Guide to iTunes vs. Spotify (2025 Update)
Though iTunes was introduced earlier than Spotify, it evolved into something similar in category to the latter. iTunes would become Apple Music in 2015 it would replace the software in all Macbooks. Before we spend time discussing their differences let’s discuss a few of their beginnings.
Spotify is an audio streaming company from Sweden and was established in 2006. It has its roots in media streaming which includes music and podcasts. iTunes began as a music player for Apple in 2001 then eventually evolved into a music library manager, e-commerce platform for music, then eventually a streaming service.
Here we’ll talk about iTunes vs Spotify in detail, its strengths and weaknesses, and its appeal to its subscribers. We’ll also discuss a powerful third-party tool that can convert iTunes to Spotify music and vice versa. Through this tool, we strip your personal songs of DRM to be able to export it to your music library as uploaded songs.
Article Content Part 1. iTunes VS Spotify: Which is the Best Music Streaming Service? Part 2. Bonus: Can I play iTunes on Spotify?Part 3. Summary
Part 1. iTunes VS Spotify: Which is the Best Music Streaming Service?
No.1: Subscriptions and Price Plans
iTunes (Apple Music) and Spotify are almost priced the same. At $9.99 a month, you get individual subscription plans for both. At $4.99 a month, you get a student plan/package also for both.
The Family plan/package for Spotify though is a dollar higher in price at $16. You can be able to share the plan with up to 6 members of your family. In Spotify, you have a Premium Duo subscription that Apple does not have. This consists of 2 individuals living with the same address and costs $13.
Apple and Spotify have adapted a free video streaming service for their student package. For Apple, it is Apple TV+ while for Spotify they sponsored Hulu and Showtime. Additionally, Spotify has Hulu included in their Premium package.
There is one huge difference between their plans and it’s the free ad-supported service of Spotify. Apple does not have this. Though there is a limited operation in the free service (such as shuffled playlists, maximum of 6 song skips per hour, and a no new 2-week song release option for the artists) free access to the almost 70-million songs of Spotify is already a huge advantage. Apple music though countered the competition by access to Beats1 Radio but this is not enough.
iTunes vs Spotify winner: Apple
No.2: Streaming Quality and Music Library
Both streaming services peak at around the 300Kbps mark. iTunes (Apple Music) stream up to 256Kbps in AAC format while Spotify stream at around 320Kbps Ogg Vorbis format. Those two formats are about the same quality though. If you are worried about data charges when using mobile, you can opt to choose for lower bit rates.
A key difference though is that recently Apple Music introduced lossless and spatial audio. Lossless audio is high or CD-quality audio. It has a higher ADC resolution and analog sampling rate than ordinary tracks. It can go up to 48KHz/192Kbits of quality sound in Hi-resolution mode. Spatial Audio is sound in 3D.
You can turn this on in Settings in Apple Music. We are yet to see Spotify’s Hi-Fi counterpart as it announced its launch sometime this year. It should be comparable to Apple’s.
Regarding the music library, Apple has roughly 5 million more songs than Spotify as the former boasts of at least 70 million songs to choose from. Spotify though has more selections on podcasts. It also integrates them on its playlist compared to Apple which has a separate category for this. Due to this, we’ll give the music library to Apple while for podcasts to Spotify.
iTunes vs Spotify winner: Apple
No.3: Discovery Feature Differences
Both Apple Music and Spotify have Discovery modes that automate the process of song selection for you. As we see it, Spotify has the edge because it was first in this area. Spotify seems to have more experience and is more “focused” on what you truly like. In the meantime, Apple seems to get a good follow-up on this.
In Spotify, you’ll have to populate your playlists with songs so that Discovery can happen. Click Browse -> Discover on the desktop app and a new window should appear. There are two playlists, Discover Weekly and Releases Radar that are automatically generated every Monday and Friday morning respectively.
Discover Weekly adds in those scattered, surprise playlists that get you wondering where they get their data. Releases Radar is the newest releases of your favorite songs. Aside from these playlists, there is also a Made For You section “made for you”.
iTunes (Apple Music) has the For You section in its desktop app for PC and Mac (and in the mobile versions too). This section contains four playlists namely: Favorites Mix, Friends Mix, Chill Mix, and New Music Mix. The Favorites Mix lists songs that you have played before but aren’t playing in a while. The other playlists are focused oriented on different areas.
iTunes vs Spotify winner: Spotify
No.4: Availability
Both Spotify and Apple Music have been expanding their existence on other platforms. We see though that Spotify being earlier in the market has a head start. Don’t miss out on Apple though as it continues to expand and collaborate with other third-party companies.
Besides desktop PCs, tablets, and smartphones (which both Spotify and Apple Music already invaded) Spotify has a head start on game consoles. It is already available on Playstation (PS4 and PS5) and Xbox (Xbox series S, series R, and Xbox one). In the meantime, Apple just started with the Playstation several days ago!
In the smartwatches division, FitBit, Garmin models, OS wearables Google Wear and Samsung have been invaded by Spotify already. Apple has its own AppleWatch has already integrated Apple Music, but Spotify has also entered in.
Other hardware platforms are also seeing both Spotify and Apple Music enter the scene. Spotify has created its own hardware for the car called the “Car Thing” while Apple also has CarPlay but it has to be built-in the car. In the consumer market, we see Apple getting an edge with their HomePod and mini’s as well as the Apple TV 4K. This should be obvious since Apple by far and large is a bigger hardware resource compared to Spotify.
iTunes vs Spotify winner: Spotify
No.5: Social Media
Social media integration is an important tool for these streaming subscriptions as it can greatly influence people to use their platform. Spotify is the clear winner in this field. Its wider presence on the web is much appreciated especially by social media addicts. It is easily shared as stories on Facebook or content on Instagram. Playlists are easily shared on any messaging platform through QR-code generation. It can create links and be scannable so that friends can easily follow songs or playlists. Easily share album art on Snapchat for friends to follow your favorite songs.
With regards to iTunes (Apple Music), it has its own music content sharing feature with its registered users. You can also share AirDrop your favorite playlists with other Apple users. Its social media integration is not at par with Spotify.
iTunes vs. Spotify winner: Spotify
Part 2. Bonus: Can I play iTunes on Spotify?
Through third-party software, you can play iTunes on Spotify. As iTunes vs. Spotify battle intensifies, you shouldn’t worry so much about whose side you’re going to join because you can easily transfer music from one platform to another using this tool. This software is the TunesFun Apple Music Converter. Through this, it should be easy to convert songs directly from your iTunes into MP3s and then upload it to Spotify using Spotify’s online library integration. Please see the steps below:
1. Download and install the TunesFun Apple Music Converter. Please see the links below:
2. Open TunesFun then go to Library.
3. Choose the files you want to transfer to Spotify.
4. Choose the settings below. Choose MP3 as the file format.
5. Click Convert to start converting.
6. After it’s finished go to Finish.
7. Click View Output File to go to the output folder.
8. Now open your Spotify Music app.
9. On the left side beside your username, click the menu and choose Settings.
10. Go to Local Files then Add Source. Choose the output directory of TunesFun.
11. Begin adding these files to a Playlist by right-clicking on them, then add to Playlist.
12. You can now play music from iTunes to Spotify on your PC for offline listening!
Additionally, if you are a premium subscriber then you can download this playlist in the Playlist section.
Part 3. Summary
Here we presented the differences between the two music streaming app through an iTunes vs Spotify rundown. We found that subscriptions, price plans, streaming, and music quality make iTunes (Apple Music) the winner. With regards to discovery, availability, and social media features Spotify is the winner. Each streaming app has its strengths and weakness. A third-party tool was also introduced to play your iTunes music library with Spotify.
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