Why I Moved from Spotify to Apple Music

[kingcrown0107]

I am Japanese and used a translation, so it may seem strange.

After canceling Spotify Premium and spending some time without it, I decided to switch to another platform. I didn’t find many first-hand accounts like this, so I’m sharing mine in case it helps. To be clear, I want Spotify to improve.

1) Low payout to creators

Multiple reports indicate that Spotify’s share to creators is comparatively low among major music streaming services. The gap with Apple Music was disheartening. As a fan who cares about supporting artists, that gap weakens my incentive to keep using Spotify.

2) No royalties for tracks under 1,000 annual plays

This looks related to #1 but is a different issue. Because Spotify withholds royalties for tracks that get fewer than 1,000 plays per year, some distributors have begun removing those tracks. That undermines the ecosystem where lesser-known independent creators can grow. Artists I support have been affected. I understand the intent to curb artificial plays (bots, white noise, etc.), but I still wonder whether AI-assisted checks at upload/review time could stop abuse without penalizing legitimate small artists. Fighting fraud and failing to pay minors fairly are separate problems, and I can’t accept conflating them.

3) Misfired advertising

After I canceled Premium, the ads pushing me to re-subscribe felt off. One example claims you can’t play music in a place with no signal, as if streaming were the only way music exists. But music fundamentally has a primary source—like live instruments. Framing music as equivalent to streaming feels context-blind and, frankly, presumptuous.

For these reasons I left Spotify Premium and moved to Apple Music. The primary driver was the creator payout issue. Even if it’s hard to fix right away, that’s not a reason to delay switching. I sincerely hope Spotify improves.