Apple Music, but not for any reason. Just because I use Apple devices and I’ve never given it any thought.
As others have mentioned, I’ve not had an issue with the Apple recommendations, especially when it comes to “stations” - I think it does a good job of recommending similar artists, and I like it (but I’ve not used Spotify so don’t know if they’re better at it, or what better might look like).
Just a reminder, Apple’s Lossless tech doesn’t work over Bluetooth (that’s a Bluetooth limitation not an Apple limitation) so if for example your regular speakers are connected via Bluetooth then Apple’s Lossless isn’t a good reason to move services since you won’t experience it most the time anyway.
I would factor your primary device into your choice. I mostly control music via my iPhone, and the iOS music app is fine for that. Apple Music is… not ideal… on Mac, and if I used that as my primary controller I suspect I’d shop around for a better service. As an example of two baffling things that irritate me:
- Playlists are listed in a different order on Mac compared to iOS. There is no reason for this except that Apple is careless.
- Mac Apple Music sometimes throws a tantrum after e.g. a Zoom meeting and will refuse to produce any audio until you’ve closed and reopened the app. It does it with YouTube as well (e.g. you pause music to play a video, but when you unpause the music afterwards it won’t play). It’s erratic and has been reported elsewhere and is annoying.
I get most my news via the MPU (Mac Power Users) forum. If it’s important/interesting enough, someone will start a thread.