As a platform hosting other apps on PCs, a digital jukebox on tablets, or a high-powered personal music library on mobile phones, Spotify delivers not only great tunes, but also an excellent user experience.

Yet the big draw for many Spotify users is how refined the service has become since launching in 2008. Still, it’s those free users that stick in Apple’s craw, because they still get access to many of Spotify’s 30 million songs, only with ads interrupting the playback, among other restrictions. The reigning champion of the digital music world feature-wise, Spotify has more than 60 million active users in at least 58 countries, but only 15 million people pony up the $9.99 per month for the ad-free Premium service. One thing families will love is its group rate: $14.99 will cover six users in a household. So, like the entire offering, the jury is still out on this one until later this month for iOS and - get this - Android. Apple did something like this before with its Ping social music service, but it didn’t move the needle with fans or artists. The company also boasts a new social feature that allows artists to share notes, photos, and other media with fans, directly in the app. For that, Apple Music includes Beats 1, a worldwide streaming radio station with expertly selected tracks introducing people to great new artists. Still, nothing is better than the human touch. Also, the Apple Music on-boarding process (which was a big part of Beats Music) is intuitive, quizzing users on their favorite genres and bands to get a feel for how to best customize its recommendations. By unleashing Siri’s smarts on its library, Apple Music lets subscribers say things like, “Play the top songs from 1982,” and immediately get an earful of totally ‘80s tunes. So the iPhone-maker bundled in some new features, as only it can. But the company knows a massive library isn’t enough if it wants to overtake competitors like Spotify.

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