Spotify vs. Apple Music: Which service is the streaming king?

When it comes to subscribers, the undisputed king of on-demand streaming music is Spotify. The Swedish-born service helped pioneer the current market, and has tens of millions more paid users than the competition, not to mention millions more free users. But Apple Music, known for its high-level exclusive releases and full integration into Apple’s popular iOS system, is the hottest service on Spotify’s heels. Apple’s streamer has shown impressive growth in listenership since its inception, garnering about half the number of Spotify’s paying users since it went live in June of 2015 — nine years behind Spotify.

Related: Apple Music’s iOS 10 update includes new personalized playlists to compete with Spotify

It’s hardly surprising that Apple Music is so successful. Not only is it backed by one of the biggest brands in the world, it also gives users access to the entire iTunes library, a swath of curated playlists, and a 24-hour radio station helmed by BBC-alum Zane Lowe. Even the required subscription fee of $10 per month is no great barrier for entry, as Apple Music offers a three-month free trial and a discounted family plan.

Given that these two are the biggest streaming services on the market, we thought it important to take stock of how the two compare back to back. Follow us below to see if Apple has what it takes to steal Spotify’s crown, and find out which service is best for you.

Music library

Spotify first gained its dominant position on the strength of its impressive 30 million-plus song catalog. Couple this with the fact that it adds over 20,000 new songs each day, and the service offers more music than your ears even know what to do with. While several holes do exist in its library — Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, Tool — Spotify’s catalog is extremely deep, and set the gold standard. Moreover, the Swedish streaming service brings all the latest record releases, exclusive live sessions, and various new singles right to its New Releases tab each Friday, providing a great way to hear the latest from established artists, and rising stars alike.

However, Apple’s service touts around 40 million songs, which is superior to Spotify’s “more than 30 million” figure (though we’re not sure by how much), and also outdoes newer contenders like Amazon’s paid streaming service and Jay Z’s Tidal. Moreover, Apple has taken steps to secure more exclusives than the competition, Taylor Swift’s oeuvre being a prime example. Spotify isn’t too happy with artists signing exclusivity deals with Apple, either. Reportedly, Spotify has a history of altering search rankings for artists who release their music through Apple first.

There’s another area where Apple Music has the leg up on its competition: Integration of the iTunes library. Any music you’ve got — whether previously purchased via the iTunes Store, ripped from a physical CD, or uploaded to iTunes Match — will appear in your Apple Music library, giving you the option to freely browse your own music alongside Apple’s standard catalog. Spotify offers a similar function, relegating your local music files to a separate tab, but you can’t access your local music via broad searches like you can with Apple Music.

Winner: Apple Music