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Spotify is the number one streaming platform in the world, with over 350 million users. But every streaming service has its best features- and the not-so-good ones.
If you’re debating whether or not Spotify is right for you, we’ll walk through the pros and cons of the streaming giant in this article to help you make the best decision.
Table of Contents
6 Pros of Using Spotify
1. Spotify Playlists
Spotify features millions of playlists created by the app or other users. Even popular musicians will create artist playlists of their favorites for their fans to enjoy.
There are three main types of playlists on Spotify:
- Listener
- Personalized
- Editorial
With Spotify, you can choose what you listen to by creating playlists, sometimes called Listener Playlists. You can craft these song lists based on genres, artists, moods, or your heart desires.
Personalized playlists appear thanks to Spotify’s algorithm, which we’ll discuss more later. These playlists keep up with recent releases from artists you follow, highlight things you keep on repeat, and give you a chance to dive back into music you loved years ago.
Lastly, Spotify curates thousands of editorial playlists. You can tell it’s one of their playlists when you see the Spotify logo on the cover. Editors carefully curate these lists based on cultures, genres, lifestyles, and more to give you a soundtrack for wherever you are that day.
2. Smart Recommendations Based on Algorithm
Many users have found new artists quickly becoming favorites with Spotify’s perfectly tailored recommendations.
Spotify uses a smart algorithm that looks at your listening habits, including what you play, save, skip, and share. They also compare playlists of those with similar tastes to help highlight new artists that they think fit your vibe.
If you’re listening to an album by a particular artist and it ends before you stop streaming, Spotify will use its algorithm to keep the music going with similar artists.
3. Spotify Wrapped
At the end of every calendar year, Spotify gathers up and shows you your listening data.
Whether you enjoy finding out what percentage of your favorite artists’ listeners you are in or seeing what genres you seem to find yourself in more than others- Spotify Wrapped is a fun way to get a deeper insight into your habits.
It’s also become a fairly large social media craze in recent years. Your top artists, genres, podcasts, and songs are a part of who you are, so it’s fun to look back on the year or share it with your friends.
4. Countless Podcasts
Spotify is one of the few music streaming platforms offering numerous podcasts. The ability to listen to an enjoyable podcast amid your favorite music makes Spotify the best alternative to radio for those longing for radio shows and music to make a comeback.
Some listeners who are only partial podcast fans have found interesting shows to listen to while scrolling through their Spotify personalized recommendations.
The algorithm also helps narrow out things you wouldn’t be interested in. If true crime is your thing, you’ll find new and old ones advertised on your user interface instead of lifestyle podcasts.
5. Social Media Features
Spotify has some of the strongest social media features across all streaming platforms.
You can utilize social media as your login information, setting up your Spotify account with your Facebook profile which makes signing in super convenient.
Users can share things they listen to on Instagram, Facebook, Discord, and more.
You can also collaborate with your friends to create the ultimate playlist.
6. Spotify for Kids
In 2020, Spotify launched a kid-friendly version of its app. The app is a favorite among parents due to the hand-picked kid content and parental controls.
In the app, you can find the following:
- Bedtime stories and songs
- Audiobooks
- Sing-a-longs
- Fun songs from hit soundtracks
Spotify Kids is only available for Spotify Premium subscribers.
4 Cons of Using Spotify
1. Having to Listen with Shuffle on Mobile
If you do not have Spotify Premium and use the app on your phone, you will not get the ability to pick and choose what you want to hear.
While shuffle can introduce you to new songs that could pique your interest- it’s frustrating not to have control over exactly what you’re listening to.
Spotify does offer you some skips, but you only get six free ones every hour.
2. Podcasts
Yes, podcasts on Spotify are both a blessing and a curse. While it’s great to have countless options at your fingertips, podcasts on Spotify are sometimes over-advertised and highly polarized.
You can avoid the drama by not engaging in polarizing podcasts. However, you will still have to deal with advertisements.
3. Payout for Artists
If you want to listen to music and strongly support the artists while doing it, you’ll want to find another streaming platform.
Artists can make around 0.0033 cents per stream. One hundred thousand streams must happen for the artist to make $100 off that one song.
One reason why this happens is that Spotify funnels more money to record labels. The labels get an average of 52% from Spotify, while artists get a range from 15 to 50%. It mostly depends on the artist and their contract.
However, Spotify allows artists to link their merch to the app/website. This inclusion makes it easy for customers to spot and purchase something from the artist or band. They also highlight upcoming tour dates.
4. Sound Quality
This negative aspect mostly affects audiophiles. Only a few people can tell the difference between lossless music and Spotify’s quality. But Spotify’s sound quality is often a make-or-break deal for those that can hear the difference.
Spotify announced in 2021 that they are still working on releasing a HiFi tier for their subscribers. The company has kept quiet about this new service’s release dates and other details. Whenever the service launches, it’ll give listeners the quality of CD music.
However, the question is whether the feature will be worth an extra charge when other streaming platforms offer lossless music features for no additional fee. In 2017, Spotify offered Premium users 1141 kbps as a tease to their HiFi quality. It’s unlikely that the company will match Tidal’s 9216 kbps or Apple’s similarly high-quality streaming.
Is Spotify Premium Worth It?
Spotify Premium removes at least one of the most prominent reasons not to use Spotify. With Premium, you can listen to music offline and choose specific things you want to hear.
Premium also lets you access kid-friendly content and removes ads.
Sadly, it does not offer higher quality sound, but Spotify promises that a higher tier of Premium is in the works to give users a better sound than a generic MP3-type file.
If you don’t mind ads or shuffling or plan to use Spotify on a desktop mostly, Premium may not be worth it for you.
However, if you expect to use Spotify frequently with your phone or other mobile devices, a Premium account is probably worth it so you can download content for offline listening.
Conclusion
While Spotify lacks higher-quality audio sound for audiophiles and limits some of its features to only Premium accounts, it’s still a great streaming platform.
You can introduce yourself to new music and get access to millions of great playlists for hours of entertainment with Spotify’s targeted algorithm.