Spotify VS. Google Music: Spotify, the Facebook-approved music platform, is deemed the leader in music streaming. This, however, doesn’t mean that it’s the only choice available as a number of services are available for you to enjoy different tunes on your desktop, laptop and mobile devices.

Here’s a quick comparison between Spotify and Google Music.

PRICE & ACCESS

Both music streaming services offer unlimited ad-free streaming for subscription. However, in Spotify, you can listen to music online for free. The catch is that there are occasional ads popping up. You can also skip music being played for only a few times. But for a monthly subscription of $9.99, Spotify Premium gives you all the liberty to play music offline. Google Music, on the other hand, requires you to purchase albums or individual tracks in order to listen to them.

Google Music needs to widen its reach if it plans to take the leading music streaming service down. As of the moment, Spotify has the edge when it comes to reach because it has a desktop application available for PC or Mac that lets you connect the music you’re listening to from your mobile or tablet to the computer.

FEATURES

Matt Peckham of TIME says, “I had mixed feelings about Google Play Music when it launched last May [2013] with fewer perks than a service like Spotify. But if you prefer Google’s online app-related modus operandi, Google Play Music lets you upload up to 20,000 songs of your choosing (accessible across all devices).”

That’s right, Google Music’s edge is that it lets you add that much music to your very own online music library. This is definitely a plus because it will let you save storage from your device. Meanwhile, Spotify has its own way of giving you your own library by letting you create your own playlist. But admittedly, it is more limited compared to Google Music.

However, only Spotify is connected with social media networks. It lets you see what your friends are listening. “Spotify is more social, and all my friends use it. I also actually like the FB integration. I can't easily share music with my non-G+ friends using All Access,” says one user in reddit.com.

Peckham adds, “Spotify offers high fidelity streaming and a robust 20-million song catalog across a range of platforms with conventional social networking options, all for a flat take-it-or-leave-it $10 a month.”

From the looks of it, Google Music has the potential to take Spotify head on. However, for now, the contender needs to gear up more on features and songs.