Although everyone on Earth is unique, one thing that unifies people is music. Music plays a huge role in everyone’s lives, sometimes without us even realizing it. It’s a medium through which people can express themselves and connect with others, and the possibilities are sky high. Having the right playlist can really set your mood for the rest of the day. While the perfect playlist is a must, so is having the right streaming platform, which brings up the long disputed argument over which streaming service is the best. 

The four most popular services for streaming music include Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music and SoundCloud. Each service has its own special features and is great for different reasons. In a small poll, RV students were asked which of the four services were their favorite, and Spotify was undeniably the most popular with 74% of the votes. Next, the runner up was Apple Music at 15% with YouTube Music coming in third with 7% and SoundCloud with 2%. To gain some insight on why Spotify was so popular, a few students shared their opinions in an interview. 

Junior Kylie Bute described how a major part of what goes into choosing the perfect music platform for her is convenience and diversity.  “It’s easier and more convenient than all the other ones,” she said. “[With] Spotify you can still listen to music without having to pay for anything… I can find 99.9% of music I want to listen to. I can pretty much always find what I’m looking for.”

Additionally, sophomore Elly D’Agostino mentioned Spotify Wrapped, a feature where, at the end of the year, it will analyze all the music you listened to that year and let you share your results.

 “I think that’s a really really fun feature for Spotify because it’s kinda like a way to just view your year,” D’Agostino  said. “I think it’s a way that a lot of people connect and share with everybody.” She also noted how, “if you are a musician and your music is on there, like showing people your Spotify Wrapped, they’ll think ‘Oh I wanna check that out.’”

Both Spotify users proposed their case for Spotify’s superiority, convenience, diversity and its share-ability. As for the other services, junior Isabella Rodriguez explained why YouTube Music was perfect for her.

“It’s really easy to use,” Rodriguez said. “Everyone uses YouTube, not only that, but if you put something on [YouTube Music] it will be available on regular YouTube and vice versa. I think for new artists, the reach is gigantic.” 

The service’s ability to introduce new music to it users is another attractive aspect of YouTube Music. “There’s this feature if you finish a playlist, it’ll autoplay play songs that are kinda similar and the same genre,” Rodriguez said. “It’ll recommend you songs that are similar to your playlist and then also will curate playlists for you. It does a really good job of recommending stuff. I’ve listened to a lot more stuff because of YouTube Music.”

After hearing several students’ reasons for using the streaming platforms that they do, the answer to what music streaming service is the best can finally be determined, and the answer is: none! Though Spotify dominates in terms of popularity, each platform provides something different and it’s up to listeners to determine which one works best for them and their budget. What is perfect for one person may not work for another which is why it’s important to have so many different platforms to find the right fit for everyone because that’s what really matters.