Apple Music or an alternative service?

pkcable

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Folks,

Ok so we are Apple fans right? Do we get Apple Music or go for an alternative service like Google Play Music, Spotify, Amazon (Prime or Unlimited), Rhapsody, etc? Personally I just switch from free trial to free trial and in between I get by with Amazon Prime Music which I get free with my Prime subscription. Right now I'm on a 3 month Google Play free trial, that came with my Google Pixel. The Pixel is gone, traded away, BUT I still have the music! LOL

Each has their own pluses and minuses BUT most will work just fine on our iPhones. So which did or do you choose?
 

cwbcpa

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We have the Apple Music family plan for $16/month. That is best for the family for sure. Everyone has iPhones, iPads and Macs and it just works really well. I also have a Google Play music subscription, but I keep that mainly for YouTube Red. It's worth the $8 to not have advertising and to be able to save videos offline.

I have used and could make any of the popular services work, but I think Apple Music is my favorite. Probably because I have used it more than any other and I have not found a reason to not like it.
 

Quis89

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I bounce between Apple Music and Tidal. Tidal recently updated their app and it's SOOOOO much more user friendly so I've been using it more lately. Apple Music offers amazing integration in a variety of ways so it edges Tidal by a bit, for me.
 

Lee_Bo

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We have the Apple Music family plan for $16/month. That is best for the family for sure. Everyone has iPhones, iPads and Macs and it just works really well.

Ditto. Between 3 of us that comes out to roughly $5 /mo per user for unlimited music streaming. Can't beat that.

I also use Pandora (free) and IHeartRadio (free). But mainly I have Apple Music playing either on my phone or bluetooth in my car.
 

pkcable

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Just to play devil's advocate, I believe Spotify, and Amazon Unlimited have family plans too. Rhapsody may also!
 

cwbcpa

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Just to play devil's advocate, I believe Spotify, and Amazon Unlimited have family plans too. Rhapsody may also!

Absolutely. I know Spotify and Google Play Music have good family plans for sure. I would encourage anyone to check them all out and find the one that works best for you. I think it really comes down to interface, but maybe there are other things that I don't notice. I like the fact that Apple Music will work on all of our devices seamlessly.

For now at least, Apple Music gets any Music that my family would want and sometimes they get it first. It's just the best choice for us.
 

Ledsteplin

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From what I hear, Tidal has the best sound. I've been using it a couple months now for free. But I won't subscribe. They're too high. If I subscribe to anything, it'll be Apple Music.
 

pkcable

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From what I hear, Tidal has the best sound. I've been using it a couple months now for free. But I won't subscribe. They're too high. If I subscribe to anything, it'll be Apple Music.

Whenever someone mentions Tidal all I can think of is this.....

 

anon(39328)

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Depends on what devices yo u are using.

Google Play Music, because it includes YouTube Red. Also works great on pretty much most devices.

Spotify, because it works great on pretty much all platforms. Especially ps4.

Apple Music, because it works great on Apple products.
 

namichael

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I recently switched to Amazon Music Unlimited for a month because I really wanted the seamless integration with my Echo. That being said I switched back to Apple Music because Amazon didn't play well with the older version of Sync in my Ford Fiesta.
 

metllicamilitia

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They all have their benefits, for iOS Apple Music is definitely best if only for the fact that you can download any song you want. I'm currently on another 3 month trial because I bought BeatsX and I'll probably continue to use it. Also, Corey Taylor has a show on Apple Music and Metallica is getting one too.
 

Spencerdl

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I have used Apple Music and Spotify. I decided to go with Spotify as my music streaming service. Tidal @$19.99 for "HiFi" was a just a little to much and according to many different sources the sound quality is less than or equal to Spotify with Apple Music coming in third, but Apple does have the largest music library of the "big" three. I also have Amazon Prime so I get that music streaming service as well....I always forget about them....LOL