The Best Bang For Your Buck

TELEVISION

A bag of Skinny Pop, my couch, and “Grey’s Anatomy:” my perfect – and typical – weekend. But like most teenagers, Netflix has always been my go-to streaming service. But recently, I’ve felt like I’ve cycled through every decent series on Netflix, and I was hoping another service could provide me with something new. Hulu and Amazon are right on Netflix’s heels with content, new releases and more. I was in desperate need of a new show to watch on my lazy Sunday nights.

NETFLIX: Netflix is like an old friend to me –– I’m certain I’ve spent enough time on the service to last a lifetime. Because Netflix has been my go-to service for years I know how to work it well. Netflix separates their movies and TV shows into categories, like “Popular On Netflix” and “Trending Now.” As long as you know what category your show or movie falls under, you can find it quickly. The minimalist setup makes navigating the system easy.

But Netflix has one major flaw: the range of movies. Netflix offers hundreds of shows, but I’ve never stumbled upon a movie that intrigued me. I’ve never found myself wanting to watch “The Emoji Movie.”

A subscription to Netflix costs a reasonable $7.99 a month but the options for what to watch are dwindling: they have gotten rid of 50 shows and movies this month alone. But I’ll never be able to give up my favorite platform to watch “Friends.”

HULU: I initially subscribed to Hulu because they updated their shows more often than Netflix did, and I wanted to keep up to date on Grey’s Anatomy. Not having to wait months to watch the newest season of your favorite show is a relief from the anticipation of waiting to see what Miranda Bailey will do next.

Like Netflix, Hulu has categories to help you find a show or movie to watch, but they also have a category titled “Exclusively on Hulu.” The category includes shows that Netflix doesn’t offer.

The subscription cost is $7.99 a month, the same as Netflix, but out of all the services that I have, I use Hulu the least. Because I use Netflix so much, every show that I watch is on there, so if I was going to unsubscribe from any of these services, it would be Hulu.

AMAZON VIDEO: Whenever I’m in the mood to spend the day on my couch in a sea of blankets, I turn to Amazon Video’s wide selection of movies. Amazon Video is like a gold mine for movies –– I’ve never had a problem finding what I was looking for, and as far as I’m concerned, Amazon Video has everything.

When I use Amazon Video, I usually go right to the search bar, because I know exactly what movie I want to watch. Amazon Video is the perfect back up service if Netflix or Hulu doesn’t have what I’m looking for.

The reason I don’t use Amazon Video to watch shows is the same reason as Hulu: all the shows that watch religiously are on Netflix.

The subscription price is $8.99 per month, so it is more expensive than the other services. But if you are like me and want a reliable service for movies, Amazon Video is the one to use.

MUSIC

MUSIC INTRO: I’ve turned to Spotify for everything from early morning One Direction jam sessions on the way to school, to my late night playlist making, searching or the newest songs. But I decided to take a look at other music apps that I haven’t given more than a second glance in order to find an app that would make it easier to find the newest releases and a better way to keep track of my favorite artists.

SPOTIFY: Spotify is home base for me for a simple reason: it’s very easy to use.

Spotify offers hundreds of pre-made playlists for any mood that you’re in, whether it’s a roll-the-windows-down or a pull-the-covers-over-your-head kind of day. Finding a relatable tune has never been easier.

With easy access to your music right when you open the app, it’s simple to get to your current favorites. I rely on Spotify to prepare me for parties, as they constantly update playlists based on trending songs. Spotify updates the Discover Weekly playlist every Monday, and a New Music Friday playlist every Friday. The playlists are based off of music the user listens to, so the songs are similar to what users already listen to.

The Discover Weekly playlist is the only reason I look forward to Mondays, and my Friday nights are always spent checking out the New Music Friday playlist. These two playlists make it easy to find the newest hits.

I love to try new things, but Spotify is something that I don’t want to change anytime soon.

iTUNES: The preinstalled Apple Music app reminded me of my Pink iPod Nano phase from fourth grade, and I really didn’t want to remember that. So I stayed far away from it. I finally decided to give the app a second chance and I’ve fallen in love with what I’ve found.

Similar to Spotify, playlists and songs are right on the home page. iTunes trailors playlists for you based on music that you listen to, and lets you follow artists to keep up to date on their newest releases. The playlists they made for me were accurate, with a combination of old favorites and potential new ones

Apple Music offers a significantly smaller amount of playlists in their moods and activities section than Spotify, which is one thing I don’t like. There are definitely not enough playlists on Apple Music to represent the amount of moods that someone has. Seriously, who only has nine moods?

TIDAL: When Tidal music came out in 2015, I wasn’t interested in buying yet another music app. However, I finally dropped the $15 to see what all the hype was about – and it was worth it.

The app’s music feature was my favorite. The app allows users to watch music videos of artists they are interested in and recommended ones. I reminisced on my childhood days when I had an obsession with Taylor Swift music videos.

Unlike Spotify and Apple Music, Tidal has their own talk shows on the app. The shows feature different artists and bands talking about their music. This unique feature allowed me to listen to the lead singer of Screaming Females talk about her band while getting a new tattoo.  

Tidal also keeps you up to date with artists by displaying their tweets on their page. This was something that made me think of saying goodbye to Spotify.