Soundcloud and Apple Music are two big music industries or streaming services worldwide.
However, since they are both streaming services, they do not have the same quality and features.
Key Takeaways
- SoundCloud is a music streaming platform that allows users to upload and share their music, while Apple Music is a subscription-based music streaming service with a large library of songs.
- SoundCloud has a social aspect, allowing users to comment on and share tracks, while Apple Music has curated playlists and personalized recommendations.
- SoundCloud is free to use with ads, while Apple Music requires a monthly subscription fee.
Soundcloud vs Apple Music
Soundcloud is a music streaming network focusing on user-generated material and independent artists. Apple Music is a subscription-based service that offers a diverse selection of music from major record labels, original content and exclusive releases.
Soundcloud offers its customers some standout features which Apple Music doesn’t. Apple Music can give benefits like you can ask Siri to play your favourite songs by any artist. While on the other hand, Soundcloud offers artists to upload their music and show their creativity. Please note that Soundcloud does not own any of your music.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Soundcloud | Apple Music |
|---|---|---|
| Music Library Size | Soundcloud has over 125 million songs on its platform. | It has only 50 million songs in its library. |
| Algorithms (Intelligence) | It offers the listeners a personalized music feed on their own. | It recommends playlists based on your past listening. |
| Sharing Ability | Soundcloud does not offer any family plan. | A family-sharing option is available and lets you add up to five other family members. |
| Sound Quality | It offers High- Quality streaming encoded in 256kbps AAC. | Apple also streams music at 256 kbps. |
| Data Usage | It keeps the data usage low and streams all music at just a single audio quality (128kbps). | Apple Music would use up to 120 MB, which means avoid using mobile data. |
| Radio Availability | Yes | Yes |
What is Soundcloud?
Soundcloud is a German-based music industry company. It is an online audio distribution platform and also a music-sharing website.
Soundcloud allows its users to perform free uploading and promoting of music as long as they own all rights.
Bandcamp is a similar app that lets users upload music, but unlike Bandcamp, Soundcloud will not give you the option to sell music.
The free uploading of music is up to 3 hours, and then users have to purchase a Soundcloud Pro account.
The Pro plan in Soundcloud allows users to upload six hours of audio with some features added.
However, if you have that creativity, you can go for the top-level plan. (Soundcloud Pro Unlimited).
The users can benefit from Soundcloud Go+ and DJ mixing tools in this plan. Podcasting is also available for podcasters; the maximum file limit should not exceed 4GB.
Artists and Podcasters can upload AAC, AIFF, ALAC, AMR, FLAC, MP2, MP3, OGG, and WAV audio files.
What is Apple Music?
On the other hand, Apple Music is a musical and video streaming service owned and developed by Apple Inc. Apple Music operates in such a way that its users can select their music on demand.
Apple Music also has subscription plans where users willing to pay can benefit from Apple Music’s extensive 60 million-song library.
Apple Music offers a 3-month free trial, but soon after the free trial ends, the users cannot listen anymore. Apple Music also lacks Hi-Res Audio which is also a major disadvantage.
Apple Music does offer some plans for teenagers too. College-going students can opt for various plans offered by Apple Music.
Users looking for ad-free music must opt for the family membership.
Here, you can watch ad-free videos and go for offline listening too. Apple Music ropes in most large icons that invite you to explore the service.
One can listen to comedy tracks with over 50 million playlists in the library.
A few notable comedians on Apple Music are Katt Williams, Amy Schumer, Kevin Hart, and others.
Apple Music also offers lyrics while a song is being played, and users can sing along with it, even if they do not know the words.
The audio quality provided by Apple is fine, but one can’t play for too long on their cellphones using cellular data.
Apple consumes large amounts of cellular data, a major disadvantage for Apple Music subscribers.
Main Difference Between Soundcloud and Apple Music
- Soundcloud is mainly for music lovers who want to go for music in their careers. Apple Music only lets you listen to music and has no feature for performing independently.
- Soundcloud is the most recommended streaming service and stands 2nd in the best streaming service, while Apple Music stands 11th.
- Soundcloud comes with a whopping 150 million playlists, but Apple Music tends to only stick at 60 million, thus giving users limited playlists in their library.
- Apple Music provides the benefit of listening to the hottest artists and their new releases; on the other hand, Soundcloud offers independent artists.
- Apple Music is the most popular source for hot trending music and is considered the best music application by most users, whereas Soundcloud lacks here a bit.
Last Updated : 11 June, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
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