It’s 2024 about to end, and I’ve spent well over the past 3 months using Amazon Music and Spotify. The question I really wanted to dive into with this video is why you would choose Amazon Music over Spotify when Spotify is so dominant. It turns out there are actually a few reasons why you would go with Amazon Music. Let’s take a look at its advantages.
Amazon Music Advantages
Number Four: Exclusive Live Performances
Amazon Music has exclusive live performances, though there aren’t many at the moment. However, if one of your favorite artists has a performance, it could be something that sways you over to Amazon Music.
Number Three: Ability to Purchase Music
Amazon Music allows you to purchase music tracks directly from the menu next to a song. The purchased tracks should automatically show up in Amazon Music. If not, you can download the tracks and import them for local playback. However, Amazon Music doesn’t offer a cloud library feature like YouTube Music or Apple Music.
Number Two: AI Maestro
The AI Maestro feature is currently in beta and allows you to use AI prompts to generate customized playlists. You can use words or emojis in your prompts, and in my testing, it worked quite well.
Number One: Spatial and High-Res Audio
The biggest reason to choose Amazon Music is its support for spatial audio (Dolby Atmos, 360 Reality Audio) and high-res lossless music at no additional cost.
- Lossless Audio: Amazon Music Unlimited offers over 100 million songs in HD lossless audio. HD starts at 16-bit 44.1 kHz, and Ultra HD goes up to 24-bit 192 kHz. However, you’ll need a DAC (digital-to-audio converter) to experience Ultra HD.
- Spatial Audio: Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio provide an immersive listening experience. Unlike stereo, which uses left and right channels, Dolby Atmos places sounds around a virtual room, enhancing vocal effects and instrumentation.
Not all devices support these formats, though. For example, the Amazon Music app on Mac doesn’t play Dolby Atmos, but the phone app does. Certain headphones and speakers, like the Sonos Era 300, do support spatial audio.
Spotify Advantages
Number Six: Playlists
Spotify excels at customized playlists. It offers mixes like the Time Capsule Mix, Repeat Rewind, and genre-based playlists. Spotify’s Blend feature also lets you create shared playlists with friends or family. You can exclude content from your taste profile, like kids’ playlists, to keep recommendations accurate.
Number Five: Simplified Like System
On Spotify, hitting the plus button likes a song and adds it to your library in one step, whereas Amazon Music separates these actions.
Number Four: Jam Session
Spotify’s Jam Session feature allows friends and family to add songs to your queue in real time. Even free users can join, which Amazon Music doesn’t offer.
Number Three: AI DJ
Spotify’s AI DJ curates music based on your listening history and introduces new tracks. It’s great when you’re unsure what to listen to.
Number Two: Network Effects
Spotify has a global market share of 30%, compared to Amazon Music’s 11.1%. This makes it easier to share music and collaborate with friends who are likely already using Spotify.
Number One: Spotify Connect
Spotify Connect allows you to stream and control your music on any device integrated with Spotify. For example, you can play Spotify on Sonos speakers and control it from your MacBook. Amazon Music supports similar casting technologies but doesn’t let you pick up where you left off across devices.
Final Thoughts
Both Amazon Music and Spotify offer free tiers, podcasts, and good recommendation algorithms. However, Amazon Music’s edge lies in its higher quality audio, spatial formats, and the ability to purchase music. On the other hand, Spotify is the better choice for its customized playlists, sharing features, and Spotify Connect.
Unless you prioritize spatial or lossless audio, Spotify is likely the better overall option, especially for its wider device support and user-friendly features.