The Real Differences Between Music Streaming Platforms
I compare streaming sites, giving the key differences on which is the best.

With the progression of the internet and the digitalization of the world, the music we listen to also got digitalized. Nobody listens to CDs as much as they listen to streaming services anymore and for good reasons. Streaming services offer a much bigger repertoire of music than physical copies do. With a subscription to a streaming service like Spotify you can get practically any song possible posted on the internet from the Weeknd to indie artists like Mac Demarco or Artic Monkeys to just random artists who don’t really have any listeners but still post music.

There are many streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube Music, Soundcloud, Apple Music, Anghami etc. with all of them having many similarities to how they sell you the music if it’s on a subscription-based system or a more traditional system like buying the song in and of itself like on iTunes. Each streaming platform has a difference in price and on the interface which aren’t very big but they still make a huge difference in the eyes of music listeners.

In this article, I will compare these streaming sites, give the key differences and which is the best one to use for casual music listeners like you!

Is music streaming for you?

Before comparing different streaming services, you should know if music streaming is for you in the first place.

Listening to music is essential to most people but not all of us listen to music religiously. Sometimes we like to listen to a specific artist or a specific song and not listen to anything else really. In these cases, downloading music services you won’t use and pay for a subscription to listen without ads when you aren’t even listening to music that much isn’t for you. In that case I encourage buying physical CDs or Vinyl to support the artist more directly and to listen without ads. The only negative about that is that it isn’t supported on mobile devices and devices that don’t support a CD so buying music CDs is to a very exclusive audience.

Spotify

Spotify can be considered as the face of music streaming being one of the oldest streaming platforms and one of the most used ones up till now. It works on a subscription-based system that costs 10 euros per month. If you pay for Spotify premium, you will get no ads while playing music and you can download music to listen to it offline. The quality of the music is top notch which is why it has been on top for so long. It also contains many podcasts like the Spotify exclusive podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience� that earned Spotify millions if not billions.

What makes it unique is its simple interface combined with the repertoire of music it has.

YouTube Music

Another streaming platform based on the most popular video streaming service YouTube. Like Spotify, it’s profit is based on ads and the monthly subscription it offers. Costing 10 euros per month, you will get no ads and given get a free trial of 30 days to explore the difference between YouTube premium and the normal one. The difference between YouTube music and Spotify is firstly the interface, and secondly, with the subscription you can also enjoy YouTube premium that removes the ads and lets you download videos as much as you like.

Deezer

With another rather popular streaming service, Deezer gives the user quality experience with the music they listen to. Deezer also has plenty of radio shows and additional podcasts, giving it a very big repertoire to choose from and to listen to. A small disadvantage is that unlimited amounts of new music cannot be imported. The whole thing is priced at 10.99 euros per month, more than the others but not by much, although depending on who you are it can also make a big difference since this one euro accumulates over time.

The only difference is that it is not as huge as the other platforms and the pricing and obviously the interface.

Anghami

Anghami is the first legal music streaming platform and digital distribution company in the Arab world. Making waves in the Arab world but not worldwide, it also works on a subscription-based system and it is extremely similar to Spotify.

The only big difference it has compared to Spotify is that it props up Arabic music more than it does English music and English artists. It also has a smaller repertoire compared to the other streaming platforms making it only popular in the Arab world.

Soundcloud Go

Soundcloud go offers the biggest repertoire of music up to date with the cheapest price of 6 euros per month to eliminate the ads. The difference between Soundcloud Go and other streaming services is that compared to the repertoire of about over 50 million songs, it has about 160 million songs. It is obviously free to use if you choose not to pay however you will get ads between songs which can be a pain sometimes.

Apple Music

With Apple Music you have a music package available to all Apple users for 10 euros per month. If you wish, you can also use the discounted version for families, where up to 10 people have access to the musical content. Apple music have also expanded it’s audience to android devices making it more widely available with a repertoire of about 50 million songs.

Conclusion

Now that you know the general information about the major streaming services you can realize that there aren’t many differences. The only three that stand out are Spotify, YouTube and Soundcloud Go with each of them offering something unique.

With Spotify, you can get the simplicity of the interface that makes the platform easy to use and you also get Joe Rogan’s podcast that is only available fully on Spotify. So, if you want to casually listen to music and not care about the small details, Spotify is for you.

With YouTube music, you can also get the advantage of watching videos without ads and downloading videos like audios. So, if you are an avid user of YouTube then this one is for you.

As for SoundCloud Go, it is for the more extreme music listeners that like to explore new music since it has the most amount of music compared to other streaming sites. So, if you are a music listener that loves to explore new artists and new songs that are usually kept under the ground, then Soundcloud Go is for you.

There is no best streaming service, every service is aimed at an audience and it’s up to you to choose which one fits you best. Good luck on your journey!