We all use music apps daily to listen to music. Some apps use more data than others. Spotify and YouTube music are two of the most popular apps for listening to music.
Although both use data, there is a difference in how each consumes data. In this article, we explain those reasons in simple words so you can start saving data today.
Bitrate and Quality Settings
Bitrate means how many bits the app sends every second. Higher bitrate gives better sound but uses more data.
Spotify lets you choose low, normal, high, or very high quality. On mobile, choosing a lower setting saves a lot of data.
YouTube Music also has quality settings, but sometimes it uses higher bitrates by default, which burns more data.
If you listen on your macbook, you can download Spotify for Mac here and set the quality to low or normal to save even more.
Codec and Encoding Efficiency
A codec compresses audio. Some codecs make files smaller while still sounding good.
Different apps use different codecs and encoder settings. Because of this, one app might send fewer bytes than another even for the exact same song.
You can enjoy decent sound with less data with efficient encoding.
Video Overhead and App Design
YouTube Music comes from a video platform. Even when you only want audio, the app may load thumbnails, tiny video frames, or extra metadata.
This video overhead increases total data use. Spotify avoids this because it streams audio only.
If you use YouTube Music, turning on audio-only mode reduces this extra load. Some users switch to other apps like Discord for casual listening or quick audio sharing.
Adaptive Streaming and Buffering Behavior
Both Spotify and YouTube Music use adaptive streaming. This means the app changes audio quality depending on your network speed.
When the connection gets better, the app may raise quality and use more data.YouTube’s system sometimes jumps to higher quality fast, which increases short-term data use.
Spotify’s mobile mode usually tries to save bandwidth unless you choose very high quality. How often the app buffers or preloads music also affects your total data use.
Offline Downloads and Listening Habits
Downloading music on Wi-Fi is the best way to avoid mobile data. Both apps let you download playlists and albums.
Once downloaded, you can listen offline and spend zero mobile data. Your listening style also matters. Long sessions use less overhead.
Short sessions with lots of skipping cause the app to load more chunks and send extra requests.
Also Read: 10 Free Audio Book Apps to switch on your bookworm mode
