Apple Music vs. YouTube Red vs. Pandora One: A Last-Minute Music Streaming Gift Guide For Christmas 2015

For years, music was the most dependable stocking stuffer out there for the people at the bottom of your Christmas list. No matter how much (or how little) you knew about those folks, there was always an album or compilation you knew would do the trick. But with album sales mired in systemic decline, and more and more people investigating their streaming music options, your music holiday shopping strategy must be revised immediately. Luckily, just as we've helped you figure out what to get the cord-cutters in your life, we've compiled this handy cheat sheet for which service to get for whom.

Your Insufferable Music Snob Uncle: YouTube Red

For the guy who chose his vinyl collection over his marriage, and who appears to contract indigestion whenever he hears an FM radio station, a mere 35 million tracks isn’t going to cut it. Your only hope, therefore, is YouTube Red, which will give him ad-free access to YouTube’s endless, thicketed fields of music content that can’t be licensed to a normal streaming service: the weird mashups, the out-of-print private press fusion albums, the bootleg footage, the bootleg audio, and so on. There’s a chance he’ll appreciate the endless play option, too. Maybe. He’s just so irritable, all the time. Cost: $9.99/month

Those Cousins Who Just Had Their Second Kid: Rhapsody Kids

They thought the second one would be a breeze, but they were wrong, and now they are crazed, with no time for anything, and they will happily accept any gift that will help them raise their children, or just make them calm down, for a second, ever. Rhapsody has that. Rhapsody Kids, which was designed specifically with 4- to 8-year-olds in mind, is filled with kid-appropriate playlists, a vastly simplified user interface with bigger buttons and a user experience that prioritizes repetition over exploration. Cost: $9.99/month

That Brand-Conscious Nephew Who Just Moved to the Big City: Tidal

Only one of these services gives you a leg up on live music if you live in a major city, and that service is Tidal. The presale access to exclusive events like Tidal X: 1020 and early access to music will be a feather in the young man’s cap. Also, if you pony up for the service’s HiFi feature, as so many others have, it just plain sounds better, which means those high-end headphones he just bought will be put to good use. Cost: $9.99/month for basic; $19.99/month for HiFi

The Tweens: Apple Music

Tweens need Taylor Swift. Apple Music is the only service that has all of Taylor Swift. Therefore, the tween in your life gets Apple Music. Just be sure to tell her that she should wait for Apple to iron out its technical difficulties before she tries to watch that concert film Swift released Sunday. Cost: $9.99/month

Your Mom: Apple Music

Remember, you’re not doing this because Apple has been going after her aggressively all year with its ads. You’re doing it because it’s the most cost-effective family plan available: a family of six can stream unlimited music on demand for just $14.99 per month, less than half the price of a similar plan on Spotify. To be fair, Google Play Music All Access also offers six accounts for $14.99 per month, and Rhapsody's family plan is close ($14.99 for five accounts). But, again, in the interest of parent-tween harmony, Apple wins out. Cost: $9.99/month for individual plan; $14.99/month for family plan

Your Grandmother: Pandora One

When it comes to digital gizmos, most grandparents need something simple, and Pandora is about as easy as it gets. After just a couple of taps, she can hear a radio station filled with the songs of the day, ad-free. Maybe next year, after she’s gotten the hang of it and turned into a power user, she’ll be ready for the on-demand service Pandora is getting ready to launch by the end of 2016. Cost: $4.99/month