Looking For A Spotify Alternative? Here’s How YouTube Music Stacks Up Against The Competition

In solidarity with the scientific and medical communities, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removed their music from Spotify this week, over concerns of the impact of misinformation shared on “The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast.” Immediately, Twitter and other social platforms were flooded with calls to #CancelSpotify or #DeleteSpotify. 

If you can’t stop “Rockin’ in the Free World,” you may be considering alternatives to Spotify’s Premium music service. One of the newer music streaming options in the marketplace is YouTube Music, which much like Spotify is offered in both ad-supported “freemium” and premium packages. This analysis will compare functionality between both services and will help you decide if YouTube Music is right for you. 

How much does YouTube Music cost? Is it a better value than Spotify? 

YouTube Music’s Premium tier costs $9.99 per month, aligning with the subscription fee of other streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music. The service promises access to roughly 60 million songs, including Neil Young’s and Joni Mitchell’s catalogs, with ad-free listening and offline download capabilities. 

But what many do not know is that YouTube Music’s Premium tier included in YouTube’s $11.99 Premium service. YouTube Premium offers ad-free video viewing across the entire YouTube platform. Premium also allows users to listen to videos in the background on a mobile device with the display turned off. The price difference is only $2, which makes it a pretty killer deal for both commercial-free YouTube and unlimited, ad-free music listening. 

Keep in mind, YouTube does offer a one year Music Premium subscription for $99.99, a family plan for $14.99, for up to 5 users, and a student plan, for $4.99 per month. That price is bumped up to $119.99, $17.99 and $6.99, respectively, for YouTube Premium. Both services also offer a free one-month trial. 

How does the YouTube Music user experience compare to Spotify? Can I still get custom mixed playlists? 

YouTube Music lives away from YouTube’s video platform in its own dedicated apps for desktop, iOS and Android. The platform is separated into the three main sections: Home, Explore and Library. 

The “Home” page is very similar to the experience offered on competing music streaming platforms, with a variety of different expert-curated playlists, recommended tracks and artists. YouTube Music does offer a variety of custom-mixed playlists and radio stations, much like Spotify. YouTube Music does offer access to exclusive music videos and artist content, ported over from the larger YouTube platform. 

Explore is where users can see new releases, look at top song and album charts, find music by mood or genre and check out trending titles, as well as new music videos. Library is where user-created playlists are saved. If you subscribe to artists’ YouTube channels, you will also see them in the “subscription” tab in your Library. 

How can I migrate playlists from Spotify to YouTube Music? 

The easiest, pain-free way to migrate your playlists from Spotify to YouTube Music is by using a service like FreeYourMusic, TuneMyMusic or Soundiiz. Keep in mind, these services only transfer a limited number of titles for free. You’ll need to purchase a premium package with one of these services if you want to transfer multiple playlists or playlists with thousands of titles at once. 

How is the sound quality compared to Spotify and other services out there? 

One of the major drawbacks of YouTube Premium is the highest quality audio offered by the service is 256kbps AAC. Spotify Premium’s highest quality audio setting is equivalent to approximately 320 kbps. This is while Amazon Music Unlimited offers music with an average bitrate of 850 kbps and TIDAL offers audio quality up to 9216 kbps. 

Does YouTube Music offer podcasts? 

No, podcasts are not integrated into the YouTube Music platform. If podcasts are your jam, you may benefit from being able to listen to video podcasts with your mobile device’s screen off with YouTube Premium. But podcasts are not found in your library, which may be a drawback to Spotify’s integrated platform. 

Overall, who is YouTube Music best for? 

YouTube Music is the best streaming service for users who already do a lot of audio consumption on the YouTube platform. The $11.99 YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium bundle may be one of the best deals out there for both ad-free music and video streaming. But audiophiles may want to steer clear, as the audio quality is below Spotify’s highest codec and has not advanced on any Hi-Fi music standards.