Apple Music is becoming too good to pass up — here’s why Spotify should worry

Apple Music is becoming too good to pass up — hither'due south why Spotify should worry

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Information technology's just been a few days since Apple announced that Apple Music volition get lossless streaming, Hullo-Res Sound and spatial audio support for no extra charge, and already information technology has the potentially exist one of the most interesting tech stories of the twelvemonth. Not only for issues of AirPods lossless compatibility, but for how it has seemingly got even streaming giants similar Amazon and Spotify acting scared.

Apple Music'due south big updates may be similar to features you can get elsewhere, but with the loosening of certain Apple-only restrictions and a savvy decision on pricing, the features have a expert chance of making this the new music streaming service to crush.

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Then hither'due south why I think Apple Music could get ahead of other audio streaming services, and why its rivals may struggle to keep up.

Spatial audio for all

When Apple Music launches these new features in June, information technology volition marker a meaning (and arguably overdue) opening-up of Apple tree's spatial audio tech.

Currently, spatial audio — which piggybacks off Dolby Atmos mastering to nowadays 360-degree surround sound fifty-fifty through earbuds — is simply usable with very specific hardware combinations. You basically need either the AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, along with a recent Apple tree-made source device, and even so it simply works with Atmos-enabled video content.

When spatial audio comes to Apple Music, users volition finally go to use it with songs also, and unusually for Apple, the walled garden will open up: whatsoever headphones will work, in theory. Yous won't need to splash out on Apple'southward most premium models.

At present, this won't exist the same spatial audio that accompanies Atmos video content. A fundamental component of the latter is caput-tracking, so that the origin points of dissimilar sounds remain consequent regardless of where you're looking relative to the screen. This in turn requires built-in sensors on the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, which you're unlikely to become on other pairs of headphones. Every bit such, the requirement of these sensors volition vanish, merely so too volition the caput-tracking.

To put it another way, spatial audio on Apple Music will likely just act like standard Dolby Atmos music: you'll nevertheless get a 3D effect, with different vocal parts, instruments and effects playing around you in a virtual sphere, simply they won't seem to stay in place if y'all move your head.

Yet, this is a huge upgrade. It simultaneously brings Apple Music to parity with audiophile-oriented services like Tidal and Deezer, which include 360-degree music using Sony's 360 Reality Sound format, and adds a key advantage over Spotify, which doesn't offer any 3D/360-degree formats at all.

In fact, Apple Music volition arguably offer a better bargain than Tidal and Deezer besides, as these limit 360 Reality Sound content to their respective premium subscription tiers. Apple Music is adding spatial audio to its standard subscription service, making it available to far more potential newcomers.

Lossless without barriers — mostly

All Apple Music subscribers will also get multiple lossless streaming options, starting with "CD quality" xvi-flake/44.1kHz choice and stretching up to 24-bit/192kHz — that'due south true Hi-Res Audio.

Y'all'll demand an external DAC for the latter. Just again, this level of quality is something you'd normally only get from higher-end streaming services (Amazon Music Hard disk drive besides supplies 24-fleck/192kHz tracks). I idea Spotify had beaten Apple to loftier-allegiance streaming when it appear Spotify HiFi back in February. Only the service itself is still yet to launch; if it doesn't do so before June, Apple tree may well have turned the tables.

What's more, Spotify hasn't exactly been articulate on the quality level of its HiFi service. The original announcement promised "CD-quality lossless" audio merely that could only put it at xvi-bit/44.1kHz, the lowest of Apple tree Music'south lossless streaming options.

Yes, it is weird that Apple tree hasn't yet found a way to make its own lossless streaming compatible with the AirPods range, though most Bluetooth headphones can't handle true lossless formats either. It's mainly the AirPods Max'southward lack of compatibility in wired mode that grates.

Simply you wouldn't be able to use it for Hi-Res tracks from Tidal, Deezer or Amazon Music HD either, permit solitary the missing Spotify HiFi. Apple tree Music can still bring higher-quality music to more listeners than ever before, over again by virtue of information technology being a standard feature that requires no additional subscription fees.

High-terminate features for less

Futuresource analyst Alexandre Jornod has suggested Apple making lossless audio an essential freebie marks "a turning bespeak in the advent of lossless streaming by making it the new norm, peculiarly every bit other services are expected to likewise offer lossless every bit standard to their subscribers."

Sure enough, mere hours earlier Apple fabricated its Apple Music announcement, Amazon revealed that Amazon Music HD'south college-quality tracks would become available to subscribers of the cheaper Amazon Music Unlimited tier.

This has more than a whiff of existence a defensive move against Apple Music, which was actually rumored to add a separate Apple Music Hi-Fi subscription instead of only making lossless and Hello-Res tracks bachelor to its existing customers. And while Amazon Music is no more expensive, come June Apple Music looks likely to have the best balance of premium features and affordable pricing on the market place.

Remember that an individual subscription to Apple Music is $9.99 per month. That'southward half the toll of Tidal's HiFi program, a requisite for lossless streaming, while Deezer's equivalent tier is $14.99 per month.

Spotify HiFi pricing, similar nearly everything else about it, is unknown. The monthly cost of a standard Spotify subscription is $9.99, then Spotify could get pressured by Apple and Amazon into folding the HiFi tier into this current Premium program to keep pricing level; more probable, though, is that Spotify HiFi will cost more than, perhaps effectually the $xiii-$xv mark. Spotify also recently raised its Premium tier pricing in the U.K., and the U.South. could feasibly follow suit.

Even if Spotify has a modify of heart and aims to make its lossless features more affordable, Apple Music will still have the advantage of spatial audio support, and potentially even college-quality Hi-Res Audio playback. Spotify may have vast enough of a userbase that one resurgent rival isn't exactly an existential threat. But from a consumer's perspective, it makes sense to look for the service that provides the most features at the lowest price. Equally information technology stands, Apple tree Music is about to fit that description.

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James joined Tom'due south Guide in 2020, bringing years of experience in consumer tech and product testing. Every bit Audio Editor, James covers headphones, speakers, soundbars and anything else that intentionally makes dissonance. A PC enthusiast, he also covers the occasional spot of computing and gaming news, usually relating to how hard it is to detect graphics menu stock.