After a couple of years enjoying the unending stream of great music straight from my phone (WiFi or not), I’ve chosen to unsubscribe from Spotify for Google Play Music. Here’s why.
Google Play Music and Spotify have basically the same functionality when you pay to subscribe. They allow you to play music for hours on end with no commercials, and enjoy your music without WiFi by downloading the songs you choose to your device. Even their prices are comparable.
I started on a month long free trial with Spotify before moving to the $5/month plan for students, but after a year (and after graduating), I was paying $10/month. It was so worth it until someone at work mentioned what Google Play Music could do.
I did a little research and found that Google Play Music had all of the capabilities that Spotify had. You can make playlists, play a radio station based off your favorite artists or songs, and get some recommendations on what you might like to listen to. It was pretty spot on.
When I looked into switching, my biggest hesitation was whether or not Google Play Music was going to have all my music. I’m not exactly a “hipster,” but my taste in music is not the common or predictable junk that’s streaming on the radio. Guess what? Google has it all, and more.
If you haven’t heard yet, YouTube has its own subscription service called YouTube Red with music streaming, ad free YouTube videos, and some native content from YouTube producers. YouTube Red is included in your Google Play Music subscription. How cool is that?
The selling point and final decisive factor in this decision was the availability of podcasts on Google Play Music. Spotify is awesome for holding my music and playlists, but I didn’t know I could have all my audio in one spot! Google Play Music has all of my favorite podcasts, including those produced by some of my new friends, Tyler Benedict and Jen Altschul.
If you’re looking to subscribe to a music streaming service, look into Google Play Music. You won’t be disappointed. I have to give a shout out to Gus Lubin. I couldn’t have written this post without the inspiration I got from reading this article.