When Apple bought Beats Audio, the headphones weren’t the main event: Apple wanted Beats Music, the streaming music service. Beats is now the heart of Apple Music, Apple’s rival to Spotify and Google Play Music. How does it compare? Let’s find out in our Apple Music vs Google Music vs Spotify comparison and see if Google's curve ball of a free ad-supported streaming radio service mixes things up.
Apple Music goes live on June 30 at 11 AM ET, alongside iOS 8.4. The first radio broadcast on Beats 1 will air an hour later at 12 PM ET. Beats 1 will be hosted by ex-BBC Radio 1 host Zane Lowe, who will kick things off in style with an interview with Eminem. Other first week interviews include Elton John and Pharrell Williams. Will you be tuned in?
Apple Music vs Google Play vs Spotify: what's so special about it?
The sales pitch for Apple Music is that it's all about the people helping pick music you might like. As music business legend Jimmy Iovine yelled on stage at the Apple Music launch, "ALGORITHMS ALONE CAN'T DO THAT EMOTIONAL TASK", and in a video Trent Reznor laid out the pitch to artists: it's about a "sense of respect" for music as an art form, not just a bunch of bits being chucked down an internet tube. We've been here before, of course, because that's what Beats Music was all about. But Beats didn't have Apple's massive competitive advantage, which is that its app will be on millions of iPhones, iPads, Macs and PCs. On phones, the exceptionally fast rate of new OS adoption means that most Apple customers will have access to Apple Music as soon as the iOS update appears in July. That sheer market clout could attract musicians in a way previous Apple efforts, such as its ill-fated social network for Music, Ping, didn't.
Apple Music vs Google Play vs Spotify: which one's best?
That depends on what you've got. Until the Fall, Apple music isn't relevant to Android users - but when that app drops, things are going to get interesting. Apple will have had several months to iron out any wrinkles, and it'll be clear by then whether Apple Music's Connect is something artists actually use or if it's destined for the same fate as Ping. Right now we'd recommend Google for ease of use and Spotify for its pretty good playlists (and included ''curated'' radio stations), but come the Fall we could be singing a very different song.
Apple Music
Google Play AA
Spotify Premium
Price
$9.99 per month $14.99 for up to 6 people 3 months free
