YouTube Music comes out ahead of Spotify in our latest poll

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YouTube Music
YouTube Music (Image credit: Chris Wedel / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • We asked our readers what their favorite music streaming service is.
  • YouTube Music received 40% of the votes, with Spotify coming in second with 24% of the votes.
  • Many commenters lamented the loss of Google Play Music which YouTube Music replaced.

Following Spotify's recent controversy, we asked our readers which of the best music streaming services they preferred. Out of a staggering 8,300 votes, YouTube Music came out on top with 40% of the votes. That may be too surprising given that this is an Android site after all, but it also helps that the service is included with the YouTube Premium subscription, among other reasons to consider switching from Spotify.

That said, Spotify is still a popular (and excellent) service that many people love. While it was ahead for some time in our poll, it ended up with just 24% of votes, which is still more than double that of the following service, Tidal. In fact, you can check out our Spotify vs. Tidal comparison to see how they stack up against each other.

Favorite Music Streaming Service Poll Responses

Source: Android Central (Image credit: Source: Android Central)

One commenter, Scott Wittig1, explains why he uses YouTube Music after trying out other services:

I mostly ended up using YouTube Music. It works very well with my smart hifi home theater setup. Especially with Android, it just works seamlessly, and has a very large library. I did use Spotify as well. And before that Pandora. For free service years ago pandora was great, but, then they hammered me with political agenda trash. Lately , however, I have been also using Amazon music when I want to listen to much higher quality on hifi. For some reason the built in app works well for quality streaming. But, voice control smart home works best with Google.

Another reader echoes many of the other comments as he talks about the loss of Google Play Music and begrudgingly switching to YouTube Music:

See more

Another commenter, Brett122, seems to disagree and thinks Tidal is worth it for the sound quality alone:

Tidal is the best music streaming service out. Best sound, huge catalogue. I care about sound quality which is rare nowadays as proven by spotify's popularity. If sound quality was important to most, then spotify wouldn't exist. People don't even care about stereo anymore. If you care about music quality in stereo, then Tidal is it. If you just care about the tune(jingle), then any other service will do. Hence the popularity of spotify.

Two-in-one

YouTube Premium

A great deal
If you're already a YouTube Premium subscriber, there's no better time to try out YouTube Music as it already comes with your subscription. And because the services are connected, YouTube Music already has an idea of what music you like.

Derrek Lee
Derrek Lee

Derrek is a long-time Nokia and LG fanboy who loves astronomy, videography, and sci-fi movies. When he's not working, he's most likely working out or smoldering at the camera.
15 Comments
  • For now, I trust Spotify more than Google. IMHO
  • Lol. Who was asked to take this poll? You, Ara, and Jerry?
  • The poll was literally posted in an article over a week ago. Where have you been? You have serious issues.
  • Strongly considering switching from Spotify to YouTube Music. Nothing to do with the press but honestly want to give it a try again since I'm already integrated in Google's ecosystem
  • I believe YouTube Music has a 30 day free trial. You can use them both and see what's lacking from YTM.
    I am satisfied with YouTube Music but for my teenage daughters the live listening if playlists in Spotify is an important feature. I already have them on Android devices where they feel some of the green bubble pain so I'm reluctant to yank Spotify from them right now.
  • I have nothing against Spotify. But YT Music is obviously hooked up to YT and honestly the app is just better than Spotify, imo.
  • Sticking with Spotify. Never had any luck with YT stuff.
  • I really like YTM. I think the fact that I can switch from the song to the video, is worth the money alone.
  • So I guess all those complaints about Google killing Play Music for YouTube Music was greatly exaggerated, and the fanboys actually love it?
  • That's cause the YouTube Music app was awful for the longest time, but has gotten so much better in the last while. Plus the haters just got used to Google Play Music being gone, lol!!
    I was a Spotify subscriber for many years and used Google Play Music for my local content, and was one of the people who really hated the fact that YouTube Music replaced Google Play Music.
    Every so often I'd reinstall YouTube Music to see how it was and eventually ended up liking it and cancelled my Spotify subscription and went with YouTube subscription.
    I still use Spotify a fair bit though and don't get ads on mobile or PC without a subscription anyways.
  • Actually the problems with YTM are endless. 1. battery drain
    2. slow to load , especially if you have a large music collection.
    3.Constantly uninstalling and reinstalling 4. Download section will not load at all .
  • Now this pile of **** wont load.
  • Being grandfathered from the early days of Google Play Music, I am paying $8.99 for YouTube and YT music. So it's a no-brainer for me. I have free Amazon Music with my Prime subscription but not using it.
  • I've never used YouTube Music and have no plans to as Spotify works perfectly fine. I use Chrome, YouTube, Gmail, but I'm looking to move to different apps entirely as I really don't like Google's changes in the recent years.
  • Funny how this "poll" has such a huge gap between YTM and Spotify. Personally I don't know a single friend, family member, or co-worker who uses YTM. They all use Spotify.