Switching from Apple Music to Spotify
Today I decided to give Spotify a try. It ended up being worth it, as I’ve now discovered a better music app and I’m happy listening to music again. I’ll write about how it went and what Apple should fix in the Music app.
It started in the morning, when I felt bored of my music and wanted something new. A new song, or maybe I was just curious for a new app… I didn’t want to ditch Apple Music completely, though – the plan was to use Spotify for music discovery and somehow import the playlists into Apple Music.
The reasons I didn’t really want to switch from Apple Music were:
- The beautiful, simple design
- It was built into iOS, which meant better integration
- I thought Spotify for Mac is a bulky web app
- The price, Apple Music is £5 for students
I found a really nice playlist on Spotify, then searched 10 songs on Apple Music. Results? None. Not even one of those songs. Ok, I said… my plan doesn’t work. Let’s give Spotify a real try. I activated the trial for Premium and used it all day. Spotify has a nice design too. I quite like it. Not as much as the design of the Music app, but still good.
But what amazed me were the features that I had always missed – and Spotify had them all! I could start a playlist on a device and continue on another. I could share songs more easily with friends. And the music recommendations are AMAZING!
Regarding my second reason for being reluctant to switch – the Spotify app for iOS is pretty well integrated with iOS. I think Apple Music downloaded songs in the background, which Spotify won’t be able to do. Also on Mac the keyboard media buttons don’t always work correctly, but I can live with these.
“I thought Spotify for Mac is a bulky web app” – kind of true. Scrolling and animations aren’t always smooth. But Apple Music is also a website wrapped by iTunes, and they used just as much RAM in my quick test. I can live with this, too.
And now, the price? Spotify is also £5. Take my money, I’m switching!
Listening to music is exciting again. Seeing the new Spotify icon on my iPhone’s home screen and in the Mac’s dock always brings a smile to my face wondering what extraordinary music I’ll uncover next.
Apple, listen and follow this advice:
- Your music recommendations are horrible. Radio sometimes simply doesn’t work, and when it does work, it rarely gives satisfying suggestions. Mixes in For You have been okay lately, but only lately. Fix it.
- Switching between devices is a pain. And no, iTunes Remote doesn’t cut it. It’s slow and does too little. Fix this.
- Improve your music curations. I noticed that featured playlists do change often, but they’re simply too few and unrelated to my preferences. Bring more songs and curators. Fix this.
