Spotify versus Amazon Music the titanic battle of streaming services. Spotify was the first and last word in music for years, but as the Swedish company’s competitors have advanced, the answer has become less obvious. One could argue that there is not much difference between them anymore.
Both Spotify and Amazon Music offer millions of on-demand tracks, apps for nearly every device, and competitive pricing compared to the days when you had to purchase every album you wanted to listen to. Which then is superior? Consider the following factors to determine whether Spotify or Amazon Music is best for you.
This results in less control over the song you are listening to (even if you can choose the artist or genre), reduced audio quality, a limited number of skips, and frequent commercial breaks. Spotify wins the battle of the freemium offerings due to its inclusion of its entire library, whereas Amazon Music Free only offers a selection.
Both restrictions are annoying, and you will likely consider ad-free paid alternatives shortly. Both Spotify Premium and Amazon Music Unlimited cost $9.99 per month (half price for students), with $14.99 per month family plans allowing up to six users to share the monthly fee.
Pricing
There is no student discount for the standard Amazon Music HD plan, which costs $12.99/month (Prime members) or $14.99/month (non-Prime members). Spotify Premium is $9.99 per month, or $4.99 per month for full-time college students; neither music streaming service offers a military discount.
Unless you enrol in their respective family plans, neither standard payment plan permits simultaneous streaming from multiple devices. The Amazon Music HD Family Plan costs $19.99 per month, compared to $14.99 for the Spotify Family Plan. Both allow simultaneous use of six devices.
Spotify Duo is a $12.99/month service that allows two separate Spotify accounts to operate independently while sharing certain features (such as Duo Mix). Prime members receive a substantial discount if they pay for an annual subscription in full, effectively reducing the monthly cost of an individual subscription to $10.75 and the monthly cost of the Family HD plan to $16.50.
Spotify: Features
Features
- Audio Features & Analysis.
- Playback.
- Recommendations.
- Search.
- Playlists.
- Metadata.
- You can Download Spotify Easily
Amazon Music: Features
Features
- offers a free subscription
- Prime and Unlimited both offer offline playback
- unlimited song skips
- offers streaming in HD quality
- Ad-free streaming and unlimited skips
- You can Download Amazon music Easily
Spotify vs Amazon Music Streaming quality
Amazon Music HD is a service of the highest calibre that supports lossless FLAC audio. Amazon Music HD tracks can be streamed at up to 850kbps, and according to an Amazon representative, the vast majority of devices can play Amazon Music HD files. Amazon Ultra HD tracks have a maximum rate of 24bit/192kHz, which is impressive, but most devices require an external DAC.
Spotify Premium supports the compressed, lossy Ogg Vorbis audio format and streams at 320kbps when the Very High quality level is selected. Low (24kbps), Normal (96kbps), High (160kbps), and Automatic are the other options (adjusts depending on network connection).
On February 22, 2021, Spotify introduced Spotify HiFi, a lossless audio streaming tier designed to level the playing field with services such as Deezer, Tidal HiFi, Qobuz, and Amazon Music HD. It is only known that the new tier will offer CD-quality lossless audio and will likely not offer audio of a higher quality.
Spotify vs Amazon Music Devices
While Amazon Music can be played on a variety of devices, Spotify has a superior connectivity feature: Spotify Connect. And despite the fact that Amazon now has Alexa Cast, which allows you to cast to a variety of Alexa or Bluetooth devices from the Music Unlimited app, it is not as flexible as Spotify Connect.
Spotify Connect permits remote control of any Spotify Connect device or Spotify app. This means you can use your desktop app to control Spotify on your Echo, pause it on your phone, find another track, and play it on your computer instead. Each application controls the music regardless of where it is playing.
The Amazon Music app provides access to Amazon Music Unlimited. The application can be downloaded on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC devices. It is also accessible via a Web player in your browser and Amazon’s Echo devices and Fire tablets.
Additionally, you can play music via a Sonos multi-room system or Roku media streamer. Amazon has also announced that select BMW and Mini automobiles are Amazon Music-enabled and offer access to the service via the infotainment system when a smartphone is connected.
Spotify vs Amazon Music Subscription plans
Spotify has you covered if you don’t have a lot of money. It has a free subscription plan that is paid for by some annoying ads. On mobile devices, the best audio quality you can get is 160kbps, and you can only skip a track six times per hour. Even so, it’s free. If you pay £9.99 per month for Spotify’s Premium plan, the sound quality goes up to 320kbps. You also get music without ads and the ability to search and skip as much as you want.
Spotify also has a Premium Family plan that costs £14.99 per month instead of £19.99. It can be used by up to six people at the same address, and it has parental controls. Amazon Music Unlimited doesn’t have a free plan with ads like Spotify does. Instead, it only has a free 30-day trial. Prime members do, however, get free access to Amazon Prime Music, which is a more basic streaming service.
A regular membership to Music Unlimited costs £9.99 per month. Amazon Prime members, on the other hand, get a discount that brings the price down to £7.99 per month or £79 per year. Amazon also offers a cheaper subscription for £3.99 per month, but you can only use it to stream music through a single Amazon Echo or Echo Dot speaker.
You’ll need a £9.99 per month membership if you want to use Amazon Music Unlimited on more than one Echo device in your home. Lastly, Amazon has a Family membership plan for up to six accounts that costs £14.99 per month or £149 per year. One Amazon Music account can be used on up to ten different devices, and music can be downloaded to play offline on iOS, Android, and Fire tablets.
Spotify vs Amazon Music Audio quality
Both Spotify and Amazon Music have free plans that are about the same quality. Music streaming is compressed to save space and data, but most people who listen on their phones or with earbuds won’t notice any major quality problems.
Amazon Music is better than Spotify when it comes to the sound quality of paid plans. Amazon Music used to charge extra for its Music HD plan, but now all of its Music Unlimited plans come with CD-quality streaming. Some of the tracks are even available in Ultra HD, which is better than CD quality.
Some people will be able to tell that Amazon Music HD has better quality, but to fully benefit from the better sound, you’ll need better speakers or headphones and a wired connection to your playback device. Spotify doesn’t have a plan with CD-quality sound yet, but it will later this year.
Spotify Pros and Cons
Pros
- Great music and podcast selection
- Available just about everywhere
- Fantastic playlist features
- Music discovery
Cons
- Still lacks hi-res audio
- Free version on Mobile is frustrating
- Low bitrate
Amazon Music Pros and Cons
Pros
- Large music and video library
- Cool, scrolling lyrics
- Podcasts
- Free tier
Cons
- Music discovery could be better
- Mobile app can be buggy
- User experience lacks a little cohesion
Which one should you consider?
Which one is best? That depends on what’s going on. Spotify is the most well-known music streaming service, and its Premium plan gives you access to 40 million songs. If you like to find new music, Spotify Premium is the best all-rounder because it has a lot of features and works with a lot of different devices.
If you use Alexa devices a lot, though, Amazon Music Unlimited makes a lot more sense because it works well with both Alexa and your existing Amazon account. It sounds a little less loud than Spotify, but the user interface on desktop and mobile devices isn’t always reliable. We think Spotify wins, but it’s a closer race than you might think.
FAQs
Is Amazon Music cheaper than Spotify?
The HD audio feature of Amazon Music also gives it an advantage over Spotify. The Unlimited plan offers audiophile-level quality at the same $9.99 price point. If you have the proper audio equipment to optimise the HD and Ultra HD settings, Amazon Music will undoubtedly benefit you.
Is Amazon Music free with Prime?
Amazon Music offers Prime members access to 100 million ad-free songs, the largest catalogue of ad-free top podcasts, and thousands of playlists and Radio Stations at no additional cost.
