Stay in-tune with music streaming services

Story by Craig Crawford, viewpoint editor

We turn the radio on when we hop into the car, plug headphones in when we need to work on homework or play a sad song when we need some time for ourselves. Music is constantly filling up the spaces around us: in concert halls, in stores, in cafeterias and in auditoriums.

Music helps us connect to each other, to feel a certain way, to even feel like someone else, but it can be hard to stay in tune and up to date with music because musicians and their art are always changing. Artists have proliferated all across the music industry in recent years to accommodate the needs and tastes of listeners everywhere.

One way to stay updated is to subscribe to a music streaming service like Spotify or Apple Music. These streaming have the largest collection of songs and do a good job curating music for your listening. Spotify’s Daily Mixes tailor to your individual tastes and the Spotify Weekly playlist and Release Radar keep you in the know of music that is trending.

Apple Music takes a different approach to its stylization. Apple Music refreshes playlists every week: a Chill mix, a New Music mix and a Your Favorites Mix.

Listeners are now concerned more with the idolization of the artists, like Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Eminem or DJ Khaled. The music industry sensationalizes their lifestyle- an on-screen, “on air,” version of their personality, owed large in part to the genres of rap, pop and hip-hop.

But streaming services have served well, and recent popularity in streaming via outlets like Apple Music and Spotify has increased the quality in curating and program effects.

Spotify’s recently added Spotify Codes, allow listeners to scan a song from another phone or screenshot, taking out all the guesswork in “What’s the name of that song?”

Yet both services have drawbacks. For instance, a $9.99 subscription charge and limited exclusivity. The Spotify Session, where artists record music under an album produced by Spotify, be it live recording or a recording session, is not available in Apple Music, but Apple Music, being directly related to the iTunes Music Library, has a broader music pool.

To stay in tune and up to date with new releases in music, subscribe to either of the aforementioned services for quality product. This isn’t the only way to join the culture of informed listening but highly recommended.