A good amount of people in their early twenties listen to music on their phones. It is convenient and modern and allows them to connect to each other in a cultural way. According to the Next Gen Personal Finance website, and unsurprisingly, Spotify reigns as the most used music streaming service, accounting for 32% of music streamers. Following this are two smaller titans: Apple Music at 15% and YouTube Music at 13.6%. Spotify and Apple Music are toe-to-toe in discussions and debates about which one of them is a better music streaming service, but it’s quite a letdown to see no one speak about YouTube Music and all it has to offer.
YouTube Music is the musical side of YouTube, and with that, it possesses all the music videos, rough remixes, b-sides and demo takes from the artist’s vault that never see the light of day on other platforms. This is what makes YouTube Music stand out so much. There is more music to experience and more ways to experience it.
YouTube Music, like Spotify and Apple Music, has a hefty dose of playlists and individual artist mixes (called radio in YouTube Music). YouTube Music also has podcasts of almost any kind like on Spotify. Of course, it cannot compare to all the things that Spotify has, including the endless amount of playlists and a keen assortment of audiobooks. It also cannot compare to the lossless audio quality that Apple Music’s UX has.
Not only that, but YouTube Music also has videos related to the song. For instance, live albums will have a video counterpart for each song. All it takes is a slide from the song-only setting to the video setting located at the top of the phone screen. Visualizer videos are included for weaker tracks so something appealing can be seen. Of course, Apple Music and Spotify have beautiful Canvas (eight-second loop of a visual) in the background, but their impact is a bit two-dimensional compared to what visualizers have in them. To top it off, YouTube Music allows the viewers to see lyric videos, either fan-made or originals from the official channel.
When it comes to these three services, Apple Music has the best sound because of Apple’s unbeatable hi-res lossless. YouTube Music’s competition for audio quality is with Spotify. Google Support reveals that YouTube Music’s normal level of audio quality is 128 kilobits (128,000 units of computer storage), while Spotify’s is 96 kilobits. For any song streamed on Spotify that is louder than YouTube Music, the Spotify setting would have to be turned on high and keep YouTube Music’s kilobit setting the same. On a normal basis between the two, YouTube Music has more punch and dynamism to its sound.
Finally, YouTube Music covers everything musical on YouTube, which includes ascending underdog artists who aren’t based on Spotify or Apple Music. Many mainstream artists have gotten their start on YouTube, such as The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Charlie Puth and Bo Burnham. They had released projects when they weren’t famous as a stepping stone. The ability to see anything musical — within the industry and outside of it — is the biggest thing that makes YouTube Music stand out from everything else, not only Spotify and Apple Music.
YouTube Music has been nothing but a blast to use. There is so much creative diversity all around the app and website. Parody music is made in ridiculous or lowbrow content. Cover songs by talented musicians showcase raw and sought-out talent. There are even meme videos and reels as precursors to many videos to check out and many songs to listen to. Despite the fact that it will not have the best audio quality like Apple Music or an abundance of audiobooks like Spotify, it will provide an experience more people can enjoy.
