After the departure of Spotify and Apple Music, I tried four Russian services and chose the best ones. Yandex Music, VK, SberZvuk or MTS Music?

Spotify everything. When I saw the text of the editor-in-chief of iGuides about his migration from this service, I grinned maliciously. I ignored the Swedes in 2020 – Apple Music suited me in everything, and I just didn’t see the point in rebuilding for another application.

Now Apple Music is hard to come by. The App Store has limited the ability to pay for subscriptions with Russian cards. Then I started looking for an alternative. There are four Russian streaming services, subscriptions to which can be issued directly in the web version, and not through the app store – VK, Yandex Music, SberZvuk, MTS Music. I tested everyone, I’ll tell you.

VK Music

The once legendary platform where we sat throughout the 2010s. The company merged two services — Vkontakte and BOOM — and updated the service by adding new sections to it.
Advantages

• Included in VK Combo. I signed up for this subscription a year ago just to listen to music on Vkontakte without ads. In addition, I use the Scooter, and with this file it is more profitable to order products there. A good combination for me.
• Convenient home page. Very clear layout, cutting off all unnecessary. There are three sections – “Main” with the latest tracks and recommendations, “My Music” with saved tracks and “Overview” – this is something like a news feed with the latest news. Respect for the last ones I listened to, in Apple Music I constantly lost them.
• Camback to the past. VK has preserved the playlist that we have been collecting throughout the entire period of using the social network, and 10 years ago it was the top 1 platform for communication without an alternative. When I opened VK Music again, I immediately began to look through old audio recordings and scroll through the memories associated with them. For example, I remembered the once beloved The Offspring – The Kids Aren’t Alright, which I listened to throughout 2012.

disadvantages

• Too many remixes. It is easier to download an audio recording in VK than anywhere else, and they appear in search results. As a result, when searching for a specific composition, there is a chance to stumble upon dozens of remixes, and they will be even higher than the original. Extra seconds and obstacles when searching for the desired composition.
• Weird playlists. They are also made up of users (even the author is indicated), they are supported in the issue based on your playlist – the more similarities with your saved tracks, the higher the probability of seeing it. Although in fairness, I replenished the playlist thanks to them. For example, now I’m listening to Eminem – Business.

Yandex Music

An objective leader in terms of brand loyalty and functionality. The algorithms are as close as possible to Spotify in terms of accuracy.
Advantages

• Included in Yandex Plus. A popular subscription that includes access to many other services and activates cashback in them. Kinopoisk, Yandex Go, Yandex Food is a small part of it, and I use all of them, so Yandex Music is something like a free present for me.
• Algorithms. I liked playlists based on artificial intelligence. These are “Premier” with new releases based on your preferences, “Deja Vu” with discoveries, “Playlist of the Day” with the most popular tracks, “Stash” with forgotten music from your collection and “My Wave”, which in real time selects music based on your preferences. For such a variety of playlists and the accuracy of the algorithms, my respect!
• Synchronization. I started listening to the track on the PC, continued on the phone – a very convenient opportunity. When I’m not too lazy, I make playlists, and I like that I can continue listening to them from another device without any effort.

disadvantages

• There is no application for PC – Yandex developers offer to use the web version on the desktop.

SberZvuk

Sber took the Zvooq service, updated the interface, rebranded it and integrated it into its own ecosystem. The company is developing its own smart home, this is part of it.
Advantages

• Included in SberPrime. There are also Okko, SberMarket and SberMegaMarket. It costs 199 rubles per month. Quite profitable, at least for a combo of a trimming service and an online cinema.
• Cross-platform. SberZvuk is available in three versions: on a phone, on a PC, and on a TV. And with the release of the Sberbox Time smart speaker, there was also the possibility of pure voice control.
• Sound support without loss of quality. The first Russian service to receive this opportunity. And he does not ask for additional fees for its use.

disadvantages

• Recommendations. There are only three playlists: “Mix of the Day”, “News” and Experiment”. In addition to them, SberZvuk recommends similar artists from below under the list of songs of the author or album.

MTS Music

Until 2019, the operator was developing a streaming service for its own subscribers, and now it is available to anyone. The interface is suspiciously reminiscent of Apple Music.
Advantages

• Convenient interface. In terms of visuals and layout, it resembles Apple Music. Five sections are available on the bottom panel – “Main”, “For You”, “Favorites”, “Radio” and “Search”.

disadvantages

• Algorithms. In addition to the main sections – “Tracks”, “Albums” and “Compilations” – the developers have added “Similar”, this is a selection of stylistically similar authors and compositions. And that is all. There are playlists and collections, but they are compiled by editors, not algorithms.

What is the result?

I stopped at two applications at once – for the Yandex Music phone, and for the VK desktop.

Yandex Music has a user-friendly interface and a minimum of user content. I go to the app for a specific track and don’t want to search for the original next to dozens of remixes. Listening to custom playlists is interesting, but only when there is nothing to do. I am for minimalism and therefore I prefer Yandex.

At the same time, VK is more convenient for me in the desktop version. I always have this social network open – there are still a couple of chats that I periodically look through, I listen to music at work stably. Therefore, the choice of VK is one open tab instead of two. Although I admit that the layout of Yandex Music in the desktop version is more pleasant than that of VK Music.

MTS Music and SberZvuk have room to grow. It seems that the developers created them solely as an alternative to the services we are used to, but not as full-fledged competitors. And in the streaming market, it is high – even without Apple Music and Spotify, the flagships VK Music and Yandex Music are still here.

Spotify came out later than Apple Music, and yet it has become the most popular streaming service, all thanks to its unique approach to the recommender system. MTS Music and SberZvuk must develop their own unique capabilities in order to become full-fledged competitors to VK and Yandex Music.