Spotify & YouTube Music — now in India
Today Google announced YouTube Music and YouTube Premium in India, just in time to compete with Spotify, announced last month. Being someone who listens to music a lot I subscribed to both the services and thought to give both a try and decide which one I want to remain subscribed to and here’s how they compare.
Music Library & Quality
How is the music quality? Well! while I love music, I’m no audiophile and I feel to the normal listener - highest quality set in the settings - both the services will sound the same. But there is a major difference if we talk about the library. Spotify struggles here, especially in India. While it has a respectable library of music, for some reason, you cannot stream some music in India. Search “Led Zeppelin” and you’ll find no songs to play, however, they do show a message informing you that they are working hard to get more music in your region, but we have to compare with what we have now and it is harder not to find a song in YouTube Music. Also, there are a plethora of YouTube music videos to play add-free directly on the YouTube Music app, which can be quite fun and interesting at times.
Having a lot of music is one thing and allowing the user to discover the music they like is another and luckily both the services do a great job in this regard. Spotify provides personalized suggestions and curated playlists, while YouTube Music borrows “hotlist” from YouTube and also shows recommendations based on your play history. One annoying thing about YouTube Music though is that the search history is synced automatically with YouTube.
Platforms & Interface
Both the services support all the major platforms, but there are some significant differences that affect the experience. To start with Spotify has Desktop App for both Windows and Linux. In contrast, YouTube Music has a website which should be enough to be used on any platform, you would think, but having an app(Spotify) can make a big difference at times, like being able to check and control your music, when the device is locked. Also, one really nifty trick Spotify has up its sleeves is that no matter on what platform you’re playing your music, you can control it easily from the app on any other platform. I could play pause music playing on my desktop, directly from the Spotify app on my phone, which is a really convenient feature to have on board. I must say Spotify really shines here and is truly a multi-platform streaming service.
That being said, to my eyes the interface of the Spotify apps isn’t the most polished one I’ve seen. The interface of all the Google products is consistent and aesthetically pleasing and YouTube Music is no exception. The Website, as well as the Android App, are very well designed and you feel a sense of quality from the word go. The gestures or swipes to navigate around in the YouTube Music App are on point and animations add to the experience. While Spotify’s design and the interface are by no means trash, I feel Google does a better job here.
Pricing & Final Thoughts
Spotify would set you back ₹119 a month, while YouTube Music is ₹99, similar to Google Play Music. However, if going with an annual subscription Spotify would cost you the same as YouTube Music. There is no annual plan for YouTube Music as of now but they do offer 3 months free trial period, which is a brilliant move by Google, considering both the services just started in India and new users are likely to be lured to the extra 2 months of free usage.
From the as short span of usage as it was, I feel I’m leaning more towards YouTube Music. Since I play music mostly on my phone and I like the convenience of watching music videos on the music app directly. But someone who plays music on different devices may be better off with Spotify.
