Home » Prices, quality, playlists: music streaming services compared

Prices, quality, playlists: music streaming services compared

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The list of music platforms is long: Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Music, Apple Music, YouTube Music and Tidal are the main ones, but there are also other general or specific alternatives, such as Primephonic for classical music, Qobuz for high fidelity , so choosing which platform to use is not easy. What we propose is a small journey through the many alternatives that the market offers today for those who want to listen to music, both for those who want to do it for a few seconds a day, and for “heavy users” who never take off their earphones, for fans. , maniacs, lovers of catchphrases and those who use music only as a background.

Spotify
It is the most famous and also the most popular service in the world, both in the “free” version with advertising, and in the “premium” version with subscription. The variety of subscriptions is one of the “pluses” of the platform, which offers the cheapest to students, at only 4.99 euros, and the most advantageous for families, 15.99 euros per month, but with six people who can take advantage of the service, less than three euros per month per person. The richness of the catalog is immeasurable, because it grows every day with new additions, there is everything, but in particular the news, updated at the speed of light. Excellent playlists, constantly renewed. Good audio, but no high fidelity option for now, but the option should arrive relatively quickly. Spotify is synonymous with streaming, is present in half the world and offers not only music but also entertainment, information and culture in the form of podcasts. Mobile apps are the system of choice for listening, but Spotify is a “feature” built into everything from cars to voice assistants to televisions. And now also on the PlayStation 5.

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Tidal
Tidal, whose majority stake changed hands a few days ago, from founder Jay-Z to Jack Dorsey, Twitter founder and CEO of Square, a mobile payments company, is one of the best in the world in terms of listening quality. But also among the most expensive. The normal subscription costs 9.99 euros, the one that allows you to listen to the entire catalog (over 70 million songs) in Hi-fi costs 19.99. But, if you are a serious music fan, it is worth it, also because the library of high resolution files (master tracks) grows day by day. Available everywhere, iOS, Android, Desktop and web, it has a comfortable and intuitive interface. But above all he has a particular care in the playlists, on average more refined, surprising and original than those of the competition. Plus there are original mixes, radio channels, a wealth of information, with interviews, livestreams, over 250,000 videos and exclusive events.

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Apple Music
If you have an Apple device it is the obvious solution, the integration with smartphones, tablets and computers of the bitten apple is absolute, smooth operation and comfort are guaranteed. In addition, a few days ago the entire catalog (which is by far the richest with over 75 million songs) has become usable in “lossless” format, and in many cases with Spatial Audio and support for Dolby Atmos. Artists will be able to take advantage of the new possibilities to create multidimensional audio experiences and users, at no additional cost, will be able to enjoy high fidelity on all songs in the catalog, from June 1st onwards. From the start of the offer, thousands of songs can be heard in Spatial Audio (with sounds coming from the front, behind, below and above the listener), but the number is destined to grow in the coming weeks. Then there are the playlists, many and always updated by the Apple Music staff, those managed by the curators (newspapers around the world) and above all, and it makes the difference, the magnificent “radio” (if we still want to call it that) Beats 1, with a vast and excellent program of music, musical information and events to be listened to. The interface is one of the best, the app is also available for those who do not use Apple devices, it is integrated in many cars, the audio quality that was already good is now even excellent. Both single and family passes, from 9.99 to 14.99 euros.

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Deezer
Another European service, French to be precise, a rich catalog similar to that of the competition, with over 70 million songs. There is the free offer with advertising, like that of Spotify, there is students for € 4.99, the single one for 9.99, the one per family for 14.99 for six accounts, and there is the one in ” high fidelity “, a single account for € 14.99. Deezer’s playlists are well made and always renewed, the interface is comfortable and built with intelligence, the algorithm for recommendations works well and learns as we use the service, offering better and better personalized choices.

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Amazon Music Unlimited
Born later but grown fast, Amazon’s music service has great cards to become even more popular. Also because for Amazon Prime subscribers it offers Amazon Prime Music which is free and has two million songs. Amazon Music Unlimited instead costs € 9.99 and has an immense catalog, with millions of songs all in high fidelity, at no additional cost as it was until a few days ago. The service is available everywhere, tablets, smartphones, PCs, smart TVs, and even in some cars. And, of great convenience, it is integrated with Alexa. Indeed, there is a special subscription for Alexa users on Amazon’s Echo devices, which has a much lower cost, € 3.99 per month. The interface is simple and functional, the advice system is not as perfect as that of Spotify and Apple but it works well. The listening quality is excellent.

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YouTube Music
It goes without saying that the integrated offer of audio and video is very interesting and very well structured. YouTube is the most followed free music platform in the world, and being easily accessible to everyone and everywhere it is also the most popular and most “promotional” one. Which means that any artist, from the oldest to the very young stranger who sings in his bedroom in a provincial village, puts his videos on YouTube to listen to their songs and share them with others. On YouTube Music there is therefore everything and more and the integration with Google’s smart speakers suggests interesting possibilities for the growth of the service. It works, and very well, on mobile devices, on computers and, as we said, on Google’s smart speakers, it integrates audio and video, it has a “advice” system based on the historical YouTube system, which has some flaws but tends to make people happy. users for years. YouTube Music is free with ads, YouTube Music Premium is subscription-based and allows, like all other services, ad-free listening and the ability to download songs and listen to them offline. Then there’s YouTube Premium for $ 9.99, which combines ad-free YouTube videos with listening to music. It costs slightly more but it is worth it, 11.99 euros.

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Qobuz
Hi resolution audio at 19.99 per month, a good editorial service with reviews and advice, a nice clean and clear interface. Qobuz is the most expensive but the most refined of the services in terms of audio. There are two other subscription options to listen to the over 70 million songs in very high quality, the annual subscription, which brings the cost to € 14.99 per month, and the “Sublime” subscription, which brings the cost to 20. , 83 euros per month but allows you to download music in very high quality on your devices.

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Primephonic
Service dedicated, since 2014, to classical music lovers, with an original and very functional cataloging system of songs and artists, excellent publishing sector, great podcasts and extreme ease of use. The listening of excellent quality provides a subscription of 9.99 euros per month, the one of even higher quality, the “Platinum”, costs 14.99. It is clear that for classical music the choice of high fidelity audio makes great sense and the choice of the “Platinum” subscription on Primephonic is quite reasonable for discerning listeners.

Accuradio
There are other services that offer free and subscription streaming music that are worth trying, even if they don’t have the on demand options. But only one surpasses all the others, Accuradio, a thousand streaming channels, all thematic and all edited “by hand”, not by algorithms, free music, with unlimited “skip” and the possibility of creating a “5 star radio” that broadcasts only the songs selected by us. For all tastes, even those of super niche.

Tim Music
The offer of the telephone operator is based on over 50 million songs, which can be listened to via smartphone, tablet, PC, Alexa and Google Nest devices and the TIMVISION Box device, and is compatible with Android Car and Apple Car. An excellent selection of playlists, without skip limits and without commercial interruptions and a cost, depending on the different options, from 4.99 to 6.99 euros per month. This advantage obviously grows if you are a TIM subscriber, because you do not consume gigabytes of the tariff plan.

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