Our grandparents had records. Our parents lived the transition from cassette tapes to CDs to MP3s. But for us, music comes from an app, and for Harrison students, they are probably listening to Spotify.
Everyone has listened to music at some point in their life, and most use a specific app to do so. Not everyone likes the same music, nor does everyone use the same music app to listen to music. But is there an app that is generally the favorite? Is there one that is mostly disliked? The answer depends on many things, like what type of phone you have, and how much you have in your budget to spend on music.
There are many streaming apps, such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, Musi, YouTube Music, Soundcloud, and many more. An article by PCMAG tries to get to the bottom of which one you should use to listen to your favorite songs. In this article, they state that Apple Music is the best for Apple Device integration, costing $10.99 per month with ability to share within families, while Spotify is best for podcasts and costs $10.99 with their premium feature, or can be accessed for free with ads. The third most popular is Amazon Music, which is best for Amazon Device Integration and is free for Amazon Prime members or $10.99 a month otherwise. Lastly is YouTube Music, which is best for former Google Play subscribers, costing $10.99. On the other hand, the worst apps are Live One, SiriusXM, and Tidal.
Not all sites agree that Apple is king, though. The website Business Of Apps states that Spotify is the top streaming music app in the world with over 350 million users and 150 million subscribers. Apple Music comes in second with 93 million users, and Amazon Music has quietly built up its user base through Amazon Prime subscribers with 55 million users. YouTube Music is far ahead in total usage with 2 billion users but behind Spotify and Apple Music in paid subscribers. Pandora is by far one of the oldest streaming platforms still going, and it mainly targets older drivers who use it instead of the radio. Soundcloud is a popular streaming app for undiscovered and independent artists who are trying to put their music out there. Lastly, we have the app Tidal which is used the least only having a thousand users.
This is what articles are saying online, but what are Harrison students’ opinions? We have interviewed students about their favorite and least favorite music apps, and here’s what they had to say.
Sophomore Caylee Wren and she has stated she personally likes to use Spotify because it’s very convenient and she loves the Premium feature. She believes Spotify is amazing because many people can use it for free or pay for additional features. She also said that she listens to music every single hour of the day and that music personally helps her get through her day. She stated that she thinks the worst music app is Apple Music because you have to pay money to download and listen to music. She said, “That half the time the music only plays if you’re connected to Wi-Fi and that Apple Music is “lame.”
Sophomore Lailah Terlau claims to be a five-year Spotify user. She said that Spotify is her absolute favorite. She listens to music religiously on Spotify for hours throughout her day, even if it’s the same song or artists over and over again. She stated that she has the Premium feature and that it’s a lot cheaper with everything that comes in the Premium Bundle than with other apps. She said with Spotify Premium, you can listen whenever and whatever you want without dealing with ads. Lastly, she said, “That the worst music app is SoundCloud because every song is either a remix or cover of the original song.”
Sophomore Victoria Berning said she personally loves Spotify. She said she listens to music for more than 2-3 hours a day, most of which on Spotify. Spotify ranks so high in her opinion because you can listen to any song you want at any time and it’s such an easy app to use. She stated, “The worst music app is Apple Music because it is very expensive, and it takes an hour to download music, which is inconvenient.”
Sophomore Gwen Dryer agrees that Spotify is the best app because it’s superior and such an amazing app. She also said she likes Spotify because she likes the way the app is set up as she uses the premium feature. She said she listens to music 24/7 and that she was listening to music during the interview. She said she feels that Apple Music is the worst app because there is no reason why someone should have to pay to listen and download music when you can do the same thing for free on another app. She said, “Apple Music is a scam, and they only want your money.”
After collecting this information from online sources and students, it’s safe to say that Spotify was the top music app used and a personal favorite. We also found the least used app was Tidal and the personal worst app used is Apple Music.
For more information check out this article! Best Music Streaming Apps 2025
