Should You Use YouTube Music or Spotify? 7 Areas Compared

There are a lot of music streaming services out there, so how do you know which is the best to pick? You might be considering which is better: Spotify or YouTube Music. Spotify has been around for a long time, but YouTube Music has the backing of YouTube, the internet's most popular video content platform. In this article, we'll go over several categories and compare YouTube Music and Spotify, and let you know why Spotify is the best choice for most users.

Things You Should Know

Spotify and YouTube Music have similar premium plans at similar prices, but Spotify offers more flexible plan choices.
Spotify Premium allows users to access better audio quality than YouTube Music.
YouTube Music has a better free tier than Spotify, allowing users unlimited skips and to skip ads after 5 seconds.

Section 1 of 8:

Free Version

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YouTube Music has a free version if you don't want Premium. The free plan has the following features:
- Access to entire content library
- Can skip ads after 5 seconds
- Can play in the background
- Unlimited song skips
- 48kbps-128kbps audio quality on desktop and web player
- 128kbps audio quality on the mobile app
2
Spotify also has a free version. The free plan has the following features ^{[1]
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Research source} :
- Access to entire content library
- Can play in the background
- Can skip 6 songs per hour
- 24kbps-160kbps audio quality on desktop and mobile app
- 128kbps audio quality on the web player
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While neither free plan allows you to download songs, YouTube Music allows ad skips and unlimited song skips, unlike Spotify.

Section 2 of 8:

Premium Plan

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YouTube Music Premium has some extra features. YouTube Music Premium offers ad-free music listening and the option to download songs for offline listening . You also get a maximum audio quality of 256kbps.
- While YouTube Music Premium offers no additional subscriptions, if you have YouTube Premium, you'll get YouTube Music Premium for free.
You also get ad-free and offline listening options with Spotify Premium, and the maximum audio quality is 320kbps. You also get access to Spotify Kids, and if you have a Student Premium membership, you can watch Hulu and SHOWTIME.
Spotify simply offers more with a premium plan instead of YouTube Music.

Section 3 of 8:

Price

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YouTube Music Premium has 4 plans to pick from. The plans are as follows ^{[2]
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Research source} :
- Monthly : $10.99/month for one person
- Annual : $109.99/year for one person
- Family : $16.99/month for up to 5 people in the same household
- Student : $5.49/month for one person
2
Spotify Premium has 4 plans to pick from as well. The plans are as follows ^{[3]
X
Research source} :
- Individual : $10.99/month for one person
- Duo : $14.99/month for 2 people in the same household
- Family : $16.99/month for up to 6 people in the same household
- Student : $5.99/month for one person
While YouTube Music Premium has a slightly cheaper student plan, Spotify Premium has more flexible options if you share your subscription with others.

Section 4 of 8:

Library

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In addition, YouTube Music has started to add podcasts to its library, which is currently only available in the US. ^{[4]
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Research source}
Spotify has had podcasts available on their platform for much longer, so there are over 5 million podcasts you can listen to as well. Spotify also started to add audiobooks to its platform in 2002. ^{[5]
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Research source}
While both platforms have a huge music library, Spotify has more to offer, with more podcast titles as well as the introduction of audiobooks.

Section 5 of 8:

Discoverability

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YouTube Music can create personalized playlists for you. YouTube Music can create three mixes based on your listening habits, and they include ^{[6]
X
Research source} :
- Discover Mix : 50 tracks every week from new artists and artists you already listen to
- New Release Mix : New releases by artists you listen to and artists YouTube Music thinks you'll like
- Your Mix : Songs you already like mixed with songs you haven't heard but might like, according to YouTube Music's algorithm
2
Spotify has several personalized playlists for users. The playlists that Spotify creates include ^{[7]
X
Research source} :
- Discover Weekly : Songs that Spotify thinks you'll like based on your listening habits
- Daily Mix : Playlists loosely organized by genre that mix your favorite tracks with similar ones you haven't listened to
- Release Radar : New releases from artists you like and others that Spotify thinks you'll like
Both platforms have many personalized playlists, and it's up to your personal preference to decide which one fits you better.

Section 6 of 8:

Extra Features

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YouTube Music has a few additional features users might like. They are as follows:
- On-screen song lyrics
- Casting to other devices with Google Chromecast
- Can play locally stored files easily
- Has audio or video mode so you can watch music videos
- Yearly recap
2
Spotify has some additional features as well that users may prefer. They are as follows:
- On-screen song lyrics with automated scrolling
- Storyline, which explains how songs were written or created
- Casting to other devices with Spotify Connect
- Spotify Wrapped
YouTube Music offers more extra features, and the ability to easily add local files is a big plus if you already have music you own downloaded to your computer.

Section 7 of 8:

Sound Quality

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YouTube Music has 4 audio quality settings. You may not have all of these options between the web player, desktop app, and mobile app. Note that all of these choices are available only for Premium subscribers.
- Low : 48kbps
- Normal : 128kbps
- High : 256kbps
- Very High : 256kbps
2
Spotify Music has 5 audio quality settings. You may not have all of these options between the web player, desktop app, and mobile app. Note that all of these choices are available only for Premium subscribers.
- Automatic : Variable depending on internet speed
- Low : 24kbps
- Normal : 96kbps
- High : 160kbps
- Very High : 320kbps
While it has lower limits for each range, you can get better audio quality with Spotify—though most users will not notice much of a difference between each setting.

Section 8 of 8:

Which is better?

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While YouTube Music does have a lot to offer, Spotify has better audio quality, better Premium plan options, and better features with the premium plan. It also has a huge music library with plenty of ways to discover new music from your favorite artists and new ones as well.
If you're already in the Google ecosystem, only plan on using the service as a free user, or already have YouTube Premium, YouTube Music is a better choice for you.

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Should You Use YouTube Music or Spotify? 7 Areas Compared

Things You Should Know

Steps

Free Version

Premium Plan

Price

Library

Discoverability

Extra Features

Sound Quality

Which is better?

Expert Q&A

Tips

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References

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