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Table of Contents Table of Contents Subscriptions and Pricing Music Quality Mobile App Features Artist Compensation How We Tested
Music is a personal thing, so choosing a music streaming service should be too. Amazon Music and Apple Music offer similar streaming features at similar prices, but the slight differences between the platforms make one the best fit for most listening habits.
Below, we compare the two music giants in terms of pricing, playback quality, and more, just in time for Prime Day.
Subscriptions and prices
Amazon Music offers three subscription plans with different features: Free, Prime, and Unlimited. A free plan includes ads and only lets you shuffle an artist, album, or playlist—not play those songs in order. Amazon Music Prime, which comes free with an Amazon Prime subscription, is ad-free but only allows shuffle playback. The Amazon Music Unlimited plan offers shuffle and non-shuffle playback, and HD and spatial audio for $9.99 per month for Prime members ($10.99 per month for non-Prime members). The Amazon Music Family plan includes up to six accounts and costs $16.99 per month.
In this comparison, we will focus on Amazon Music Unlimited.
All Apple Music subscription plans offer the same features, but for different users. New subscribers get one month of Apple Music for free. After that, an individual monthly subscription costs $10.99 per month and the Apple Music family plan (up to five accounts) costs $16.99 per month. Students can choose the Apple Music student plan for $5.99 per month.
Winner: Tie
Music quality
Both Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music offer Dolby Atmos, a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories, as their top streaming quality. Dolby Atmos is a vast improvement over the compression of competing platforms like Spotify, which don’t offer playback in as high a quality. Atmos brings hidden jams and instrumentals to the forefront, making music sound much more detailed.
Not all songs on Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music are available in Dolby Atmos, but tracks that can be played in that quality will be marked with a label. Amazon Music Unlimited tracks range in quality from standard definition (SD) audio to high definition (HD) and ultra high definition (UHD) lossless formats. Meanwhile, most Apple Music tracks are available in lossless audio by default, which is another advantage over competitor Spotify.
Winner: Apple Music
Features of the mobile application
Both Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music offer a mobile app for iPhone. Since most people listen to music on the go, we spend our time using these apps and listening to music on mobile.
In both apps, it’s easy to access song lyrics on the screen. For some songs, Apple Music displays a cute animation of the album art, and the “Apple Music Sing” feature lowers the artist’s voice so you can more easily sing along over the song’s instrumental. Amazon Music Unlimited’s “X-Ray” feature displays fun facts about the artist while a song is playing.
If you use an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV 4K, Mac, or HomePod speakers, Apple Music is already available on your device. However, while Apple has a separate app for podcasts, the Amazon Music app provides access to both music and podcasts. Simply choose your preference from the app’s “Home” and “Library” tabs by toggling between “Music” and “Podcasts” at the top of the screen.
After using both apps, Amazon Music Unlimited edged out Apple with a selection of suggested content that seemed more relevant and robust and with the inclusion of podcasts in the app. But Apple Music’s user interface seemed more intuitive and easier to use.
Winner: Tie
Compensation of artists
According to the latest data provided by Apple Music in 2021, the platform pays an average of $0.01 per stream, though this varies by subscription plan and country or region. There is no official payment information available for Amazon Music, but a 2021 estimate claims that the platform’s average payout is significantly lower than Apple Music’s, sitting at just $0.004 to $0.008 per stream.
Winner: Apple Music
Our winner: Amazon Music vs. Apple Music
Apple Music beat out Amazon Music Unlimited by offering better audio quality, fun app features, and higher payouts to artists, but we suggest you try both services out for yourself. Music preferences vary widely from user to user, and your favorite streaming platform may suit your needs better than an alternative.
For example, if you like listening to the latest pop releases, you’ll probably have better luck finding them in Dolby Atmos on both Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music. But if you’re a classic rock devotee, music from your favorite artists may be available in varying degrees of quality on each app. For example, Journey’s Greatest Hits (2024 Remaster) album is available in “Ultra HD” on Amazon Music and in “High-Res Lossless” on Apple Music.
We suggest taking advantage of each platform’s free trial offers to see which service best suits your streaming needs.
Keynote USA News
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