As August approaches, new and continuing college students may be thinking about how they can take advantage of student discounts on music streaming services. The two big players here are Spotify and Apple Music, and while student levels for both are close in price, there are other things to consider before jumping blindly on a lower-cost option.
The first thing we recommend is to check out our guide to The best music streaming services To get a sense of what each service offers, along with its plus and minus points. Both services also add additional subscriptions and other things to sweeten the deal for newly signed-in students, and we’ll cover those points in detail below.
Spotify Student Premium
Many students might already be using Spotify for the simple reason that it’s free – with ads, of course. But upgrading to the paid student level of the service is something to consider, mainly to get rid of those ads, but also to get the streaming add-ons that Spotify offers as part of the deal.
For $4.99 per month, Spotify Premium Student will give you access to the service’s huge music catalog, personalized playlists, and extensive podcast selection, all without ads. You’ll also get a free subscription to both ad-supported Showtime and Hulu. Showtime is normally $10.99 per month and ad-supported Hulu is $6.99 per month, so those are nice bonuses.
What are the downsides of Spotify? exist Many issues, but the most important one involves audio quality: while other services like Apple Music offer lossless CD quality and high-res audio streams, Spotify continues to use lossy compression for streaming. This though after being announced You will switch to CD quality without losing quality since February 2021.
Another thing that Spotify lacks is that Apple Music and other services add it for free spatial sound. This feature can improve listening on headphones by providing an extended sense of immersion in music, and it works not only with Apple’s AirPods family but with regular headphones and earbuds as well.
Apple Music Student
The Apple Music Student plan doesn’t enter this comparison on the strongest basis since the company recently raised its rate From $4.99 to $5.99 per month in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. However, there are other factors to consider that tip the scales in favor of Apple Music.
As mentioned above, Apple Music offers lossless CD quality and Hi-Res audio, along with spatial audio tracks in its extensive library. This gives it a strong sound quality advantage over Spotify with its compressed music offerings.
New Apple Music Student Plan subscribers also get a free Apple TV+ subscription. I wasn’t going to ask for a lot of bonuses when Apple TV+ first launched, but the service has recently added several excellent shows to its slate, including Severance, Pachinko, and Slow Horses, and there are plenty of great documentaries to look through, too.
For a limited time, Apple Music, too Introducing new student subscribers (Opens in a new tab) In the United States and the United Kingdom a group of Flex beats $70 wireless headphones. Apple Music plus TV plus Beats phones for $5.99 a month — kinda sounds like a slam dunk, right?
Other plans to broadcast music to students
Spotify and Apple Music aren’t the only players in this student streaming game. Amazon Music Unlimited has a student plan for the same $4.99 per month cost as Spotify, a plan that provides full access to its vast library of high-res and high-resolution audio tracks along with Spatial Audio.
This particular deal only gets better if you’re an Amazon Prime Student member, as the price drops to just $1 per month. Amazon Prime Student is free for the first 6 months and $7.49 per month after that. But it does give you unlimited access to Amazon Prime Video, as well as free two-day shipping for the things most people subscribe to Amazon Prime in the first place.
Are there other student deals streaming in? Tidal Hi-Fi is only $4.99 per month for students. And while Tidal doesn’t offer anything extra, this audiophile-approved service offers both lossless and high-res tracks along with mixed music in Dolby Atmos and Sony. 360 Reality Audio.
What’s the deal?
Which service offers the best value? A combination of pricing and add-ons, Spotify and Apple music are both great options, though Apple Music’s audio quality feature is well worth paying the extra $1 per month, and this deal sounds even better if you want a free pair of Beats. Amazon’s student plan also looks good, but it would make more sense if you went all in as an Amazon Prime Student member.
No matter what plan you’re on, going back to school with an ad-free music streaming plan is back in style.