Spotify or AM for family

Community
1

Hi All,

So me and my family are looking at a family music subscription, and the decision has been left to me to find the best app, this is also going to be cross platform, me and my partner use iPhone, our parents use Android, plus we have my work windows PC (we can install music apps), iMac, Chromebook, Rokus, Samsung smart tv so on, however I’m not letting that rule out AM.

I used Spotify since 2012, but I have noticed the service seems to be getting worse, and they just use apple as a reason for not bringing new features to their apps, but their discovery system, ecosystem support and social features are excellent, plus they are buy far the biggest platform, and all my friends use it.

AM however has a much better UI, better music quality (hardly noticable over bluetooth) works excellent in the Apple ecosystem but lacks the community side as its less used, requires a bit more work to get discovery to work, and if you want a lot of new music requires apps like songshift to link into spotifys playlists.

Now my family don’t use music apps like me, my partners dad for example listens to albums over playlists, and my partner listens to top 40s.
I however use it to find new music, around 50% of my day is listening to music so I want a constant stream of new music, i can setup AM to do this with songshift to help apple learn me and my tastes.

i also sometimes listen to podcasts, AM doesnt support this so I need something like Overcast to get my fix, spotify can do this in app.

One final point is when I add a song to a playlist, it adds it to the album section with 1 song, its slightly frustrating this.

however while AM is mostly negative it seems, I do love it, but im on the edge and unsure which way to go as essentially im locking me and my family into a service.

Thanks

2

Spotify, it’s better.

1 Like
3

Spotify allows you to have higher quality streams (512kbps) if you’re a subscription holder, the whole “ecosystem” thing is just as seamless on Spotify as Apple music.

It really does sound like Spotify is going to work better for you. I would give it a try for a 1 or 3 month period and if you find that you dislike it, you can always switch.

Oh and regarding service quality, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. The only time I’ve ever had a problem was when their whole service went down for a few hours in 2017 I think it was. Aside from that, it’s snappy, smooth and good quality audio.

1 Like
4

I just use a library of micro sd’s and a fiio x3. I like my method cause it’s simple.

2 Likes
5

That doesn’t help here at all though does it?

@XDroidie626 do you use Apple Music? Have you tried the android client to see how it works for you?

On Spotify? On Apple Music it depends how you add it.

1 Like
6

I use AM currently.
And the album thing is relating to AM not Spotify, just triggers me

7

Spotify is only 320kb, Apple is only 256kb yes but AAC is better than Spotify’s

8

Took a second but it is in albums (i tested), i get what you mean though it kind of makes sense as well.

personally id test apple music on android and see how well it runs. Though Spotify has a generally more diverse platform in terms of support. Apple Music has a web player but its still in beta for example.

9

AM is already on an android device, it’s okay, it lags every now and again, but generally it’s fine, just locked it into memory

10

Google Play Music since add Free Youtube comes with it?

1 Like
11

Don’t forget the level of tech literacy from your family members. You did mention your dad’s tastes, so you’ve thought about it.
In my own family I’d go spotify just because of that. It’d be uh difficult to teach other apps or methods to some of my family.

12

Spotify is by far the best option in it’s price class.

Depending on what gear you use when listening, Tidal is worth a look too. 16/44 spoils you quickly with the right equipment.

1 Like
13

This is going to be a really dumb question but I’m confused.

AM = Apple Music or Amazon Music?!?

We used to have a Google Music account but Google has been playing silly buggers lately. So we now have an Amazon Music account. I have never used Spotify or Apple Music so I can’t have an opinion on the subject. I do know that Amazon Music is much better than the old Google Music. There is no way I’m going to pay for YouTube Music, partly because I think ti’s a dumb idea.

14

AM is Apple Music

15

Apart from my partner who used her 3 month trial for AM, neither of them are skilled with either platform, teaching them wouldn’t be difficult with either I don’t think

16

My short take:

Apple Music:

  • Best library management
  • Simplest UI

Spotify:

  • King of cross platform (has a native app for practically everything, including Linux, Xbox, and PS4)
  • Best music discovery because of community playlists
  • Has podcasts built in

Basically I think Apple Music is best for people who want more straightforward control over their music library and already know what they want to listen to. Spotify is best for people who are more into finding new music. Tidal is best if Master tracks are important to you.

When you add a song to your library in Apple Music, it also shows up in Artists, Albums, and Genres. This is the best way IMO because if I just want to listen to Pink Floyd, I can just click on Artists -> Pink Floyd and all of the songs I have liked will be there and nothing else. It is the closest you can get to managing your music on a computer, where everything is automatically populated into its proper place.

Personally, I find myself using Apple Music the most between the three, but Spotify does have a couple playlists that I just can’t get in Apple Music without having to add every song individually, and I haven’t been able to bring myself to do that yet.

And as for Tidal, I wouldn’t even use it if it weren’t already free under my Sprint plan. I don’t like their library management at all.

17

Or… you could go AM frequency radio with radio podcast and awesome legacy bitrate music. No costly monthly fee with permanent live streaming feature. You can extend the same service to family members.

It’s buy once radio hardware at its best and it should work for a long time.

Downside is phones only have FM radio though so mobility will be an issue…

Seriously though, go for Spotify. They even have linux clients.

18

Never thought of using short wave radio as your own streaming service. Kinda retro.

1 Like
19

I was thinking that too. Also GPlay music lets you upload your library (flac and MP3) too. Unless google ruined it to get people to switch to youtube music.

GPlay Music also has a web client, so in theory it should be cross platform. Last I used it it worked on chromebooks and various computers. I switched to vlc last year with all my music on my sd card on my phone.

20

GPM is going away eventually, wouldn’t invest in it, and youtube music sucks.