9 best free Spotify alternatives. But in desktop and mobile music apps too) and comes up with suggestions for similar music it thinks you'll like. Frustratingly many of the available tracks.
Did you know there are also at least another 10 best apps like Spotify?
While it may seem like Spotify has it all, the app’s features are limited if you do not pay for a subscription. We have compiled a list of apps that offer other features and benefits, which might best suit your music tastes.
Thankfully, there are lots of great music apps available out there, to ensure you get the best possible experience. Read on for 10 best apps like Spotify that are helping millions of people each day to have access to their favorite the music.
1. Pandora
The popular website Pandora transitioned to an app for both Android and iOS products some time ago. The option of creating your own custom radio station has always been a central feature of Pandora but now you can also use this app on the go.
Spotify only allows users to have 20 custom stations while Pandora let’s you create up to 100, which gives you plenty of space to showcase your diverse musical taste.
Pandora definitely has the tools and interface to compete with Spotify. The only real downsides to using the free version of the Pandora app is that you can not listen in full as many popular on-demand tracks as you wish. Also, the app limits the amount of songs you can skip.
That said, the subscription fee for a premium user account is only $5, which is half the price of Spotify’s paid plan ($10). Currently Pandora is only available in Australia, New Zealand and the United States due to licensing and copyright concerns. If you’re based in any of these areas, this is definitely one of the best and most affordable apps around.
Pandora has also just launched a rebranded new version of its app with iMessage chat allowing you to message your contacts with the standard message features.
2. Deezer
Deezer, the French music service is another app similar to Spotify that let’s you listen to music on demand from their extensive library, including both the ability of a playlist creation and a cool playlist-rating feature.
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https://fkgwsf.weebly.com/blog/spotify-per-computer-download. Listen to radio stations and get access to “hear this”, a create your own tool that shows you new music based on your tastes and to “flow”, another great feature of the app. If you choose the paid subscription of Deezer you’ll be able to listen to your music offline from your mobile without any interruptions from ads or previews.
For more offline listening options, check out these 4 music apps that don’t need Wi-Fi.
3. Google Play Music
Google Play Music is another music streaming option, where it’s free to store music you already have – up to 50,000 songs. You can use it anytime as long as you have an Internet connection. For full access to the rest of the music streaming features you’ll need to sign up for a $10 a month plan. On the bright side, you are allowed to purchase and download music onto your computer from Google Play Music, something that you can’t do on Spotify.
The main selling points are that you’re able to download and purchase music directly from Google Play Music, thanks to licensing and copyright coverage from the main Google Play store. This is an option many Spotify users wish they were offered too!
4. Tidal
New kid on the block Tidal owned by rapper Jay Z is also shaping to be an app in the same league as Spotify. One of the biggest reasons for it’s creation is to offer a music streaming option that favors artists, as more money are given directly to them, instead of going through more standard record label channels.
With a library of over 25 million songs and boasting more than 75,000 music videos in high-definition and exclusive video content not available anywhere else; Tidal is making quite the impression.
To be able to stay true to it’s word and provide a premium quality streaming facility, Tidal only caters to paid app users with multiple subscription options available ranging from $10-20 a month. While a little more expensive, you can sign-up for a free trial to see if it’s worth to you paying a little extra.
If you don’t want to pay to stream music, here are 5 best free apps to download music instead.
5. iHeartRadio
IHeartRadio offers more than just music streaming features; it’s also a live radio app. The live radio feature is a nice addition to the standard features. Of course you can’t skip show segments or songs when it’s live!
This app is very similar to Pandora as it gives users the ability to create their own radio stations. In terms of listening to the music on the live stations, all songs are played in full and you don’t have to pay extra to get access to the full music library.
Being able to stream radio and music from your phone makes it a popular choice for on-the-go users, with the ability to view all different types of radio and musical artists by genre.
6. Slacker
The proper name for this app is Slacker Radio. It doesn’t offer real radio stations but it has the feel of a real radio station as you can assemble huge playlists and even write comments in between songs.
Once choosing the paid subscription in Slacker you are able to use its music on-demand and listen to all of your favorite songs. While it might not be quite as big as Spotify is, it has a pretty big music library and it is definitely one of the best curated apps at the lower end of the price range, currently standing at $3.99 a month. This is for a Radio Plus plan, which gives you the power to listen offline, ad-free, and with unlimited skips music – something that other music apps haven’t managed to implement yet. The premium $9.99/month deal gives you full access to the radio station creation tools and all the other features.
7. SoundCloud
I’m going to be a little biased and announce that this is my favorite app for streaming music. When Soundcloud got a meaty iOS upgrade back in 2014, more people started to take note of this music-streaming app.
SoundCloud has flourished as a streaming app because it is heavily connected to social media. This means that it is easy to share any listenable track at a click. Free downloads are sometimes available through file sharing or you can directly download music from online stores.
You’ve got the ability to follow other users at Soundcloud- you can find and post new content by hitting the home button up top to get a musical based feed, showing what has been posted and reposted by those you follow. Just click ‘like’ to add songs to your ‘like collection’ and ‘repost’ to get songs on your personal Soundcloud stream page.
Create almost unlimited playlists (it’s advised to keep lists under 250 songs to help the app function better). By being a SoundCloud Go user, for $9.99/month, they make sure that you won’t have to see any paid ads, although these are infrequent compared to other music streaming apps when choosing the app’s free plan. It also gives you access to a lot of popular music charts that are only playable as a preview when you’re a free-user due to copyright and media laws.
8. Songza
Songza is an App that shows you playlists centered on your listening habits. There is also a time of the day it will ask you what you feel like listening to and thus be giving you playlists to match your mood, opposed to just letting you search for individual artists or songs.
The app is totally free with a clean, bright interface that makes it easy to swipe through playlists. There’s no advertisements on the app and if you like a playlist you can save it or go back to see what you’ve been into most recently.
The Songza app moved over to Google Play in January after being bought by Google – read on to find out all the features now available since it’s transition. Things are certainly looking up for Songza even though it isn’t as traditional as other music streaming apps – it offers you something that is unique and if you really want to do the searching yourself you can, by why bother when Songza knows what you like?
9. YouMusic
Specific to Windows Phone, this app is integrated into the standard Windows phone music player and allows to stream YouTube videos. That’s right you can finally get YouTube music videos without restrictions if you have Windows 8/8.1 phone!
So while YouMusic doesn’t offer you all the features of the other music streaming apps, you can still access most music from there and add it to the YouTube playlist function. The app also keeps running outside of the app so feel free to get on the move. Download it from the store.
10. SoundHound
SoundHound has an audio detection, which allows you to find what song is playing, helps you track songs you’ve already heard or even ones you haven’t heard yet, as it knows what you’re into.
Easily stream or download music from a comprehensive library and import music from your phone if you want to add it to a playlist. A simpler interface, but still great to use and you can pick it up for free from the Windows or Google Store. For more awesome free music streaming apps click here.
The Android world is brimming with music streaming services. While a handful of them provides free music, a few others have paid plans and the rest have a combination of paid+free services. So it’s a tad difficult to choose the right music service which will suit both the ears and the pocket.
Google Play Music (formerly known as Google Play Music All Access) and Spotify Music are among the top contenders for the best Android music app, so it seems only fair that we pit both the apps against each other and see which app's subscription service is worth the penny.
Also See: How to Set Up Your Apple Music Profile and Share Playlists in iOS 11
Audio Quality
Both, Spotify and Google Play Music boasts of libraries having songs over 30 million. To be more precise, Google Play Music has 35 million songs while Spotify has just over 30 million songs.
That’s pretty huge, so it’s a tad tough or rather infeasible to find the difference in the quality of each song. However, if we talk numbers, both Spotify and Google Music stream at maximum 320 kb/s.
https://fkgwsf.weebly.com/blog/my-spotify-says-spotify-free. If we talk numbers, both the music apps stream at maximum 320 kb/s.
But when it comes to the data usage — both over Wi-Fi and Cellular network — Google Music has few more options. For instance, it lets you choose your streaming quality over Wi-Fi and Mobile network — Low, Normal, High or Always High. These music streaming qualities are also available in the free version.
If we compare the same in Spotify, it does have a toggle for cellular data. But when it comes to choosing the quality over both the networks, unfortunately, that is missing.
Though, it offers four different audio qualities — Automatic, Normal, High, Extreme high — the extreme quality is locked away for premium users.
In a nutshell, you get all the sound quality features for free in Google Play Music, however, in Spotify, you’ll have to upgrade to the premium version (for the extreme high-quality songs).
That said, human ears can’t exactly detect the difference between the high and extreme high, so unless you’re one who can, both the players seem to be at par with each other.
See More: Exploring Google Music, the Amazing Cloud-based Music Player
Interface
On the very first glance, Google Play Music is bright and flashy while Spotify is mostly dark. But as you explore deeper into both the apps, you’ll find subtle differences along the way.
Play Music employs the in-house Google material design
Google Play Music employs the in-house Google material design which gives its colorful interface. When the app is first launched, you’ll be greeted with the home page containing the songs that have been picked up for you.
A left swipe reveals the panel which has tabs for New releases, Top charts, Settings, etc. There’s not much of swiping in Play music, as you’ll find what you are looking for in the designated pages.
On the other hand, Spotify has a dark interface — completely opposite of the colorful Play Music.
While it also follows Google’s Material design, it’s a mellowed down version. Launching the app initially, lands you in the home page containing playlists based on your music taste and a few more inspired by the recently played songs.
Settings, Library, and Radio can all be found in the lower panel of the app, which is quite easy to navigate around. But then, if you are looking for anything specific like your own playlists or playlists of your friends, it involves a lot of swiping. In both the apps, a truncated version of the music player is at the bottom of the app.
And if you are a new user, it’ll take quite some time to get the hang of Spotify, unlike Google Music, which is definitely easier to navigate.
Recommendations
This is one place (apart from features) which truly decides whether a music streaming app will stay on your device or otherwise. Google Play Music does note down your choices when you sign-in initially, asking about your personal favorites. And it makes the recommendations based on them.
Plus, there’s an option in settings where you can wipe everything off and start afresh. However, that's only on pen and paper. As much as I cleaned and refreshed the app, Google Play Music didn’t seem to take note of my musical taste. It continues to ‘recommend’ songs which I have no interest to listen, in a thousand years.
This scenario is a completely opposite in Spotify. It takes note of your musical taste and displays songs accordingly. Plus there’s the Discover weekly playlist which lands on your app every Monday with the best 30 songs to match your taste.
Taking a look at the music genres, Spotify has the genres neatly laid out in the Browse section, which sadly (again) wasn’t there in Play Music, which is a tad disappointing for me.
All in all, if I have to pick a winner here, Spotify nails it when it comes to presenting the best songs out there.
Features
Features are the second best thing to look for in a music app. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if I say that both the apps are feature rich. If Google Play Music allows you to choose the sound quality over both Wi-Fi and mobile network, Spotify goes ahead and lets you lower the gap between two songs (crossfade).
If Play Music lets you manage the device location, Spotify allows you to track your songs using Last.fm
On the other hand, if Play Music lets you manage the device location, Spotify allows you to track your songs using Last.fm. Aforesaid, Spotify you can easily discover new music through the Discover Weekly playlist feature and what makes it even better is that these songs are based on your listening habits .
If you ask me, Spotify is the main reason which lessens my Monday morning blues. But when it comes to the main differences, there are a few that should help you decide.
For instance, Google Music has the Google advantage and lets you watch YouTube videos of most of the songs. All you need to do is tap on the three dot menu and select Watch video. Spotify doesn’t have this feature, though it contains a handful of videos under the Videos Genre.
Best For Android Spotify Premium
Another notable difference is Playlist — rather the creation of playlists. Spotify has a boatload of features when it comes to playlist — collaborative playlist, secret playlist, organize and arrange them or import playlist even in the free version.
On the contrary, Play Music doesn’t let you create playlists on the free version, but it does let you save an already built playlist to the library.
So, here I think, it’s a better option to side with Spotify, for it allows you to handpick the songs that you would listen.
Also See: 21 Spotify Tips and Tricks for Power Users
Offline Listening
Spotify messenger app. When it comes to enjoying music when you're off the grid, Spotify will let you enjoy that luxury only when you upgrade to the Spotify Premium version. It lets you download upto 3000+ songs per device on 3 different devices.
Similarly, Google Music will let you enjoy the benefits of offline listening only when you have subscribed to the music streaming app.
Desktop App
Yes, I understand that our smartphones have become our outboard brains these days. But then, let's not forget the dependence on desktop/laptops. So, if you'd rather spend your time listening to music while workin, the good news is that Spotify has a desktop app both for Mac OS and Windows.
Other than that, Google Music doesn't have an app of its own — it's browser-based for desktop users. However, there are a couple of third-party apps which support Google Play Music. One such example is the Google Play Music Desktop Player.
At the end of day, it's the ease of use which matters
Both these desktop apps rescues you from the fringes of the web player. At the end of day, it's the ease of use which matters. You wouldn't want to hunt for the right tab on your browser to stop/play a song, right?
Syncing Local Music Collection
If you have a huge collection of local songs, worry not, Play Music has you covered. It allows adding up to a whopping 50,000 songs to your account. That’s pretty impressive, right? But the catch is, it has to be done through the web version.
Similarly, Spotify lets you only sync your personal music files only through the web version.
Pricing
Price is an important factor when it comes to making the leap for the Premium version. Spotify Premium version is priced at $9.99, with a family account costing as much as $14.99. The family plan can have as many as six members. What’s more, there is even a student discount amounting to 50%.
On the other hand, Google Play Music lets you have a free 30 days free trial after which you can upgrade to the premium version at $9.99 and the family plan (six members) is also same at $14.99. Plus, Presently, Google Play Music is running a deal where the music streaming app is available for a free trial of up to 90 days.
On the free trial, you can still listen to songs on Google Music, but it'll be limited to the radio stations and the locally saved music. Please note that radio station music come with ads. On the bright side, radio stations aid in music discovery, as it plays similar songs from a particular playlist or artist.
So, as you can see there’s not much difference in the price, but in Google Play Music you get YouTube Red bundled with the music app.
Also See: Netflix vs YouTube Red: Should You Subscribe to One or Both?
That’s a Wrap!
So, that was pretty much the difference between the top music streaming services— Google Play Music and Spotify. If you ask me, considering that both the app prices are same, I would rather side with Spotify for its features and songs recommendations. Because at the end of the day, searching manually through a huge database of songs isn’t really my cup of tea.
See Next: 13 Google Play Music Tips and Tricks for Best Music ExperienceThe above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also See#Android apps #Lists Did You Know
Spotify stations pc app. Play Music lets you upload around 50,000 tracks into the app.
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