Amazon Music Zugriff Auf Apple Music

Apple Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: which is best for hard rocking Hi-Fi fans?

(Prototype credit: Amazon/Apple tree)

Apple Music effectively reinvented its streaming service with the introduction of Spatial Audio, an umbrella label for Dolby Atmos Music, merely it's not the only immersive sound champion in boondocks. Rival Amazon Music has a comparable 3D sound offering for subscribers to its Unlimited tier, with Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio tracks nestled alongside high-res music and regular stereo streams.

If yous're looking for a music streaming service with an enviable content catalogue and an ear to future tech, these two giants await evenly matched.

Apple Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: At a glance

Apple Music

Price: £9.99/$9.99 monthly; £14.99/$14.99 Family Program monthly; Vocalism Plan £4.99/$4.99 monthly;
Student plan £4.99/$4.99 monthly
Sound Quality: CD quality 16-bit/44.1kHz, Apple Music Lossless
24-bit/48kHz, Hi-Res Lossless
24-flake/192kHz
Spatial audio: Yep
Sign up at Apple Music (opens in new tab)
Read our full Apple tree Music review

Amazon Music Unlimited

Price: £7.99/$viii.99 monthly (Prime users), £9.99/$9.99 monthly (not-Prime users; £14.99/$14.99 Family Programme monthly; Single device programme £three.99/$4.99 monthly
Sound Quality: HD quality 16-bit/44.1kHz, UHD quality up to 24-bit/192kHz
Spatial Audio: Yes
Sign up at Amazon Music Unlimited (opens in new tab)
Read our total Amazon Music Unlimited review

With a comprehensive catalogue of some xc one thousand thousand songs, excellent genre reach and plenty of high-quality options, Apple Music is an splendid choice if you're an Apple devotee. Tracks labelled Hi-Res lossless and Apple tree Digital Master are about equally good every bit it gets when it comes to streaming quality (Nosotros Are Not Your Kind by Slipknot is a stunning example), but Apple reserves its best listening trick, Dynamic Head Tracking, exclusively for iPhone users.

Undercutting rival Apple, but offer a comparable library, Apple tree Music Unlimited can be considered superior value if you already subscribe to Amazon Prime number (opens in new tab). It oddly labels CD and Hi-Res quality tracks equally Hard disk drive and UHD, and also offers a comprehensive range of Dolby Atmos albums. Just its music curation engine could be ameliorate.

Apple Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: Musical offer

Apple Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: Woman listening to music — (Image credit: Westend61 - Getty)

There's precious little difference between the catalogue offerings of Amazon Music and Apple Music. Both merits around ninety one thousand thousand tracks, and at that place's comprehensive representation from the metal, prog, punk, archetype rock and alternative archives. You may stumble across a few discrepancies if you await really hard, merely even when we got eclectic, both services rose to the challenge.

They also have a comparable number of high-fidelity encodes, with substantial sixteen-scrap and 24-bit quality libraries. So in terms of content then, there's not much between them.

Apple Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: Prices

Apple Music
Apple's Private Price plan costs $nine.99/£ix.99 a month, and there's a $fourteen.99/£fourteen.99 Family unit Plan. There's too a Academy Student plan, which costs $four.99/£four.99 per calendar month. The latest improver to Apple's subscription options is a Vocalization Plan, for $4.99/£four.99 a calendar month, but you can simply admission it via vocalization and Siri on on iPhone.

Amazon Music Unlimited
We charge per unit Amazon Music Unlimited as good value. While at that place's no free tier, Prime subscribers can subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited for $8.99/£vii.99, which makes the service cheaper than Apple music (it levels up if you don't accept Prime). There'southward also a $xiv.99/£14.99 family tier, and a single device plan which will price just $4.99/£three.99 monthly.

Apple tree Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: Usability and interface

When it comes to full general usability, Apple starts to show its class. Every bit office of the setup process, the Apple tree Music app invites y'all to favour musical genres and artists. This actually helps with music curation and recommendations. If you tell it you similar Powerwolf, it'll chop-chop get the bulletin, and point you to the likes of Sabaton and Hammerfall. Your ears are in skilful hands.

It'south also like shooting fish in a barrel to add together artists, albums and tracks to your library. Even so, Amazon Music takes a little longer to get to know your tastes.

The 'My Soundtrack' station abode page default is populated with artists and bands from your playback history, plus seemingly random additions (I play The Darkness so I get The Killers?). There'south also a 'You Might Like' rail which suggests I should listen to Subvision as I like Ghost's Impera album. (Amazon's AI is clearly working hard hither equally information technology reasons, 'If yous like Tobias Forge hither's some more Tobias Forge.

Both Amazon and Apple will please audiophiles with their clear labelling of Hi-Res and Dolby Atmos. Which brings us to audio quality.

Apple Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: Audio quality

Apple Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: Man listening to music — (Epitome credit: Marko Geber - Getty)

Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple tree Music are smashing choices if y'all want your playlists to audio crystal clear. They have extensive libraries in CD quality – that'south to say xvi-bit with a sample rate of 44.i kHz – and Hi-Res 24-bit (with sample rates up to 192 kHz). What's more, both services too offering Dolby Atmos mixes on an increasing number of releases. For example, Machinery Of Torment past Skullflower from the Metal Lords soundtrack is a must-listen in fully immersive Dolby Atmos.

So zippo separates either service, you might recollect? Well, Apple has one play a joke on that Amazon tin can't lucifer, but not everyone will be able to take advantage of information technology.

It'south called Dynamic Head Tracking, and it came every bit part of Apple'due south iOS xv firmware update. This new processing way adds fifty-fifty greater realism to spatial audio, because it follows the movements of your head, creating the illusion that music is coming from all effectually y'all.

With regular spatial audio/Dolby Atmos, you get the sense of sound being steered all effectually you, front, back and overhead. With Dynamic Head Tracking y'all tin move your head within a fixed 3D audio soundstage, for greater realism.

Merely here's the catch: only iPhone users tin can utilize it, and you need Apple AirPods Pro or Apple tree AirPods Max (opens in new tab) headphones!

Apple Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: Verdict

Both Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple tree Music accept loads to recommend them. If you're an Amazon Prime subscriber already, and so opting for Amazon's Unlimited offer volition salve you a few quid every month. Sonically, there'southward plenty of loftier quality hardcore to leap effectually to, although we're not blown abroad with the music curation. It's a good choice for Android users, but nosotros also recommend Tidal and Qobuz (opens in new tab) when how-do-you-do-res quality is a prerequisite.

If y'all're already an iPhone user, then Apple tree Music is the obvious service to opt for. Information technology has superior content curation and recommendations, and complements its Hi-Res and Spatial Audio library with Dynamic Head Tracking, which is about as most as you'll ever become to listening to your favourite band lay downwards tracks in a recording studio.

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Steve is a dwelling amusement technology specialist who contributes to a variety of UK websites and mags, including Louder Sound, Yahoo UK, Trusted Reviews, T3, The Luxe Review and Home Cinema Option. Steve began his career every bit a music journo, writing for legendary rock weekly Sounds, nether the nom de feather Steve Keaton. His coverage of post punk music was cited in the 2015 British Library exhibition Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination, as a seminal influence on the Goth music scene.