A recent reader poll has revealed an obvious favorite as the best alternative to Spotify: YouTube Music, which took about half the votes — and beat out every other named service by a smokin’ large margin.
The result highlights a changing landscape in music streaming, where users are taking into consideration catalog depth and discovery features alongside audio quality or brand loyalty as much as pricing bundles.
The poll results at a glance: how services ranked
Participants had the option to select from Bandcamp, Deezer, SoundCloud, Tidal and YouTube Music; there was also an “Other” write-in. YouTube Music went home with the win at about one in two votes — that’s more than half of all non-write-in options combined.
Tidal came in a distant second with some 17 percent support. Deezer came up just over 11 percent, Bandcamp was around 11 percent as well, and SoundCloud came in at approximately 8 percent. Nearly 9 percent of the “Other” category cited Amazon Music and Apple Music as frequent mentions, along with Pandora and Qobuz. A few niche picks also popped up, like Musicolet for offline listening and iBroadcast for your own music-library-in-the-cloud.
Why YouTube Music landed on top among alternatives
Bundling and breadth matter. Many of those users, we suspect, come by way of YouTube Premium, where background play and ad-free video make YouTube Music feel like a low-inertia add-on. The service also mixes in official tracks with live performances, remixes and user-uploaded cuts that you won’t find elsewhere.
Discovery is another pillar. If you’re watching a video on YouTube, its recommendation engine has a habit of surfacing playlists that share the same cultural or geographic context, and versions of songs that surprise you with even greater appeal — useful when your genres have been remixed to shreds and global catalog sprawl has set in. That versatility is a differentiator for listeners who toggle between videos and audio or seek fast lyric versions and live edits.
The broader market, of course, leans more streaming overall. Streaming has also contributed to an ever-bigger share of recorded music revenue; as the IFPI’s Global Music Report has reported, it now makes up around 2/3 of such earnings worldwide, and services that take in multiple types of media (music, video, podcasts) are especially well-suited to draw non-techies.
How the runners-up compete in the streaming market
Tidal’s second-place finish is indicative of a dedicated fan base who appreciate higher-resolution audio and artist-centric features. [The company has also shifted toward premium tiers that offer less lossy and higher-fidelity audio quality, and experimented with fan-centric payouts appealing to listeners who want audiophile-grade sound and a feel that their dollars are flowing more directly into the creators’ pockets.]
Deezer’s best features are editorial curation and Flow, a personalized stream that many long-time users swear by. It has also championed efforts that would lead to more equitable compensation for professional artists — a position that appeals to listeners who value catalog integrity and thoughtful curation.
One notable presence in the results, Bandcamp, isn’t a traditional streamer. It’s an artist-first marketplace where fans can purchase downloads and support creators directly. And its presence here hints that there is a subset of people who believe that music we bring into our lives deserves ownership and direct patronage, not just passive streaming.
SoundCloud, meanwhile, is still a proving ground for emerging artists and niche scenes. With fan-fueled royalties and an ocean of independent uploads, it’s essential for discovery — even if its mainstream-based catalog and interface aren’t geared to take over for a full-service, all-in-one streaming app serving everyone.
What the write-ins tell us about music preferences
Apple Music and Amazon Music received multiple write-in mentions, demonstrating the lure of ecosystem advantages. Apple’s close device integration, Dolby Atmos mixes and lossless library are aimed squarely at iPhone/HomePod households. Amazon’s service frequently gets included as part of overall Prime value, too, which also makes it the default choice for smart speaker owners in Alexa-powered homes.
Qobuz continues to be one of the most beloved bundles of high-res FLAC and copious liner notes for audiophiles. Pandora is also still successful with people who want lean-back radio stations instead of on-demand choice. That Musicolet and iBroadcast come up reveals a lingering appetite for local files and personal cloud libraries — a vestige of the music locker that some power users still long for.
The takeaway for Spotify skeptics and curious switchers
The headline finding of the survey is easy to explain: If you are going somewhere other than Spotify, that place you are going most likely is YouTube Music. But the distribution also reflects that the market is not one-size-fits-all. Audiophiles, crate-diggers, walled-garden loyalists and artist-firsters each have a loving home.
Consumers, the pragmatic calculus is to align priorities with features:
- Video integration and discovery (YouTube Music)
- High-res fidelity and artist-first models (Tidal, Qobuz)
- Human curation and personalization (Deezer)
- Marketplace support and ownership (Bandcamp)
- Creator-first discovery (SoundCloud)
In a streaming economy where time spent listening, according to industry trackers like IFPI and Luminate, keeps getting longer and longer, the “best Spotify alternative” is ever more about fit — not just familiarity.