If you’re still using Apple Music—grow up. I myself am a recovered Apple Music user and now blissfully live with Spotify elitism coursing through my veins. Given that I listen to more music than 99.5% of Spotify users in the United States (a statistic I learned using a wonderful feature exclusive to Spotify), I consider myself an expert on the topic. I am also extremely pretentious. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not deaf to the features that may lead someone to choose Apple Music over Spotify. They offer lossless audio, where no data contained in the original music file gets dropped during the process of compressing it for download, which appeals to listeners with a sensitive ear, and Apple Music also recently reached 100 million songs on their platform, beating out Spotify which only has 82 million.  

However, not all of these perks live up to their expectations. Although lossless audio may seem like a cool and new innovation, lossless technology has been around for years and is offered on an array of listening platforms. Its lack of popularity stems from the audio quality only being as good as the headphones or speaker it’s playing through. Meaning even if you’re listening to lossless audio on Apple Music and using a cheap pair of earbuds, the Spotify user with the nicer headphones has you beat. 

Although it’s impossible to deny Apple Music has more music than Spotify, despite the semi-large variety of music I listen to, I have never had trouble finding an artist or song I was searching for. Spotify also gives listeners the option to listen to local files downloaded to their device, so even if there was a song Spotify didn’t offer, just download it and upload it to Spotify in order to include it on all your favorite playlists. Other Spotify users also often upload unreleased music as podcasts so you may run into a song you were craving that way.

Speaking of podcasts, Spotify offers 4 million shows on their platform while Apple Podcasts (a totally separate platform from Apple Music) offers just a little over 2 million. Spotify also recently began offering a selection of 300 million audiobooks in September 2022. Although listeners have to pay for the individual titles, Spotify already offers 100 million more audiobooks than the popular audiobook platform, Audible. With Spotify, music, podcasts and audiobooks are all on the same platform, unlike Apple where you need three separate apps in order to enjoy these aforementioned features. 

Spotify and Apple Music both offer student, individual and family plans, but users who use Spotify’s student discount also get SHOWTIME and an ad-supported Hulu account with their plan for a dollar cheaper than Apple Music. Spotify’s plans are less expensive and don’t require families (or groups of friends who choose to use the family plan) to connect their Apple ID in order to be in the same plan. 

Spotify has been encouraging users to listen to more music off-platform by advertising shows in their area put on by artists they love. In an attempt to get tickets into the hands of real fans and out of ticket scalpers’, they also email out exclusive Spotify presale codes to fans who follow artists going on tour. 

What I feel is the biggest attraction and the overarching reason why Spotify is so undeniably better than Apple Music is the community. Spotify gives you the ability to connect with friends by giving users the option to share their listening activity in real-time, generate playlists using a blend of friends’ music, collaborate on making their own playlists together and start remote group sessions from long distances. 

Spotify users are constantly trading playlists, offering up mixes as broad as “rainy day music” to soundtracks as niche as “productive in a ‘Gilmore Girls’ autumn in the ‘90s way” (yes that was a self-plug). Spotify also recommends playlists based on your listening history made by Spotify Curators—a title any user can get if their playlists get enough likes. 

Not to mention, that there is no greater shame than being an Apple Music user the day everyone’s Spotify Wrapped comes out. Every December, Spotify packages their users listening statistics of the year, including the number of minutes listened, their top songs, top artists, top genres and even recently including listeners’ “vibes” based on their listening history. They also give users statistics comparing their listening habits to other listeners, letting them know if they listen to more or less music than the average user, or if they’re a top listener for a specific artist. Spotify listeners then go off to flaunt their music taste, sharing their Wrapped with friends and social media followers. 

When I learned everything Spotify had to offer, I knew it was time to put my big-girl pants on and just spend the hour-ish it took to open an account and transfer over all my favorite music. So, if you’re an Apple Music user—it’s time. If you’re a Spotify user—follow me.