Amazon Music vs Spotify, the music war. Both of these services stand out as the titans of music streaming in an era where the consumption of music has radically changed from physical formats to digital platforms. These two titans of the music industry have profoundly changed how we listen to and enjoy music by offering a convenience and diversity that are unmatched and go beyond conventional means of music distribution.
The tech giant Amazon’s subsidiary Amazon Music has become a major player in the music streaming market. With a wide range of options including Amazon Music Unlimited and Prime Music, the service appeals to consumers of all listening levels, from casual listeners to those looking for a large selection of songs. The Amazon ecosystem is intimately interwoven with Amazon Music, which smoothly accompanies users’ digital lifestyles and has a large catalogue that covers a variety of genres and eras.
On the opposite end of the scale, Spotify, which is frequently credited with creating music streaming, has completely changed how we discover and access music. Spotify has become synonymous with music discovery thanks to its user-friendly interface and custom playlists. The platform’s algorithms create expertly crafted playlists and recommendations, acting as a constantly developing curator that gradually learns about user tastes. Users have freedom based on their preferred listening experience thanks to its free tier, sponsored by commercials, and premium membership alternatives.
Both Amazon Music and Spotify include offline listening options in addition to on-demand access to millions of songs, playlist creation, and sharing tools. They do, however, also have distinctive qualities that appeal to certain audiences. For those already ingrained in the Amazon ecosystem, Amazon Music’s integration with its smart speakers and other products, as well as the advantages of being a Prime member, offer a special synergy. In the meantime, Spotify’s focus on curation, collaborative playlists, and podcast integration has cemented its position as a preferred platform for listeners of both music and podcasts.
We will examine various features as we compare Amazon music and Spotify in-depth. We want to provide a comprehensive understanding of the elements that influence users to select one service over the other by analysing the strengths and weaknesses of these two industry titans in the music streaming space. The choice between Amazon Music and Spotify will have a huge impact on how your digital aural adventure unfolds, regardless of whether you’re a die-hard music enthusiast, a casual listener, or an audiophile seeking the best audio fidelity.
Amazon Music vs Spotify: Pricing
There are various different price tiers for Amazon Music Unlimited.
Amazon offers a 30-day free trial to let you learn more about Amazon Music Unlimited and choose if it’s the perfect option for you. A Music Unlimited membership will cost you $10.99 / £10.99 per month if you don’t have an Amazon Prime membership, but $8.99 / £8.99 per month if you do.
For $4.99/£4.99 per month, Amazon also provides a Single Device Plan, but you can only stream music to a Fire TV or an Echo speaker (Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus, Echo Show, Echo Studio, Echo Input, Echo Spot). It should be noted that the $4.99 per month Echo subscription may only be used on one Echo device and cannot be transferred. A normal person membership is required if you wish to utilise Amazon Music Unlimited with each of your home’s Echo devices. Another option is the $5.99 Student Plan. For £16.99/$15.99 per month for up to 6 family members, there is a Family Plan available.
| Type | Amazon Music | Spotify |
| Free | Trial only | Yes |
| Individual | $8.99/£8.99 | $9.99/£9.99 |
| Family | $15.99/£16.99 | $15.99/£16.99 |
| Student | $5.99/£5.99 | $4.99/£5.99 |
| Single Device | $4.99/£4.99 | N/A |
| Duo | N/A | $12.99/£13.99 |
With four levels and a slightly more straightforward pricing structure, Spotify offers a free, ad-supported tier as well as a Premium tier that starts at $9.99/£9.99 per month.
Additionally, Spotify provides a family subscription package for $15.99/£16.99 per month, which includes up to five family members. Each participant receives a unique account. A couple who lives together can receive two Premium accounts through a subscription called Duo. Each month, this costs $12.99. For just $5.99 or £5.99, students can also get a discounted subscription.
Overall, if you are a Prime Member or choose the Single Device option if you only want to play through one Echo device, Amazon is less expensive.
Amazon Music vs Spotify: Devices
While Amazon Music may be listened to on a variety of devices, Spotify has a game-changing feature in connectivity called Spotify Connect. Amazon has Alexa Cast, which lets you cast to a range of Alexa or Bluetooth devices from within the Music Unlimited app, but it’s not quite as flexible as Spotify Connect.
You can control the music being played on any Spotify Connect device or Spotify app from another device using Spotify Connect. That means you can pause Spotify on your phone, choose something else to play on your PC in its place, and then resume it using your desktop app to manage Spotify on your Echo. Regardless of where the music is playing, each app has control over it.
In addition to having apps for iOS, Android, PC, and Mac, Spotify is also accessible via Spotify Connect on a huge list of devices, nearly too many to list here. Select TVs from Panasonic, LG, Sony, Samsung, and Philips come with a Spotify app, and Spotify is compatible with a wide range of audio equipment, including models from Bose, Sonos, Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Naim, Libratone, and Revo.
Numerous automakers, also Uber, offer built-in access through Spotify Connect, Android Auto, or Apple CarPlay. Spotify and Chromecast both have apps for the Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox.
The Amazon Music app provides access to Amazon Music Unlimited. The app is available for download on Mac, PC, iOS, and Android devices. The company’s Echo gadgets and Fire tablets, as well as a Web player in your browser, enable you to access it. A Roku media streamer or multi-room Sonos system can also be used to play music.
Although Spotify plays natively on Amazon Echo devices as well, Amazon Music is slightly better integrated, so there isn’t a significant difference in the user experience. You can also naturally stream music from your phone to a Bluetooth speaker or another Bluetooth-enabled device.
Amazon Music vs Spotify: Sound Quality
With a maximum bitrate of 128 kbps for its free tier and 256 kbps for its premium tier, Spotify offers lesser quality music through its web player. The desktop and mobile apps provide a superior user experience. On a mobile device, you can choose between 24 kbps (low), 96 kbps (normal), or 160 kbps (high) quality when using the free tier.
You can select between 24kbps (low), 96kbps (normal), 160kbps (high), or 320kbps (very high) quality on the premium tier via desktop or mobile apps. Take note that these are bitrates, and the audio is AAC. In the app’s settings, you can choose the streaming and download quality.
Amazon provides higher-quality music, and there is no extra charge for this higher quality of music if you subscribe to Music Unlimited. This higher level of music includes spatial audio, such as Dolby Atmos or 360 Reality Audio, as well as what Amazon refers to as Ultra HD. You can select the quality level from within the app, and according to Amazon, it offers millions of songs in HD quality and thousands in spatial audio.
Tracks on Amazon Music HD have an average bitrate of 850kbps and must be at least 16-bit 44.1kHz (CD quality). Ultra HD tracks have a 24-bit resolution, an average bitrate of 3730 kbps, and sample rates ranging from 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz. Since this effectively provides 10 times as much data as Spotify does, substantially higher-quality audio may be delivered.
Although Amazon has better audio quality on paper, the equipment you use will have a large impact, which is abundantly influential when you listen to anything. To get the most out of the higher quality audio, make sure your player and headphones are configured for it.
Otherwise, you might not hear much of a difference. Some devices, such as some Android phones, will, however, support this higher quality audio in order to better drive your headphones. If you’re using an iPhone, you might require an external DAC, such as the Chord Mojo 2, to achieve the finest sound quality.
Amazon Music vs Spotify: Family Plan
Family plans are handled very differently as well, particularly when it comes to using smart speakers to play music. Both services provide family plans for numerous users, but Spotify will require that each user check in using their individual email address.
On mobile devices, this is acceptable, but in a home where smart speakers are being used, each user would have to sign in with their own account to permit multiple streams. For instance, if Jill wants Spotify to play on her Echo in her room and Jack is playing Spotify on his Echo in his room, the stream will halt on Jack’s speaker and shift to Jill’s.
However, because Amazon Music’s family subscription includes multiple streams, Jack and Jill would be able to use it to play whatever they wanted on their own speakers as well as access their own music on their mobile devices. Given how prevalent the Amazon Echo is in households, it’s possible that families might prefer Amazon Music due to the more flexibility it offers.
Other Features
Playlists
You may either store curated playlists to your collection or make your own playlists that you can share with friends using either service.
Radio
Personalised radio stations based on your favourite artists and songs are available from both Spotify and Amazon Music Unlimited. You may create a station based on an artist or song you’re currently listening to on both, and both include mood-based playlists and a list of automatically formed stations. These are also accessible on Echo gadgets.
Discovering New Music
The recommended area of the Amazon Music app and web player presents albums and playlists that it predicts you’ll enjoy based on your listening preferences.
Meanwhile, Spotify offers a function called Discover Weekly, which is a playlist of music that is automatically curated based on your listening preferences. Every Monday morning, it is updated, and in our experience, the updates have generally been good. Other playlists, like Release Radar, are available to keep you up to date on new music. We think that Spotify offers a superior curating and discovery experience than Amazon Music.
Podcasts
You can always find something other than music because both sites give you access to a variety of podcasts through their individual players.
Offline Capabilities
Spotify and Amazon Music Unlimited both allow for offline listening. Although it is a regular feature of Amazon, Spotify only lets you download tracks if you pay for the Premium plan.
Amazon Music Vs Spotify: Who Is The Winner?
If you already have Amazon Prime and an Echo speaker or Echo Dot, paying just $4.99 a month makes it quite worthwhile if you only want to play on your Echo. This is much less expensive than subscribing for a full Spotify subscription. But what makes Amazon Music Unlimited more appealing to music lovers is having access to the more modern formats, such as spatial audio and Ultra HD lossless. Although the costs are comparable, Amazon offers products of significantly higher quality.
However, Spotify offers a better app experience, with greater discovery and curated choices, for many people who want to access music on the go. The poorer quality is a drawback, but for people using data plans to stream content or who only want to listen to music personally (not producing or anything), it might not be a big deal. The music playing on any speaker can be easily controlled from any app that is logged in with Spotify Connect, on the other hand, which is widely supported and fantastic to use. Because of this, Spotify offers a better user experience than Amazon Music.
For us, the true deciding factor boils down to whether you value family support in a home filled with smart speakers (Spotify is superior for this) or if you prioritise higher quality music (Amazon is superior for this).
Spotify, however, is the better option for use while travelling, music discovery, and fast managing music playing across several devices. Regardless of what you decide to invest in, we are sure that you will not be disappointed. We are lucky to live in a time with such an ease of access to an art form as expressive and captivating as music. Ig our ancestors could see us now, no doubt they would be extremely jealous, we are privileged to have this musical freedom.
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A music enthusiast who has taken his passion for music to the next level by starting his own blog. He spends most of his free time listening to new albums, attending concerts, and researching emerging artists.
What sets John apart from other music bloggers is his ability to connect with his readers on a personal level. His writing style is warm and engaging, making it easy for readers to relate to him as both a fellow music lover and someone who truly cares about the art form.
John’s love for music started at a young age when he discovered classic rock through his father’s vinyl collection. Since then, he has expanded his musical horizons to include everything from indie rock to hip hop and beyond.
As a blogger, John has found a way to share his love of music with others while also providing valuable insights into the industry.