Apple Music vs Spotify vs Pandora

There are multiple music streaming platforms available, both for free and with a monthly paid subscription including Apple Music, Spotify and Pandora.

At $9.99 a month, Apple Music offers over 50 million songs without ad interruptions in the midst of your favorite songs.

“Apple Music updates a new playlist every Sunday and Friday so that you can discover new music,” sophomore and Apple Music user Norma Hernandez said.

With over millions of songs to choose from, Hernandez mentions that she gets most of her songs from the playlists Apple Music updates each weekend.

“I’ve never looked up a song and not found it on Apple Music,” Hernandez said.

The only negative aspect she finds is not being able to play music if you have no service, which can be avoided if one downloads the music onto their phone. Apple Music gives users the option.

Spotify offers two versions of their platform—free Spotify or Spotify Premium. Spotify is free, while Spotify premium costs the same as an Apple Music subscription and allows the user to have unlimited skips and the ability to download songs onto their phone.

“Spotify provides similar music to playlists you make for yourself which can help you find new songs, and it offers all types of music,” A sophomore at Palmetto, Juliana Medina said. “Regular Spotify only offers you six skips per hour and you have to listen to ads. You also can’t pick your own song, it has to play on shuffle mode.”

Pandora is free unless one wants Pandora premium for the same cost as Spotify Premium and Apple Music. Pandora premium offers unlimited replay and the ability to search and play any song.

“Pandora is very versatile, and easy to get the hang of, that’s why I like it” said Luna Munoz a palmetto sophomore and Pandora user, “Pandora doesn’t allow you to choose a specific song which is annoying.”

In the end, all three streaming services have their pros and cons, it just depends on what experience the user wants. If one wants zero interruptions from ads and the ability to listen to almost every song that’s been created, then Apple Music is the way to go, however it is only available on iphones and other Apple devices.

Spotify premium is for users who want a more personalized experience, as they will create playlists for users based off of their taste in music and songs you’ve previously listened to.

Pandora is considered one of the first music streaming platforms of its kind, but seems to be viewed outdated by most teens these days.