Compared to our parents’ generation who listened to their favorite tracks on cassette players and the occasional CD, today’s generation has many ways to find listen to their music. The three most popular music streaming apps are Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora Radio.

A study conducted by Statista stated that 16% of Americans use Spotify, 21% use Apple Music, and 23% use Pandora.

Which is best depends upon the needs of the listener, but each have pros and cons.

Spotify premium means unlimited music, but it’s not completely unlimited. Most of the time Spotify can only be used on one device at a time. 75 million people subscribe to Spotify which costs $9.99 per month. With this service, songs can be searched, playlists can be made, tunes can be put in the queue, and many more functions.

The format of Spotify is very clean, and music can be downloaded and listened to without cell service. The free version of spotify has ads, and songs cannot be directly searched and played. The skips are not unlimited. Playlists can be made, and it is still a functional music platform.

Amazon home devices such as the Alexa are now sponsored by Spotify. Jeff Belchart, tech review uses spotify regularly. “Users claim that this app has the widest range of artists, and that it is the easiest to use. You will never find me using anything other than Spotify” said Belchart.

Another popular streaming service is Apple Music. It is a fairly new platform. With 40 million people paying for this, there are a lot of ups and downs. Apple music can only be enjoyed on an apple device, which upsets some users. When listening on a desktop, it also must be an apple device. This is a set back, considering Pandora and Spotify can be enjoyed on any device.

Apple Music is $9.99 per month for a single device, but can be listened to on multiple accounts. The family plan is $14.99, which can be used on up to six devices, with multiple accounts. This is a plus, because individuals can make multiple profiles with personalized accounts.

The setup of Apple music is also the cleanest, compared to both other options. It is full of signature Apple looks, which are always very clean. Apple music does have an “up next” option for songs. The only downside is that it is difficult to use without internet connection.

Finally, Pandora Music has been around for 20 years. Compared to both other subscriptions, Pandora is the cheapest, at only $4.99 a month. Pandora is a playlist only platform. Songs, genre’s, and artists can be searched. Pandora will generate a playlist with the type of music you want. The downside to this, is that songs cannot be searched.

The company makes no money off of the free version of the app, so ads are played in 30 second intervals. The subscription price covers one month of ad free music. Pandora also has a feature, in which an individual can thumbs up or down a track. If music is streaming for an hour, it will pause and ask if anyone is listening. Some users say this is very annoying.

Pandora has the least clean design. Since it is not possible to just listen to certain songs, users have many playlists on their account. For those with businesses, this is a great option.

Bottom line is, every music platform suits different people’s needs. Personally I have used Spotify Premium for years and would recommend it to anyone. I would rank it first, Apple music second, and Pandora last. This is because I enjoy searching individual songs. Different users have different needs, but time and research should be taken into consideration before subscribing to any of these. 

Check out this short YouTube video on how to use Spotify!