Canny logins
Twenty years ago, in those sepia-tinted days when CDs ruled the Earth and musicians could still make a living from their records, the idea of having instant access to almost every song ever recorded would have seemed like science-fiction.
Even when Spotify launched out of the blue in 2008, few of us could have predicted the seismic shift in music consumption that was about to occur; but today’s streaming services make even the idea of building a collection of MP3s look positively quaint. Each service hands its users the keys to a millions-strong library of on-demand music (and sometimes also podcasts and videos), listenable on smartphone, tablet, computer, web player or a growing gaggle of internet-connected hardware devices – and often available in CD quality or better.
But, as with many such products, the choice can be crippling – and we don’t just mean when it comes to choosing what song to listen to next. With so many services to pick from, all making lofty claims, how do you know which one is right for you? We’ve run the rule across six of the top services to see how they compare. Which will be crowned the Lord of Loudness, the Chief of Tunes and the Queen of Streams?
Apple Music
What’s the story?
Still a relative newcomer to the streaming game, Apple Music launched in 2015 but has quickly caught up. While it initially made a big deal of
