As a big music fan, it took me some time to comply to the new wave of streaming music. Until summer of 2015, I believed that streaming music only hindered the music industry due to the decrease in pure sales for new albums. In the past, I bought and downloaded music to my computer hard drive, loaded it into my iTunes, and synced it to my phone so I could listen to it without having to worry about data usage or the requirement of an internet connection to listen to music. Streaming services like Tidal and Spotify never caught my attention enough to pay for a subscription, that is, until Apple Music came around.

When comparing streaming services, I have learned that it is almost apples to apples. Each service gives you access to millions of songs. Each service gives you the ability to download these songs for offline play. Each service even has their own radio station. However, there are a few things about Apple Music that convinced me to switch to the world of streaming music.

I still remember the day Apple Music launched. One of the most prominent and advertised features of the streaming service is the exclusive radio station, Beats1 Radio. Conveniently, after a quick iOS update, Apple Music was already loaded to my phone. So, I decided to check it out.

I opened up the app, and immediately began to listen to Zane Lowe talk and play music over Beats1 Radio. Several songs Lowe played within the first hour caught my attention. Beats1 introduced me to many artists that I still listen to today. Although Spotify has its own radio station, it pales in comparison to Beats1. Apple gathered some of the world’s most notorious radio hosts like Ebro Darden and Zane Lowe to run Beats1 radio.

The plethora of radio shows hosted on Beats1 makes unlike any other radio station in the world. One example is OTHERtone radio. Music legend Pharrell Williams hosts, playing countless hours of entertaining music and has even conducted exclusive interviews with artists like DJ Khaled, Tyler the Creator, Justin Timberlake, and more.

Imagine you are a Spotify user anticipating the release of your favorite artist’s album, but upon release you find out that the album will only be releasing to Apple Music. What a bummer that would be.

In February of 2016, Kanye West was preparing for the release of his new album, The Life of Pablo. The world was anticipating this album, but chaos seemed to break out when West announced that the music would only be available through the streaming service Tidal. This seemed to set a trend in music in 2016. We have already seen two major album releases be exclusive to Apple Music since february: Drake’s album Views and Chance the Rapper’s new album Coloring Book. The trend of exclusive releases is sure to grow, but so far Spotify has yet to have any exclusive major album releases on their service.

The final reason that was the convincing factor for me to purchase Apple music is how convenient it is for iPhone users. Before making the switch, I was always proud of my iTunes library. Having thousands of songs all neatly organized with the correct cover art and correct production credits was fun to me. Also, I had always preferred the iOS Music app to listen to my music opposed to downloading a different app like SoundCloud or Spotify. When Apple Music launched, all of my music listening wants were combined into one central location. I could still use the iOS music app, only now I had access to millions of songs instead of the measly 3,000 songs previously in my iTunes library.

When it comes down to it, Spotify does not offer anything that Apple Music can’t match. As a matter of fact, Apple Music offers a little more than Spotify. Although comparing streaming services may be apples to apples, Apple still wins.