The Apple Music versus Spotify debate among artists usually comes down to one thing: money. But the differences go deeper than per-stream rates, and understanding them can help Australian artists make smarter decisions about how they approach each platform.

Let me break down the real differences based on data, conversations with artists, and my own observations.

The Money

Let’s start with what everyone wants to know.

Spotify pays approximately $0.003-0.005 AUD per stream. The exact rate fluctuates based on the listener’s country, subscription type (free vs premium), and the total royalty pool for that period.

Apple Music pays approximately $0.008-0.012 AUD per stream. There’s no free tier, so every stream comes from a paying subscriber, which pushes the per-stream rate higher.

For an independent Australian artist, Apple Music pays roughly double to triple what Spotify pays per stream. On 100,000 streams, that’s the difference between $400 and $1,000. At larger numbers, the gap becomes significant.

But — and this is the critical caveat — Spotify has roughly twice the market share of Apple Music in Australia. So while each stream on Apple Music is worth more, most Australian listeners are on Spotify.

Discovery

This is where the platforms diverge most meaningfully for artists.

Spotify has the more sophisticated algorithmic discovery engine. Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and the various algorithmic playlists actively push new music to listeners based on their listening habits. For independent artists, Spotify’s algorithm is the most accessible path to reaching new listeners without a marketing budget.

Apple Music relies more heavily on editorial curation. Human editors at Apple Music Australia curate playlists and feature pages, and getting editorial support can drive significant streams. But the process is less transparent and less accessible than Spotify’s algorithmic approach.

In practice, most Australian artists find more new listeners through Spotify’s algorithm than through Apple Music’s editorial curation. But an Apple Music editorial placement, when it happens, can be more impactful because it comes with visible promotion (feature banners, playlist artwork) rather than just algorithmic insertion.

Artist Tools

Spotify for Artists is the more developed analytics platform. Real-time streaming data, demographic breakdowns, listener geography, playlist tracking, and more. The Marquee and Showcase promotional tools (paid features) give artists direct advertising options within the Spotify ecosystem.

Apple Music for Artists provides similar analytics but with less granularity. The platform has improved significantly in recent years, but it still feels one generation behind Spotify in terms of the tools available to artists.

Both platforms offer playlist pitching through distributors. Spotify’s submission process is more transparent and consistently available. Apple Music’s editorial pitching is more opaque and less predictable.

Audio Quality

If your audience cares about sound quality (and some do), Apple Music has the edge.

Apple Music offers lossless audio (up to 24-bit/192kHz) and Spatial Audio (Dolby Atmos) as standard features. For audiophile listeners, this is meaningful.

Spotify has been promising lossless audio for years and still hasn’t delivered it widely. The standard quality is 320kbps Ogg Vorbis, which is good but not lossless.

For artists who invest in high-quality production and mastering, Apple Music’s lossless and spatial audio support means their work is heard as intended.

The Practical Recommendation

Don’t choose one platform over the other. Release on both (and all other platforms) through your distributor. But allocate your promotional energy differently.

Focus your algorithmic strategy on Spotify. The pre-save campaigns, the release-day pushes, the save-rate optimisation — all of this matters more on Spotify because the algorithm rewards it.

Build editorial relationships for Apple Music. If your distributor offers Apple Music editorial pitching, use it for every release. Get to know the Apple Music Australia editors if you can.

Track your revenue split. Use your distributor’s analytics to understand what percentage of your revenue comes from each platform. Some artists find that Apple Music generates 30-40% of their streaming revenue despite having a smaller audience, simply because of the higher per-stream rate.

Consider your audience. If your listeners tend to be younger (under 25), Spotify will likely dominate. If your audience skews slightly older or more affluent, Apple Music’s share may be higher than average.

Both platforms are essential for Australian artists. Neither is perfect. The per-stream rates on both are low by any reasonable standard. But within the streaming landscape as it exists, understanding the differences helps you maximise what you earn from a system that isn’t going to fundamentally change anytime soon.

The real answer to “which is better” is: neither, because both pay fractions of a cent. But while we’re working within this system, we might as well work it as effectively as possible.