We all know that one of the most useful tools of entertainment for bored high school students is streaming music from a device. While many streaming companies like Google Play, Tidal, Amazon and Pandora exist, the most popular are Spotify and rival, Apple Music.

When searching through students’ phones, it’s almost impossible to find one without a music streaming service. “I don’t think I could go one day without music.” said senior Andrea Sanchez.

While Spotify was launched in 2006 and currently has more than 60 million paid subscriptions, Apple music is right on its competitors heels with more than 30 million paid subscriptions since its 2015 launch. Having reached half the amount of subscriptions as Spotify, it is believed that Apple Music will soon surpass its predecessor.  

While this may be the case for paid subscriptions, Spotify has over 140 million active users including its 60 million subscribers. Due to its free-use option, Spotify is more widely used. “I have been using Spotify since middle school and refuse to switch to any other streaming service because it works so well as a free subscription and I have unlimited data,” said senior India Pearson.

For many, paid subscriptions are considered standard as music can be accessed both online and offline through downloaded playlists, but for the fiscally conservative, free subscriptions with advertisements are just as prefered. While Apple Music may be gaining popularity, Spotify still wins for the thrifty because it offers a free alternative with limited advertisements that is only compatible with Wi-Fi use. While Apple Music does offer a full three-month trial before paying for a subscription, this expires faster than expected and proves to be a nuisance as one can’t listen to their favorite new songs without paying a fee. “Even though Apple Music isn’t free I still prefer it over Spotify because it allows me to integrate my already purchased music into my playlists seamlessly,” said junior Devon Gates. “Basically, I have always been a big fan of iTunes.”

For a monthly fee of $9.99 both Apple Music and Spotify offer reasonably priced services with discounts for students and family plans. While both services are increasingly comparable, Apple Music boasts a 40-million song library in comparison to Spotify’s 30 million. Apple Music also offers more exclusive music at a faster rate than Spotify does, and the company also offers private releases. Despite the differences between these two popular services, there’s no doubt that streaming will never go out of style. It’s never been easier to listen to music. So take your pick and stream away.