Spotify vs. Google Play Music All Access (AKA RIP Rdio)

finnith

Well it happened after a while of me wondering when, Rdio is finally shutting down.

So just like the thread title says, which competing service is better/more likely to survive? I don't have all that much music stored locally, just a small number (<500) remixes from Soundcloud/Hype Machine so the ability to upload music would be nice, but it's not incredibly important. At the same time I've heard mixed feedback regarding the extra features and UI Spotify has (i.e. the Running thing).

What do you guys use?

mRahmani

I'm a fan of Google Play Music right now, primarily because they also threw in ad-free Youtube as a bonus. But I'm also grandfathered in at $8/mo instead of $10, so that tilts the scales in their favor a bit.

lunchbox12682

I'm using Spotify with the student discount so $5/month.
I like it well enough, but maybe not $10/month worth.

Ganluan

I've been using Google Play Music since they launched it, and I've been very happy with it. I suppose when you break it down I could spend that $8 a month and buy 6-7 songs from iTunes I own permanently, but for how much I listen to it at work and during my commute, it seems well worth it. Their radio stations have gotten pretty good and they have a huge library of on demand music. I also like I can upload my own library and mix in theirs so I get a wide variety of music at any time.

Their mobile app has gotten a lot better too, it works well listening to music in my car.

mRahmani

One other nice thing about the Google Play app is that it allows you to save songs to the phone locally. I have my "Thumbs Up" list saved to an SD card, so when I'm on the road I can listen without worrying about going over on data.

minirhyder

mRahmani wrote: »

One other nice thing about the Google Play app is that it allows you to save songs to the phone locally. I have my "Thumbs Up" list saved to an SD card, so when I'm on the road I can listen without worrying about going over on data.

Spotify premium has this option too. You can save songs or albums for listening 'offline' and they're always there regardless or whether you're connected to the internet.

taliosfalcon

Having used both in the past (on android) i'm currently with spotify because I find their UI/App to be *leagues* above google music, their curated playlists are also much better/more plentiful if you like that kind of stuff IMO.

Local H Jay

Spotify all day for me
Saving songs and albums is very easy, making playlists is a snap, and they have things arranged in a way that makes sense. I love the discoverability of music on spotify. They have a "recommended for you" section for albums, as well as a weekly updated personal playlist they auto-generate based on your tastes. I found countless new artists through these features (and I am active in seeking them out via review sites and YouTube reviews like theneedledrop). I use downloaded playlist on "extreme" quality and bought a 64gb SD card to save them on. I have ~1500 saved and it takes up 10gb right now. I could dial it back to just "high" quality but extreme is amazing sounding through headphones.
One more cool feature is hooking it into Facebook and following friends also on Spotify. I follow some playlists my friends have made and share tracks I think they'll like through the app. You can even make playlists collaborative and let others add songs to them. I unexpectedly love this feature when it seemed silly at first.
I have had Spotify for three years since my Zune died (rip you beautiful bastard). I am very happy with the service despite it not having -every- artist I would like it to have.

CptKemzik

Having used both spotify and google play (the latter of which I have because of joining in on the $8/mo youtube music beta which I use moreso than google play music) they're both fairly similar but spotify has the advantage IMO because they absolutely have the cleanest and most intuitive interface. I have not bothered with more gimmicky things like the running application, but their curated playlists and radio are worthwhile.

As far as which is more likely to survive... the advantage goes to google, granted in this brave new world of streaming subscriptions who knows for sure.

lunchbox12682

Also, if you have Amazon Prime, they have a decent streaming and offline music selection too. Not as good as spotify (and I assume google), but definitely decent, especially if you already have prime.

finnith

Thanks all,

Does Google Play Music All Access have last.fm scrobbling? I've been using that thing for 7 years now so it'd be nice to keep on having that source of data. I know Spotify definitely does.

I end up getting my music from places like KEXP more often than not so I'm not sure how useful Spotify discoverability would be, but after my 90 day Google Music trial (Nexus 6p) runs out I'm going to try it.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

finnith

I forgot to mention that I'm in Canada (thus a no-go for Amazon Prime music I think).

Also iTunes is way too much of a hog for me to ever think of using Apple Music unfortunately.

WiseManTobes

Ugh Rdio is gone? Sigh, I like just finally moved to it!

It's Grooveshark all over again!

noir_blood

I feel your pain. Zune, which I've had since the day it was originally released, finally died out.

Has anyone used Microsoft's Groove thing?

Dr_Keenbean

Having used both Spotify and Google Music in both their free and paid tiers I'd say they are about equal. However, if social integration is a big thing for you, Spotify would obviously come out ahead. Also the Spotify desktop client will play music stored locally on your system, while Google Music is entirely web-based.

I stick with Google because I got in during beta and only pay $8/mo and I don't care what my friends are listening to. I would suggest try both (they both have free trials) and see which you prefer.

Kyougu

Spotify has fantastic integration with the PS4, letting you use it for background music.