I’ve flirted with the idea of switching to YouTube Music more times than I can count. It makes a lot of sense. I already pay for YouTube Premium. A free bundled-in music service? Sign me up for that.
Moreover, since it ties into YouTube, I have access to obscure B-sides, remixes, and live concerts. Stuff that Spotify will simply never have. It’s also tightly integrated with Google’s ecosystem, and its recommendation engine has become really good.
Still, every time I get close to making the switch, I change my mind. Not because YouTube Music is bad, but because of one feature that Spotify has quietly done so much better than anyone else.
It’s not the playlists, nor is it the UI. It’s not even Discover Weekly. It’s a feature buried deep in Spotify’s architecture that I use every single day, often without thinking about it. After you get used to it, there’s no going back.
Yes, I’m talking about Spotify Connect. And it’s why I’ll never leave Spotify.
The feature you didn’t know you needed
Spotify Connect feels like Sonos without the price tag
At first glance, Spotify Connect looks like no big deal. It’s a way to wirelessly play back music. That doesn’t sound like a huge deal till you realize that it is far more powerful than Bluetooth or traditional casting.
The feature works over Wi-Fi and cellular data, letting you control music playback on one device from another with zero disruptions or limitations. That means you can play a song on your smart speaker using your phone as a remote.
You can start a playlist on your laptop and continue it from your TV. You can even control your home speakers while you’re in another room or out for a walk.
As long as you stay within Spotify, it is basically a Sonos-like experience, but on your choice of hardware.
The best part? The playback doesn’t stop when you close the app or disconnect from Wi-Fi. It’s not like casting a YouTube video where, the moment you swipe away or lose your connection, everything comes to a screeching halt.
Spotify Connect keeps your music running independently on the playback device. So you can switch control between devices seamlessly and pick up right where you left off, practically instantly.
That invisible server-side approach enables a seamless cross-device experience that follows you from room to room, device to device, with zero friction.
How it quietly transformed my music listening life
One-tap access made Spotify the center of my audio life
Like most people, I didn’t pay much attention to Spotify Connect when I first started using the service. That was until I started investing in smart speakers.
With one tap, I could control my smart speaker from my phone with barely any setup. Soon, I was playing music on my smart TV, PlayStation, and more. And that’s when it clicked for me.
Instantly, Spotify turned from another music app to my music control system. Not just music, Spotify became the center of all my audio consumption.
For example, I’d start playing a podcast on my phone while making breakfast. From there, the podcast would follow me into the living room and then to my study. All without stopping playback.
If I was using Bluetooth, the playback would probably have been disrupted multiple times by work calls. Not so with Spotify Connect.
No pairing needed, no disconnections, no audio handoff issues. Spotify Connect just works smoothly, seamlessly, wherever I am, on whatever device I am on.
Ever since, using Spotify Connect has become second nature. My phone is essentially a universal music remote.
And with Spotify Jam, my friends can queue up songs on my speakers during a chill hangout session at home.
Every morning, I choose a vibe from my smartphone screen and set a soundtrack for the day.
YouTube Music, in comparison, doesn’t come anywhere close to that level of fluidity. Yes, there’s Chromecast and support for cast-ready devices, but the experience is nowhere close to that offered by Spotify Connect.
It can often be clunky and laggy. Sometimes, playback pauses when switching devices, or your queue gets reset.
Moreover, it doesn’t support anywhere close to the length and breadth of devices that Spotify Connect supports. It feels like streaming from one screen to another, not like a true multi-device system.
And that difference matters, especially when you’ve experienced how effortless Spotify Connect feels in day-to-day use.
Feature set aside, the one aspect of Spotify Connect that doesn’t get talked about enough is its reliability. It just works.
No matter what combination of devices I use, be it from phone to speaker, laptop to TV, phone to gaming console, the connection is extremely fast, stable, and reliable. It reconnects when I open the app again and keeps track of where my music is playing. It even lets me switch output mid-song without missing a beat.
That might sound trivial, but it fundamentally changes how I interact with music. Moreover, it’s built stickiness to the service.
YouTube Music’s lack of reliable wireless streaming connectivity has kept me with Spotify.
Before, I would fumble around with my phone’s Bluetooth connection. I’d fumble around with casting icons, wait for devices to show up and pray that the connection didn’t drop.
Now, I just tap the Spotify Connect button, select the device I want to stream to, and that’s all it takes to get music going around my home.
It doesn’t interrupt calls, nor does it tie up my phone’s audio. Suffice it to say, it’s brilliant.
It’s impossible to go back
Spotify Connect ruined other music apps for me
There are a lot of things I like about YouTube Music. Its integration with music videos is excellent. Its ability to surface rare tracks, bootlegs, and live versions from deep within YouTube is something Spotify can’t match.
And honestly, the value of a bundled YouTube Premium subscription is hard to beat.
But every time I try using it as my main player, I find myself getting frustrated. I miss the ease of handing off playback. I miss being able to control my speakers from my laptop. I miss seeing what song is playing in my house from my phone when I’m out.
And above all, I miss that sense of invisible control and the feeling that my music is always with me, ready to jump from one device to another like it knows where I want it to go next.
Spotify Connect doesn’t get a lot of attention. It’s such an integral part of the experience that it barely makes headlines. But it’s the backbone of how I experience music.
It powers my playlists, podcasts, parties, workouts, and lazy Sundays. It’s the reason I don’t think about my music experience anymore because it just works, exactly how I want it to.
If you listen to music on more than one device, this one feature could be the dealbreaker you didn’t realize you had. For me, it was. And it’s the reason I’m still a Spotify subscriber.
