YouTube Music vs Spotify - Can Google even compete - Android
Services like Spotify and YouTube Music allow you to stream music, create playlists, discover new songs, and more. Although they all seem pretty much the same at first glance, there are a lot of differences between them. They may have different library sizes, offer extra content beyond music, feature different streaming qualities, and much more.
These differences matter and should be a major factor when deciding which streaming service to subscribe to. We’ll take a look at all the biggest ones in this post that will help you decide which of the two services comes out on top in the YouTube Music vs Spotify battle.
Both Spotify and YouTube Music have a free plan available, but the limits set in place by each provider are very different.
Spotify only allows you to choose the songs you want to play on specific playlists like the personalized Daily Mix. On others, you can only play tracks in shuffle mode, which is annoying. You can skip the songs you don’t like, but only six times per hour.
The audio quality is limited to 160kbps, and you can’t download songs for offline listening. Also, there are occasional ads that interrupt the listening experience.
YouTube Music's free plan lets you play any song you want.
YouTube Music, on the other hand, allows you to pick and play any track you like, making it much more useful than Spotify in this regard. You can even skip tracks as many times you want on a free plan. However, the biggest disadvantage of Google’s streaming service is that once you turn off the screen on your phone, the music stops. And forget about browsing the web while listening to music: as soon as you close the app, the music cuts off. Spotify doesn’t have this limitation.
Just like its biggest rival, the free version of YouTube Music is also supported by ads and doesn’t allow you to download music to your phone. Audio quality is limited as well: you can stream at a maximum of 128kbps.
There’s no clear winner here, as the free plans offered by the streaming services are more different than alike. Which one is better comes down to the limitations that work best for you.
Both Spotify and YouTube Music offer access to tens of millions of songs. Quality trumps quantity any day of the week, and there isn’t a big difference between the two in this area in my experience. All my favorite songs and artists are available on both platforms. Your mileage may vary, though, although likely not by much — especially if the artists you’re into are relatively popular and well-known.
The biggest difference between the two services in terms of content is that Spotify also gives you access to podcasts, while YouTube Music is focused on music videos.
Read next: Why I’m an avid Spotify user despite dubious audio quality
There are over a million podcast titles on Spotify. There’s a good chance the ones you’re listening to are available on the streaming service, regardless if they are popular or super-niche. This means that if you’re a Spotify user, you don’t need a separate app for podcasts anymore.
There are no podcasts on YouTube Music, but there are a lot of music videos, as one would expect. They are a big part of the service. A list of recommended and new videos frequently shows up on the front page, and you can also check out various charts including the top global 100 music videos.
Keep in mind that Spotify also has several videos, although they aren’t front and center like its competitor. The selection is limited to say the least and there’s no dedicated section where you could find videos. Instead, they usually pop up when searching for an artist or song.
Which of the two streaming services is a better fit for you when it comes to content comes down to what you value more. If you’re into videos, YouTube Music is the better option for you. But if podcasts are more of your thing, Spotify is more up your alley.
Here’s where the gap between the two services gets bigger. In my experience, Spotify is much better for music discovery. It has the popular Discover Weekly playlist containing songs from artists and genres you’re listening to. A new one is released every Monday with 30 tracks. Additionally, the service also creates up to six daily mixes for you based on your listening habits.
The Swedish streaming service also has a ton of playlists for just about every genre and mood you can imagine. It’s easy to find what you’re looking for, regardless if you’re using the service on your phone or PC. What’s more, the app also has a lot of charts that list the most popular songs by country — there are more than 60 of them available.
Spotify has a lot more playlists than YouTube Music.
YouTube Music offers three personalized playlists. There’s the Discover Mix that gives you 50 lesser-known tracks every week, the New Release Mix that contains the most recent releases by your favorite artists, and Your Mix that’s full of songs by artists you’re into. No complaints here.
Google’s service also allows you to browse playlists by mood or genre, but the problem is that the selection is limited. You get way more playlists with Spotify. For example, Spotify offers 54 hip-hop playlists, while YouTube Music only has 12 of them. Those who are into Dance and Electronic music can select from 81 playlists on Spotify and just 17 on YouTube Music. There are also almost twice as many moods and genres available to browse through on Spotify compared to Google’s streaming service.
YouTube Music also doesn’t have any charts with the best songs by country, which is a feature I really like. It lets me see how the taste in music differs from region to region. Another issue is that you can only browse music by genre or mood on the mobile app — this feature isn’t supported on the web for some reason.
I’m not saying that YouTube Music is bad at music discovery. There are a few mixes available as well as a few playlists, which most people will likely be happy with. However, Spotify just does it way better. With that in mind, this round definitely goes to the Swedish streaming giant.
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