPad or HomePod.

Next, let’s talk about UI for a second because there are some notable UI differences worth highlighting. Apple Music has animated artwork when you’re playing songs while Spotify has video loops or animated album artwork for many tracks. YouTube Music, on the other hand, features a music video player integration directly on the now playing screen. Apple Music has music videos integrated into their app, at least here in the US, while Spotify doesn’t, though they have a feature similar to YouTube Music’s out in beta in a few countries. YouTube Music also features Quick Picks to quickly access music you’re currently into without navigating through multiple menus. Spotify has Spotify codes. You can use your camera to scan and instantly share and access songs, which is pretty convenient. YouTube Music has a samples tab, which is a TikTok or Shorts style area to quickly scroll through songs you might be into. It’s kind of like the previews you used to get with iTunes songs back in the day before you decided to buy them. Spotify has this, too, but it’s like one or two more steps to get to.

Now, let’s talk about some downsides I’ve encountered with each service.

Downsides and Pricing Considerations

YouTube Music is still too integrated into YouTube with playlists. I still find my YouTube Music playlists cluttering my YouTube interface, which is annoying. There are also podcasts cluttering the interface, plus channel recommendations, what songs are trending on Shorts. There are just a lot of ideas packed into YouTube Music’s UI that could probably be simplified. While Spotify does have other things besides music, if you never interact with them, the audiobooks and podcasts don’t seem to clutter my feed. Though, if your experience is different, definitely let me know in the comments. And of course, the Apple Music app just has music. If you want podcasts or audiobooks, there are separate apps for those experiences.

So, when you take pricing into consideration, which service is actually better? If music quality and the ability to maintain your library is important to you, Apple Music is by far the best option, especially considering you can bundle it in with other Apple services with the Apple One bundle. While YouTube Music’s extensive music catalog, great algorithms, AI playlist, and tuner features, plus the YouTube Premium bundle, I think makes it a pretty compelling choice for those who don’t want Apple Music. One important distinction though is that while Apple Music and YouTube Music may on the surface look like slightly better deals, Spotify offers an ad-supported free tier while Apple Music does not. However, YouTube Music does and it provides unlimited skips and on-demand playback. In contrast, Spotify’s free tier is more restrictive with limited skips and song order, but it does allow for background play which YouTube Music’s free tier does not.

So, those are my thoughts on these streaming services, what differentiates them, and the reasons why I think you would go for one over the other.

My Personal Recommendations

Now, personally, I use Apple Music the most for Dolby Atmos and better audio quality and for storing music that I’ve purchased but isn’t available on streaming services. Then, followed by YouTube Music for its algorithm and ability to upload music as well. And then I’ll go to Spotify just to change things up a bit. But what about you? Let me know in the comments which one you use and why, and whether you’d recommend it. And to see more of my comparison videos, like my comparison of Google Maps and Apple Maps, you can click here or click here to see the reviews of some of the devices you saw featured in this video, like the AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, Sonos Ace, and Sonos Era 300. And to see all of the products we recommend at any time, you can do that by visiting 6monthslater.net/shop. For 6 Months Later, I’m Josh Tedder. Thanks for watching.