Amazon Music vs Spotify: Which Platform Should You Choose?

In recent times, many of us have shifted our music listening habits to streaming services like Spotify. Instead of "owning" music – whether physically or digitally – users now pay a monthly subscription fee to access music in the cloud, allowing them to listen to millions of songs without actually buying them.

Spotify is one of the largest streaming applications in this market, but it is beginning to face fierce competition – especially now that Amazon has its own special streaming feature called Amazon Music Unlimited. So, what are the differences between them? Let’s explore the pros and cons of Spotify and Amazon Music Unlimited in the following article.

Background

Spotify launched in 2008 and has grown into one of the world's largest music streaming services. But it is now threatened as competitors begin to enter this market.

Spotify’s competitors currently include Apple Music, Deezer, Napster, and Google Play Music, as well as Tidal and Qobuz, which specialize in high-resolution music streaming. Now, Spotify faces an even bigger competitor – in terms of sheer power – Amazon Music Unlimited.

Amazon has been selling CDs and MP3s for years and has provided Amazon Prime subscribers with access to two million songs as part of the deal. Now, it has Amazon Music Unlimited, expanding that catalog to 50 million songs.

Subscription Plans

If you're on a tight budget, Spotify has you covered. It offers a free subscription tier supported by some ads. The audio quality is limited to a maximum of 160kbps, and you can only skip a track six times per hour on mobile devices. However, it is free.

When you upgrade Spotify to the Premium plan, you get audio quality up to 320kbps. You also get ad-free music, unlimited search and skips, along with the option to listen offline.

Spotify also offers a discounted Premium Family subscription for £14.99 per month. It includes up to six users (all must live at the same address) and includes parental controls.

Unlike Spotify, Amazon does not offer a free, ad-supported subscription tier for Amazon Music Unlimited – only a 30-day free trial. However, Prime subscribers have free access to Amazon’s more basic Prime Music streaming service as part of their package.

A regular Music Unlimited membership will cost you £9.99 per month. However, Prime subscribers get a reduced cost of £7.99 per month or £79 per year.

Amazon also offers a cheaper £3.99 per month plan – but you can only use it to play music through a single Amazon Echo or Echo Dot speaker (ask Alexa for a free trial). If you want to access Amazon Music Unlimited on multiple Echo devices in your home, you'll need the regular £9.99 per month membership.

Finally, Amazon offers a Family membership plan at £14.99 per month (or £149 per year) for up to six accounts. Up to ten devices can use Amazon Music on one account, and music can be downloaded for offline playback on iOS, Android, and Fire tablet platforms.

Music Catalog

Given that Spotify launched eight years before Amazon Music Unlimited, you would think it would have a larger music library. Not so. While Spotify offers access to 40 million songs, Amazon Music Unlimited users can choose from over 50 million songs.

Compatibility

Spotify is accessible via both iOS and Android apps, as well as its web player. It also offers the benefit of Spotify Connect, allowing paying subscribers to stream directly to speakers, TVs, or systems. It has become a familiar feature in many hi-fi and AV products – including Sonos speakers – and is a major draw for those interested in bringing streaming into their existing setup.

It’s also worth noting that Spotify is compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant – just request the music you want “on Spotify.”

Amazon Music Unlimited is compatible with smartphones and tablets via the Android and iOS apps; PCs and Macs through its web player or desktop app; certain BMW and Mini in-car entertainment systems; Sonos multi-room wireless speakers; and Bluesound and NAD BluOS devices.

As you would expect, Amazon Music Unlimited integrates fully with Echo devices but not with Google Assistant. You can ask Alexa to play a specific song or search by mood, lyrics, artist, or decade. Alexa even pulls up exclusive artist commentary called ‘Side-by-Sides’ – the audio equivalent of a DVD commentary track.

Music Discovery

Spotify's USP is music recommendations. Its hugely popular ‘Discover Weekly’ feature uses AI and machine learning to create a playlist of 30 songs tailored to your listening habits – and it's impressively accurate.

Additionally, on Fridays, Spotify delivers a two-hour “Release Radar” playlist containing brand-new music and remixes. The more you listen, the better the recommendations align with your tastes.

Amazon Music Unlimited is divided into three main sections: Browse (the streaming service), My Music (your local and cloud library), and Store. The tech giant’s in-house music experts curate thousands of playlists, while Amazon's algorithms recommend music based on your listening habits.

In summary, Music Unlimited’s discovery features are good – but Spotify’s are more sophisticated.

Sound Quality

Spotify Premium users can stream music at up to 320kbps (CD quality). Amazon Music Unlimited is a bit more complex when it comes to streaming quality, claiming to support ‘multiple bit rates.’ Listen to them side by side through a pair of cheap headphones, and the difference is hardly audible.

However, listen through a top-notch DAC/headphone combo, and Amazon Music Unlimited has a slight edge. It offers the best sound quality among the £9.99 per month services, even if the difference may not be significant enough to make a decision on its own.

High-Resolution Audio

Amazon recently launched Amazon Music HD, offering 50 million ‘HD tracks’ at CD-quality bit rates of 16-bit/44.1kHz plus millions more at 24-bit and up to 192kHz (what Amazon calls ‘Ultra HD’). It costs £12.99 per month for Prime subscribers or £14.99 if you don’t have Prime. Current Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can access HD tracks for an additional £5 per month.

Contrast this with Spotify, which has hinted at raising its maximum quality above 320kbps but has yet to do so, and prospects may be swayed by Amazon’s offering.

So which app is the best?

The answer depends on your choice. Spotify is the most recognizable name in streaming and its Premium subscription provides access to 40 million songs. If you enjoy discovering new music, Spotify Premium’s comprehensive features and broad compatibility make it a top app.

However, if you prefer using Alexa devices, Amazon Music Unlimited makes a lot more sense – it integrates uniquely with Alexa and your existing Amazon account. It sounds a little more refined than Spotify, but its desktop and mobile user interfaces aren’t always reliable.