Streams and roundabouts: Apple Music just fixed one long-running issue, while Spotify added a different one

Date:
Mon, 21 Sep 2026 10:03:46 +0000

Description:
Apple Music has changed how songs appear or disappear in playlists, while Spotify has barred free-tier listeners from streaming new music for a set amount of time

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Apple changes playlists to give you more control over your library Spotify bans free listeners from hearing new music, for three days One's good, one's bad. Guess which! A few years
ago, a word was coined to refer to companies' attempts to make their products worse to increase profit margins it's a profanity so I can't use it here,
but some call it platform delay and two fresh pieces of music streaming service news reinforce, and subvert, it.

Spotify and Apple Music are both making some moves, it seems. One is making a slight improvement, and the other is doing something that, depending on where you live, is plain annoying. You've read the headline, and even if you
hadn't, you probably know it'd be Spotify making the contentious decision. Let's start there, then. Listeners on Spotify's free, ad-supported tier have posted to Reddit with a new problem: they can't listen to new music. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

Not all new music, mind you: a pop-up appears when you try to listen to a new release saying that only Premium listeners can hear a track in its first
three days of upload. Apparently, this is only being tested in certain
regions right now (Bangladesh and India are mentioned), but it's possible it may roll out to other places in the future. TechRadar has reached out to Spotify for word on this and we'll update this missive with any response from the company on whether a more global rollout is planned.

Redditors commenting on the news Premium and free subscribers alike were critical, though none seemed very surprised. It further emphasises Spotify's desire to push its free subscribers to start paying, if they want to listen
to new music. You may like My favorite music streaming site just got a big update that makes me even happier I quit Spotify Apple is putting up prices
on Apple Music and Apple One plans Spotify lacks album folders, so I've started using third-party apps Apple Music making changes too At the other
end of the spectrum is Apple Music. iOS27 has an added an option which would be nondescript most days of the week, but which helps as a useful juxtaposition to Spotify's downgrade (and which, Redditors claim, fixes "one of Apple Music's biggest issues since forever").

Now, in the Settings menu, two new sliders exist, and are turned off by default. One is for playlist songs, and the other is for favorite songs, and toggling these means that you can add tunes to a playlist or your favorite songs, without it being added to your library. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

The Apple Music library could sometimes feel like a dumping ground for just about every kind of music you'd heard or listened to even once. It's full of your owned songs, tunes from playlists you listen to, anything from a Smart Playlist, and so on.

This could be a problem if, say, you make a playlist for a Christmas party, because all these festive tracks would show up in your library when you were doing a general shuffle. Inappropriate, for July. If you deleted the tracks from your library, the playlist would become eerily empty next time December rolled around, because they'd be deleted from both spots.

Now, your library and playlists can function independently. If I'm being honest, I'm surprised this wasn't a feature before. It's not a huge change, but on Reddit, various commenters are describing use cases in which they'll appreciate it, so it's clearly gone down well.

And Apple could have simply added the ability to change the Apple Music logo color; if it was an improvement, it'd have gone down well. Yes, you always
pay for Apple Music while Spotify does at least offer something for free. But don't forget, Apple casually upgraded all of its Music catalog to CD quality in 2021 without charging users more than they were already paying. So Apple Music fans might say that Spotify is continuing to show music streaming subscribers how not to do it, and its near rivals will benefit. The best wireless earbuds for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/streams-and-roundabouts-apple-music-just-fixed -one-long-running-issue-while-spotify-added-a-different-one


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