Tidal VS Spotify VS Apple Music
Iâm not tech savvy nor will I ever claim to be. So this review wonât be littered with tech jargon. Im just a woman on a mission to find the best music streaming service out there. One that I donât mind paying $4-10 a month to. I created an even playing field so I can accurately rate each service. I have used each streaming service for at least 2 months. I have paid for each streaming service (some on accident) and used free trials. I have used them on all my mobile devices, desktop, and on the go.
I have a few criteria that these music streaming services will be judged on NDÂ I will score on a 1(WORST) to 5(BEST) system and add all the scores in the end to show you all which service is the best overall.:
Functionality- how well does it work on all platforms.
Price- how much money is it worth?
Look- If Im paying money it better look good.
Musical selection-whats there and whats not.
Streaming quality-how good does it sound.
The Special Factor- keep reading to find out what it is.
Now lets start with the review with some basic facts:
Looking at the picture above you can see what all music streaming services pay their artist and how many users they have. This chart is from October of last year but not much has changed since then. Spotify started the earliest and has close to 100 million subscribers but pays their artist the least out of the three Iâm reviewing with $0.0011 per play. According to some sources that number might be dropping even lower. Apple Music  isnât any better because they pay their artist $0.0013 per play. However, apple music does only have 15 million subscribers. Lastly, Tidal Music, whose claim to fame as a streaming service that pays their artists more than the other services at $0.0070 per play is struggling to keep subscribers. This chart says 1 million but recent estimates are at 4 million subscribers.
Buggy, skips songs when I click on them, doesnât work that well in my car and the desktop version leaves something to be desired.
Best performance overall on all levels. Doesnât give me an issue on any platform and thatâs probably because I have all Apple everything. Transfers to my itunes without a hitch. Works in my car flawlessly and never skips a song.
Better than Spotify by a lot but just doesnât beat apple. Skips songs as well. Which is annoying.
You just cant beat Spotify in price. They do have a premium option for $10.00 but they are the only service of the three that has a free option that works well on several platforms. They have a 99 cent promotion that last for 3 months and they also have a student deal for $4.99/ month.
Apple does have a sweet 3 month promotion for FREE but then you have to pay $10.00. Their totally free options are pretty much like the app but without a good algorithm for song selection which I think is on purpose.They do have a student version for $4.99 also.
If you are on a budget like me Tidal is not for you. Tidal costs way too much for people, like me, who are used to getting free music because they canât afford to pay for it in the first place.They offer a student version for $4.99 but its almost impossible to sign up for (you have to mail in photocopies of student I.D.s and whatnot). Next they have a $10.00 subscription and a $20.00 subscription (for those who have platinum credit cards made of actual platinum).
Meh and confusing. Why does it take 10 steps for me to add a song to a playlist or go back to an artists page?
Great look and feel. Every artist and page changes colors depending on album artwork which is a nice touch. I love how intuitive it feels
Donât judge me but I love the look of Tidal. The black and neon blue really did it for me. I like that when a song is playing the picture spins like a record. Im a sucker for that kind of stuff. Not that I wasnât confused on how to use the app because I was, but once I got past that It was more intuitive than apple music in my opinion.
Pretty much has everything you want to hear and makes it easy for you to hear it for free. The playlists are so middle of the road that you canât really be upset by what you are hearing. Artist do create playlist but they usually arenât that good.
Has the same selection of music as Spotify and Tidal but Beats radio really takes it far. That being said choosing a radio station can be hit or miss. For example, if I chose the Little Dragon station and expect to hear more indie music but a Keyshia Cole song comes on some one needs to be fired. Their playlist are usually on point.
I almost tied Apple music and Tidal because they are neck and neck in this regard. The music selection is really god tier in Tidal and thatâs obviously because of the exclusivity of many of the major artists. The exclusive releases and music released on this service almost make the $10 worth it. Almost. The playlist are also really amazing considering some were created by the artist themselves and were actually good.
Good if you are near wifi but when Iâm out and on the go it either never works or doesnât sound as good.
Never have issues with quality in wifi or on the go. The streaming quality is never really crisp though,
Same as Apple when you pay $10 but the streaming quality is a lot better if you get the HiFi subscription. It feels like I can hear Mariah Carey whisper- singing in my ear. It is quite magical honestly.
The Special Factor:Â AKA do you have LEMONADE BY BEYONCĂ
Ive been a BeyoncĂŠ fan since I was six years old so this is vital.
They do have a message on BeyoncĂŠâs Spotify page saying they are trying hard to get it so they get a point for effort.
Theyre not even trying. They have their own lightskin Drake to worry about.
They possess all the Beyonce I need. Not want, but need.
So the scores totaled are:
Apple Music: 20.5 actual:20.5
Tidal : 23.5 actual: 18.5
So Apple music wins technically, overall it is better especially if you use Appleâs Products but I prefer using Tidal the most because of BeyoncĂŠ. Hopefully if Apple acquires Tidal like the rumors have been saying lately then we can get the best of both worlds. Thanks to @leighlim for the numbers and info!
