The annual subscription cycle for streaming services often prompts users to reassess their spending. This year, an amount of $12 was deducted from an account for Spotify Premium, adding to the existing $14 monthly charge for YouTube Premium, which includes access to YouTube Music. The overall annual cost for Spotify reaches $144, raising questions about its value when YouTube Music is essentially available at no extra cost.
The integration of features between YouTube and YouTube Music complicates the user experience. A shared like button across platforms has led to a blend of music and unrelated video content in users' libraries. For instance, liking a video on YouTube can inadvertently populate a music library with irrelevant tracks, disrupting the curation process.
Despite attempts to filter liked videos to maintain a clean music library, users face challenges, as there is no complete solution. To achieve true separation, utilizing different accounts for YouTube and YouTube Music has become a suggested workaround. The distinct database structures of Spotify and YouTube further highlight the challenges, with Spotify maintaining a clear audio-first database compared to YouTube's video-centric approach.