Over the years, music has become more accessible to us through our phones and computers, compared to iPod and radio eras. We have so many music-streaming apps like Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube. Instead of waiting for our favorite song to come on the radio, we are now able to choose what to listen to whenever we want. 

Music is an important part of a college student’s life. We listen to it heading to class, doing homework and any time we possibly can.

However, most college students don’t have much money to spend on paying for music apps. So, out of Spotify and Apple Music, which option would be the best for a college student scraping money up week by week?

Well, the first thing to compare is the prices of each. Apple Music is $4.99 a month for college students while Spotify is free. However, even though Spotify is free, there are limitations to its features.

Spotify can play any song, make playlists and shuffle those playlists, but you have a limited number of skips- skipping songs you don’t want to listen to. There are also ads that play after every few songs.

However, to remove the ads and to have unlimited skips, you can pay $9.99 a month. Like Apple Music, college students get a discount and can have Spotify premium for $4.99 a month.

For Apple Music, you are capable of playing your music not only on your iPhone, but also your Apple Watch, PC, Amazon Echo and many more options.  Spotify also has these capabilities and can be played on game consoles, smart displays and other devices.

One nice feature about Apple Music is any music that you have downloaded on iTunes can automatically be put on your Apple Music. Spotify has something similar where you can add your local files from your computer or phone, but it isn’t automatically added; you have to download it.

Spotify is very creative in making playlists for a specific listener based off the music they frequently listen to. Spotify creates a Daily Mix which is a playlist of songs Spotify believes you would like to listen to. 

Spotify also makes playlists like, “Your Top Songs 2018,” and “Your Summer Rewind.” While Apple Music has a similar feature, it isn’t as detailed as Spotify and doesn’t provide as many playlists.

One cool feature for Spotify is the ability to access Hulu and Showtime if you have Spotify premium. Apple Music doesn’t have a feature like this, but can play some of your favorite radio stations like CBS, ESPN    and others.

Apple Music is able to find what song you are looking for just by typing in the lyrics. With Spotify, it is a bit more difficult to find the song you are looking for this way.

With each app’s unique way of displaying music for its users, there is no wrong or right option here. It all depends on what you think is the best option for you and what fits your style.

I think Spotify is easier to use than Apple music.

While Apple music does have great features, I think it is a bit more complicated. Spotify seems to be better at finding what’s right for you and making  it simplistic.