- Note: The web player and Spotify apps integrated into third-party devices (such as speakers and TVs) don’t currently use Loudness Normalization. How does Spotify adjust loudness? When we receive your audio file, we transcode it to delivery formats Ogg/Vorbis and AAC.
- Compared to other MP3 players such as iPod, Sony Walkman Spotify player device usually has the advantages of better sound quality, more storage capacity, high power for long time use, making it best for the heavy music users.
- Spotify App Vs Web Player Quality Audio
- Spotify Web Player App Chrome
- Spotify App Vs Web Player
- Spotify App Vs Web Player Quality Microphone
As well as being accessible via apps and a web player (HiFi subscribers will need Chrome for lossless sound), it has expanded into Apple and Android TV apps, and Apple CarPlay. To compete with Spotify, Tidal's apps also form part of several networked hi-fi products’ including Sonos, Bluesound and Denon Heos kit, Linn, McIntosh, Naim. Just drag a track from the Spotify app to your email compose window or message app and you can send a link to the song. The link will open the song in Spotify's web client. When I shared a link. To listen to Spotify music on the best Spotify portable player, you need to install the app to your phone and link your Spotify account, connect Mighty and your phone to the same Wi-Fi, and then you just need to choose favorite Spotify playlist that you'd like to play on Mighty.
The 2010s is a time of the rise of digital music comparing to physical (CD, DVD, Vynil). It often happens that streaming services and cloud storages are the best solutions for music lovers. Think for yourself, why have a separate device when you can just download an app, and that's it. Many music streamers offer web players, which are a bit different from desktop apps, allow users to completely integrate with social networks eliminating a need for downloading an app, and, generally, we can do everything in a browser.
Today, I'm comparing two players, namely Spotify Web Player and VOX Music Cloud for VOX Player.
They both help people enjoy their favorite music but in different ways, which makes them so interesting to study.
Spotify Web Player
Spotify is one of the apps that doesn't need an introduction. But if you still live in The Stone Age and are dumb as a rock, Spotify is a streaming music application that lets you listen to millions of songs for a relatively small price.
Although there are various streaming services, like Tidal, Apple Music, Google Play Music and so on, Spotify seems to have gathered the most music lovers, and one of the key reasons for that is that they have a broader access to music, namely the Spotify Web Player.
This feature came out a few years ago, but many still haven't used it. Today, I'm taking a closer look at both pros and cons of Spotify Web Player, and then you can decide for yourself whether to use it or not.
Spotify Web Player Pros:
Accessibility
The Desktop app is easy to use. But what if you travel a lot or use different computers all the time? Using Spotify Web Player, it matters not where you are. You can get access to your library with any browser, regardless whether you're at home, work or some party. You just log into your account using your account name and pass and listen to music straight away. Extremely useful.
Hotkeys
Something that the desktop app doesn't have. A beneficial thing especially if you have no time or will to switch between the apps just to play the next song. You enable hotkeys you need to download the extension for Chrome or add-on for Firefox.
Social Integration
With a new Web API, you can integrate Spotify content into Facebook, Twitter, and other website and social network. It's a good way to share music with friends and recommend something to listen to.
Intuitive interface
A major problem that lots of users face is an overcomplicated design that makes you google 'How to..' questions. Luckily, it's not the case with Spotify Web Player. In a browser, Spotify looks just like the desktop app without radio and some other function, but, overall the interface is same easy and understandable.
Spotify Web Player Cons:
Accessibility
Accessibility is both its strongest point and its main disadvantage. Once you close a browser, the player's gone. If it crashes, it's gone. If you go to Sleep mode, it's gone. It's very annoying, but it's the price for non-app listening.
Terrible sound quality
All streaming services including Spotify are famous for having gigantic music collections and low sound quality. Spotify app streams music at 256 kbps in OGG Vorbis. The Web Player has the same music collection but at 160 kbps. It's twice worse than typical MP3 320 kbps. However, as I believe, this quality is also far from perfection.
No Offline Mode
Both desktop and mobile app have options for offline listening. They include downloading and storing some songs. However, Spotify Web Player doesn't. It's pretty logical that a WEB player can't play without the Internet connection, but still, we want it.
Desktop and mobile apps still work better
Providing you have extra 50 MB, don't be lazy and download the app. First, it includes much more options than the Web Player, and second, it runs more smoothly.
VOX Music Cloud Storage
VOX Cloud is an online music cloud that works with VOX Music Player to store and play all your music regardless of the files format or size. Although I spoke about a web player before, I'm aiming to make a point why a desktop app is better than any web player or streaming service. LOOP is also somehow a streaming player, with the difference that you can listen only to songs you uploaded beforehand.
How is VOX Cloud different from other music apps?
VOX Cloud is an Unlimited music cloud. It means you can upload thousands or even millions of songs. The more you upload, the bigger library you have. Think about the quality. Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play Music stream at 128-256 kbps in OGG, AAC and MP3 correspondingly. They all are lossy audio formats.
Read Lossy vs. Lossless
VOX Cloud has no restrictions to formats of audio files. It's the best way to listen to High-Resolution music for you can upload FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, PCM, etc. with no compression or conversion (Google Play Music allows you to upload any format but eventually converts it to MP3). How it works with VOX: You upload FLAC 4096 kbps/96kHZ - you listen to it.
Learn more about VOX Premium Features
You must first download VOX Music Player for Mac & iPhone, sign up for VOX Premium and then you can start uploading your entire collection into VOX Cloud. Having done that, you can enjoy all your music, anytime, anywhere. Moreover, if you're not good at creating playlists, you can sign up to Spotify and SoundCloud accounts to combine all three sources of music in VOX.
VOX Cloud Pros:
Unlimited space for your music
It's an essential feature as Hi-Res audio has finally become a favorite in the world of music. More and more do we pay attention not to the quantity but the quality, and it's beautiful. With VOX, you can have all your music library and not question yourself if there's enough space. I have a massive Hi-Res collection and whenever I want to find new music I go to SoundCloud tab. More on that below.
No restrictions to audio formats
The full list is too long, but among the famous one are ALAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, APE, PCM, DSD, CUE, AAC, OGG, MP3, M4A, etc. I honestly doubt you can find a format not supported by VOX. Hail to the quality.
iPhone and Mac sync for listening to Hi-Res music on iOS devices
It's true. Once you upload something to VOX Cloud, it becomes available for listening on all devices connected to your VOX account. That's one of few ways to listen to Hi-Res files on iPhone. Your iPhone's never sounded like that before.
SoundCloud, Spotify, and Last.fm integration
That is a necessary feature because no matter how big your music library is, you always crave new songs and artists. To satisfy this need, VOX Player features streaming services integration so within one app you can have access to SoundCloud, Spotify, and Last.fm. You can add any song from any service to your playlists to create unique playlists, and signing in to Last.fm helps you keep your listening stats up-to-date.
Download songs and albums for offline playback
VOX Cloud works with Internet data (3G, 4G, LTE) or Wi-Fi. However, when you might not have either, you can download song tracks or albums to listen to them offline. The quality remains the same, but mind that Hi-Res files take up lots of space.
VOX Radio
Spotify App Vs Web Player Quality Audio
Radio is an in-app purchase that unlocks 30,000 radio station from all over the world. They include some local one, as well as most famous one like KEXP, BBC One, BBC 6, KPCC and the rest.
Available worldwide
Unlike most streaming services, VOX Cloud is available no matter where you are. It's a great solution, especially if you like to travel or live outside Europe and the Americas.
EQ and BS2B technology for enhanced sound
Both features are used to improve the sound when using headphones. EQ includes over 20 presets for different genres and BS2B makes the sound as if you were listening to it in a studio.
VOX Cloud Cons:
You have to upload tracks yourself
I should say that it takes some time to find and upload files to Cloud, but even if you have a 1 TB library, you can upload everything within a few hours. I managed to upload 5 GB of Hi-Res music in 7 minutes. You can check where to find Hi-Res files.
Conclusion
Although tastes differ, I prefer VOX myself. The key reason is that I appreciate the quality of sound, and now that I've uploaded 150 Hi-Res albums and connected my SoundCloud account to discover new music, VOX seems to be a perfect app for high-quality playback combined with huge SoundCloud collection.
© Provided by What Hi-Fi? nullThe way we consume music has evolved dramatically over the past 50 years.
One of the biggest changes is the shift from ownership of physical – and latterly digital – music (remember Steve Jobs pulling 1,000 songs out of his pocket in 2001?) to streaming; playing songs in real-time from a library in the ether.
Streaming has in some ways provided a huge boost to the music industry, offsetting the decline in sales of physical formats and reshaping the way music is packaged, distributed and consumed.
According to global music industry representative IFPI, by the end of 2019, streaming accounted for more than half (56.1 per cent) of global recorded music revenue for the first time.
It is the industry’s fastest-growing revenue source, with 89 per cent of music-lovers across the globe listening to music through on-demand streaming, and 54 per cent of 35 to 64-year-olds using a streaming service in the past month – up eight per cent on figures taken 12 months previously.
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The state of play
There are plenty of streaming services vying for your attention: Deezer, Google Play Music, Primephonic, Amazon Music Unlimited, and YouTube Music to name a few.
Tidal, with its CD-quality lossless streaming tiers, has made ripping CDs a thing of the past, while Qobuz’s Sublime+ subscription offers hi-res downloads too.
But the biggest two by far are Spotify and Apple Music. Since 2008, Spotify has been at the forefront of streaming.
As one of the longest-running and most subscribed-to services, its dominance has seen many rivals fall by the wayside. But Spotify arguably faces its biggest threat yet from Apple Music (previously Beats Music until Apple acquired it in 2014).
Download spotify linux deb. Here, we compare the two giants to see which most deserves your money.
MORE: Best music streaming services 2020: free streams to hi-res audio
Subscription plans
If you don’t have the extra cash to splash on streaming, then Spotify should probably be your go-to service.
Staying true to its “music for everyone” ethos, it is one of the few to offer a free (ad-supported) subscription tier alongside its Premium service.
The desktop version is pretty unrestricted in terms of search and stream options, and while free users on the mobile app could previously only listen to playlists in shuffle mode rather than specific tracks and were limited to six song-skips per hour, Spotify updated the app in 2018 to allow free users unlimited listening to as many as 750 tracks across 15 top playlists every month (including Discover Weekly), equating to about 40 hours of music playback.
Of course, there are adverts, and the data rate is capped at 160kbps, but the service is free, so it'd be churlish to complain.
The majority of Spotify’s 100 million active users settle for the free tier but, as the 140 million who now subscribe to the paid-for Premium service can vouch for, there’s plenty of reason to shell out: 320kbps streams, offline listening, Spotify Connect support, search and skip tracks on mobile devices, and no adverts.
Apple Music doesn’t have a free tier, although there is a three-month free trial and you don’t need to be a member to listen to Beats 1 radio – one of the service’s most celebrated features.
For online and offline streaming and access to more radio stations, the monthly fee is also £10 ($10) (or £5 ($5) for the student membership).
Apple Music may have arrived late to the party, but it did so with a huge fanfare. While it may currently have around half the number of paying subscribers as Spotify (68m by the end of 2019, according to German statistics portal, Statista), the fact that it has skyrocketed to that in just over five years is staggering.
Now that Spotify has revised the initial monthly £30 cost of its Family Plan, both services now offer £15 ($15) family membership covering up to six users. Recently, Spotify also launched a £12.99 ($12.99) Duo membership too, for couples.
**Winner** Spotify
Catalogue
It’s a pretty even match when it comes to catalogue size and platform support.
Apple Music claims over 60m tracks in its back catalogue, while Spotify's figure is 50m songs. And that’s growing – in April 2019, Spotify founder Daniel Ek told investors that 40,000 songs were being added to Spotify's streaming platform every day. It's not just music though, the catalogue is growing in terms of types of content too.
Battling to be at the forefront of innovation, Spotify has focused on podcasts as well as music for its content growth. Since the acquisition of podcasting production specialist Gimlet Media in 2019, over 700,000 podcasts have been made available to stream and download on Spotify, including a raft of Spotify exclusives.
And if that sounds a bit much, there a set of human-curated podcast playlists to help you find your new favourite shows with names such as 'Best Podcasts of the Week', 'Brain Snacks' and 'Crime Scene' – all self-explanatory and well worth delving into.
Perhaps Apple's advantage over Spotify here is that while both services offer playlists that comprise songs based on your listening habits, Apple also has the Beats 1 Radio stations which feature human DJs at the decks.
But streaming services aren’t quite the global jukebox they could be.
Some anti-streaming artists, including Adele and, historically, Prince, have deliberately restricted their work. Spotify has come into conflict with artists over both the low royalties it pays acts and the very existence of its free tier.
In 2014, Taylor Swift publicly pulled all but one of her songs from Spotify. At the time, Spotify said that 16m of its users had played Swift's music in the 30 days leading up to the removal, adding that she appeared on 19m Spotify playlists.
Swift wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, 'It's my opinion that music should not be free' although she has now conceded this protest.
Jay-Z’s involvement in Tidal has seen some of his albums, including The Blueprint, appear exclusively there, although the artist eventually threw in the towel on that particular exclusivity war.
Apple has cut exclusive deals, including Dr Dre’s Compton album, Drake's Views From The 6 and Britney Spears' Glory, all of which initially appeared on Apple Music only – although they are now available on Spotify. Still, the lure of a paid-for service clearly works when it comes to securing artists, to a degree at least.
Time will tell whether Apple Music’s artist-exclusives will hurt Spotify in the long run, but Spotify is rumoured to be considering keeping some music off its free tier to get more artists on board.
Both services are available on a number of platforms: there’s desktop support for PC and Mac (Spotify has a web player too), plus Android and iOS apps.
Spotify also has the benefit of Connect, which lets premium subscribers stream directly to speakers, TVs or systems, while Apple deploys AirPlay 2 here.
Both have become a function on many hi-fi and AV products – and it's a big pull for those interested in bringing streaming and multi-room listening to their existing system.
**Winner** Draw
Spotify Web Player App Chrome
The user experience
Both Spotify and Apple Music offer similarly clean, simple and intuitive layouts. That wasn’t always the case, though. When Apple Music first launched, we found its busy interface a bit clunky to use.
But with Apple's 2016 iOS 10 update, the Cupertino giant stripped it back, with cleaner typography and graphics. Features and options are hidden away behind icons and collapsible tabs, and the layout is easier to navigate.
The rule of thumb for using Apple Music is to click everything. Tapping the ellipsis that appears almost everywhere opens options such as: play next, add to library, add to a playlist, share (to any social media), lyrics and download.
Everything is neatly contained within five sections: Library, For You, Browse, Radio and Search/store. Sub-sections for New Music and Curated Playlists are clearly labelled within the Browse section.
The Library is where all your music lives. This includes files stored on your smartphone, CD-ripped WAVs, your own playlists and any music you’ve saved and downloaded while streaming or listening to radio in Apple Music.
Thanks to its compatibility with iCloud sharing, you’ll also be able to see all the music stored on your iTunes account.
MORE: Apple Music review
Spotify allows you to bring your local files into its interface too, but it’s not as well integrated. If you want all your music in one place, Apple Music does it better.
https://ghdlyy.weebly.com/blog/cant-download-albums-on-spotify. Spotify’s iconic green-tinted silver-on-grey interface has long been the ideal template with its logical and accessible sidebar menu layout, and its consistent focus on content over the years has made it all the more practical.
Spotify App Vs Web Player
The Browse (or ‘home’) page throws up context-based playlists, constantly updated UK and global charts, and new releases for your attention, as well as content sorted by genre and based on tracks you’ve previously listened to. Exclamation mark spotify download free music.
A new ‘Concert’ tab that flags up gigs based on your music tastes and location, as well as ones that are ‘popular near you’, is a nice addition for music-lovers too.
**Winner** Draw
Discovery
For those who like to explore new bands, both Spotify and Apple Music encourage the pioneer in you.
When you register for Apple Music, tapping on floating red circles highlighting different genres of music and artists gives an indication of your initial preferences.
Hitting ‘Love’ or ‘Dislike’ on songs updates this and we are certainly impressed by Apple’s curation, and by how on-point the playlists are. On the iOS app, clicking on the 'For You' heart also brings up a list of regularly updated playlists such as Get Up!, Chill, New Music, and Favourites – new, zero-effort playlists specific to your listening.
By attributing a great deal of focus on music discovery through personalised algorithmic playlists, Spotify has managed to take this step too.
One of its most popular features is Discover Weekly, which uses Spotify’s ‘deep learning’ system to generate a playlist of 30 songs every Monday that are relevant to your listening habits.
There’s also more concentration on discovering new music. Complementing Discover Weekly is Release Radar, a two-hour playlist of brand-new music sent out every Friday, so that you never miss the latest tracks from your favourite artists.
It even includes new remixes of songs from artists you like or have recently listened to, and in case you need even more songs to soundtrack your weekend, there’s a New Music Friday UK playlist that ties in with the official UK chart. Rinsed them by Wednesday? That’s where the Daily Mix, which consists of five genre-specific playlists, comes in. The more you listen the more they evolve…
**Winner** Draw
Video and radio
Content isn’t limited only to music. Both Spotify and Apple have branched out into video content.
MORE: Spotify review
They won’t be challenging YouTube just yet, but we’re keen to see how – and if –these develop. Apple Music still boasts a more attractive and comprehensive radio offering, however.
Unlike Spotify’s algorithmic radio, which curates songs around a particular artist, Apple Music can shout much louder about its live 24/7 global ‘youth-orientated’ station, Beats 1. Fronted by DJs such as Zane Lowe and featuring a host of celebrity guest slots (from the likes of Dr Dre, Pharrell Williams and Elton John), Beats 1 is something that no other streaming service has – and ultimately one Spotify has to take on the chin.
**Winner** Apple Music
Sound quality
Spotify app home page blank iphone. The 256kbps AAC files on Apple Music’s iCloud library sound more open and involving than Spotify’s 320kbps MP3 streams, and benefit from extra space, subtlety and punch too.
Spotify App Vs Web Player Quality Microphone
It’s not a million miles ahead, though. If you listen on Spotify's web player or via Chromecast, it streams in AAC at 128kbps for free users, or 256kbps for Premium.
Apple Music streams 256kbps AAC files across the board. Spotify still offers decent detail levels and a tonally balanced presentation that’s refined and easy on the ears – it’s just not quite as engaging at 128kbps, of course.
Ultimately though, we’re still waiting for Spotify and Apple Music to adopt a lossless sound quality option similar to Tidal’s. For both services, this seems the next logical barrier to push.
**Winner** Apple Music
Verdict
Calls don’t get much closer than this. Apple Music sounds slightly better and is probably the pick for those who value Beats 1 radio, like having all their music in one place and can’t live without certain artists and access to their brand new albums.
But Spotify is undoubtedly the choice for those who value discovering and sharing music most, and the clear winner for those not wanting to splash out.
So, while Apple Music is an undeniable threat with the definite potential to leapfrog Spotify in the future, the Swedish service remains the one to beat – for now at least.
**Overall winner** Spotify
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