If you like listening to a wide variety of music, chances are that you may not be flocking to purchase every track or album individually in order to listen to it. Not only would the cost add up, but as new music is constantly in the works, it’d be nearly impossible to keep up with. This is where music streaming services really come in handy, providing a cost-effective way for users to access millions of songs through the touch of a button. That’s why today, we’re sharing our top five favorite music streaming services that you can utilize on the go and at home.
Spotify
Spotify has been a long-loved music streaming service, allowing users to listen to their favorite songs individually, or by compiling them into playlists. It’s a great streaming service to utilize while working out, hosting a dinner party, or even a road trip.
Spotify has both free and paid versions. The free version has occasional ads, and, if your playlist is not a certain length, Spotify will add recommended music to it. However, they have four paid options which will remove ads and allow you to listen to whatever you’d like when you want to. With plans for individuals, families, and students, there’s something for everyone!
Download: Spotify on Google Play
Pandora
Unlike Spotify, Pandora doesn’t allow you to listen to individual tracks. Pandora is built to work more like a radio, providing “stations” based largely on the genre. You can listen to an existing station, such as “Today’s Hits Radio,” or create your own by searching for your favorite artist.
The neat thing about Pandora is that if you give a song a thumbs-down, they’ll never play it for you again. Likewise, if you give a song a thumbs-up, they’ll play it for you more frequently. The free version does have some ads, but very few compared to your typical AM/FM radio. If you pay for one of the premium versions, you’ll eliminate ads and get access to your personalized station, which is made up of only the music you’ve given a thumbs-up to on other stations.
Download: Pandora on Google Play
YouTube Music
With more than two billion YouTube users, it’s a wonder YouTube Music (YTM) wasn’t launched before 2015. Nevertheless, in just a few short years this has become a great platform for streaming music across devices, even with the nominal fee for ad-free listening. And, now that Play Music is in the throes of being shut down, YTM is now Google's goto music streaming app.
With just the YouTube app, you can find nearly every song and album imaginable, but each is tied to a video, and you can’t power off to your device’s lock screen while something plays. With YouTube Music, however, you can stream singles and albums even when your lock screen is on.
Download: YouTube Music on Google Play
iHeartRadio
Similar to Pandora, iHeartRadio is mainly centered around radio stations. You can listen to customized music stations by genre, but iHeartRadio’s unique bent is that you can listen to actually live and local radio stations. If you moved to another region but miss your favorite radio show from your morning commute, you’ll most likely be able to find that here.
You can access radio shows covering nearly every topic from sports, comedy, breaking news, and much more. Whether you have a favorite country radio station from your hometown or a station you fell in love with when visiting elsewhere, iHeartRadio has it all.
Download: iHeartRadio on Google Play
Amazon Music
Like many music streaming services, Amazon Music has several membership options that unlock different levels of access to music. With Prime membership, you’ll be able to listen ad-free, utilize unlimited skips, and more. With Amazon Unlimited, you’ll basically just receive access to even more music, and the final paid option of Amazon Music is Amazon Music HD, which provides users with millions of songs available in Ultra HD, playlists, and personalized streaming stations.
All that being said, you can use Amazon Music for free, without a prime or subscription membership. While you won’t have access to nearly as much music, and rarely ad-free, it’s still a good way to try the platform out before purchasing it for a month or year.
Download: Amazon Music on Google Play
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Pandora has allowed you to listen to individual tracks since 2017 when they launched their “premium” service. You can also listen to individual tracks on the free version by watching a short ad.