Spotify has long held the crown for being the most popular music streaming service - but it has never been known as the best. In 2024, it came under fire for many reasons, including terrible pay for artists, buying and pushing fake streams, increased prices, and adding audiobooks and podcasts. Some people love the new additions, while others aren’t unhappy.
Amazon Music, on the other hand, isn’t loud or ‘everywhere,’ and yet users are flocking to it. Amazon Music and YouTube Music have seen significant subscriber growth, more than the ‘big two’ Spotify and Apple Music.
So, what makes these two platforms great, and should you choose Amazon Music or Spotify?
What are the biggest differences between Amazon Music and Spotify?
Sound Quality Spotify Vs Amazon Music
Perhaps the biggest and most important difference is the sound quality. Amazon Music Unlimited offers a higher audio quality than Spotify.
Spotify keeps people engaged and hopeful by regularly hinting at their HiFi tier. But they have one of the worst audio qualities in the music streaming market.
For comparison:
| Service | Maximum Audio Quality | Bitrate | Audio Format | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Music | Standard audio quality | Up to 320 kbps | MP3 | Available with Amazon Prime membership. |
| Amazon Music Unlimited | HD and Ultra HD quality available | HD: Up to 850 kbps Ultra HD: Up to 3730 kbps |
FLAC (lossless) | HD = CD-quality (16-bit/44.1 kHz); Ultra HD = Hi-Res (up to 24-bit/192 kHz). |
| Spotify | Standard quality, High quality, and Very High quality | Up to 320 kbps | Ogg Vorbis | Spotify HiFi/Super Premium (lossless audio) is expected soon. |
- Amazon Music Unlimited offers the highest quality with its Ultra HD option, catering to audiophiles with lossless and Hi-Res audio.
- Amazon Music (Prime) offers decent quality for casual listeners but lacks the lossless options of Unlimited.
- Spotify is fine for everyday streaming but currently lacks a lossless audio option (even though they hint regularly it is on the way).
Price Spotify Vs Amazon Music
Most music streaming services offer a similar price point, although Spotify is slowly becoming more expensive. It hasn’t reached Qobuz’s expensive plan just yet, though.
Amazon Music Unlimited is at a reduced cost for Amazon Prime members at just $8.99.
Both Spotify and Amazon Music offer a free tier, and they are both ad-supported. So if free is your jam, Spotify is your best option; their free plan offers the full library, while Amazon Music’s is limited.
Spotify currently offers Premium for $11.99 per month. Both music streaming services offer a range of plans, like family or student.
| Plan | Amazon Music | Spotify |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | Yes, with ads (limited catalog) | Yes, with ads (full catalog) |
| Individual Plan | $8.99/month (Prime members) $9.99/month (non-Prime) |
$11.99/month |
| Student Plan | $4.99/month | $5.99/month |
| Duo Plan | Not available | $16.99/month (2 accounts) |
| Family Plan | $14.99/month (up to 6 accounts) | $19.99/month (up to 6 accounts) |
| HD/HiFi Audio Plan | Included in Amazon Music Unlimited | Not yet available (Spotify Super Premium expected) |
| Echo Plan | $4.99/month (single Echo device use) | Not available |
| Annual Plan (Individual) | $89/year (Prime members only) | Not available |
Features Spotify Vs Amazon Music
Both platforms are feature-packed, so if you want more than the ability to listen to music, you’re in excellent hands with either of these platforms. If we include the music library in the features, Amazon Music and Spotify offer the industry standard of over 100+ million tracks. Although, as per all streaming services, there are likely to be holes from time to time.
For those who want to enjoy audiobooks, Spotify now includes them with their Premium subscription for most regions. We’ve got a post covering everything you need to know about Spotify Audiobooks. The Spotify podcast offering is pretty substantial, and they always add new titles.
Amazon Music bundles Audible into its Amazon Music Unlimited subscription - which means it competes easily in this feature.
However, Amazon Music Unlimited offers one audiobook at a time; you can select a new one when your subscription renews. Spotify lets you enjoy 12-15 hours of any of their audiobooks per month (depending on your region).
When it comes to podcasts, Spotify has a substantial selection, and they are included in the subscription cost. Amazon Music has many exclusive podcasts with celebrity hosts. You’ll not be at a loss, no matter what you choose here.
Music Discovery is an area in which most music streaming services compete, but most of the time, Spotify is given the crown. Its algorithm is considered one of the best in the business. Spotify offers Discovery Weekly, Release Radar, and Daily Playlists. Their daylist feature was a smash hit. Amazon Music introduced AI Maestro with playlist generation, giving users unique mixes.
Spotify has always integrated the social aspect into the platform, and it is one of the music streaming platforms with the most social options. With ultra-fast ‘share’ options, code scanning, a real-time jam feature, and collaborative playlist creation, Amazon Music doesn’t stand up in this area.
Both platforms offer voice control through home assistants, but Amazon Music has an incredible integration with Alexa and other Amazon devices.
How Many People Use Spotify or Amazon Music?
Spotify has a much larger user base, with 626 million monthly active users and 246 million premium subscribers reported at the end of 2024. On the other hand, Amazon Music has 80 million users worldwide, and 52.5 million of them are in the US.
Amazon’s figures also include people who have Amazon Prime but do not use the music feature.
Spotify Vs Amazon Music: Which Is Best?
Over the last few years, Spotify has lost some ground to its (relatively) smaller competition like YouTube Music or Amazon Music.
But in short - if you value no-fuss, no-bloat, high-quality sound, Amazon Music is where you should be.
Spotify is the right place for you if you want bells and whistles but have below-par audio quality.
Amazon Music takes the crown as the winner based on audio quality only - as a music streaming service that should be what counts.
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