Before Spotify, music was bought online track by track and album by album. Streaming services have changed the music industry. By subscribing to a streaming service, we can enjoy legitimate online music on multiple devices, gaining instant access to millions of tracks without having to download them to disk. Below is an overview of the best streaming music services you should know about.
Spotify
Spotify is the most popular streaming service. It allows you to listen to songs and entire albums for free, including the latest new releases, lesser-known artists, as well as themed playlists and playlists made by other users. The offerings are huge. You can search for music by genre and mood, new releases and hits. You can also rely on the service’s suggestions, given our previous choices. We can create our own playlists (click the “New Playlist” button in the lower left corner of the window). Our playlists sync between different devices. However, you cannot import your own music into the service to listen to it on multiple devices.
The service works through a browser and has apps for Windows, Linux, Mac-OS, Android, and iOS. Limitations of the free version include the inability to download music and skip tracks you don’t want to listen to, ads, and – in the case of mobile devices – only random playback of songs from a selected playlist (there is no this limitation on a computer). The premium version also offers better sound quality. Many users listen to Spotify in the free version, but switching to the paid version is incentivized by great deals.
TIDAL
Tidal provides access to 60 million songs and 240,000 music videos. It allows you to listen to music in lossless format (HiFi plan – 1411 kbps). However, you will have to pay a subscription every month for this pleasure… Tidal has apps for Android and iOS. It does not allow you to import music, but allows you to download and listen to it offline.
There is no free version, only a free trial period. After creating an account, we can choose which plan we will use. The HiFi plan is worth trying for free. To use Tidal, even for free, you need to enter your payment card details. Therefore, it is useful to know how to cancel the subscription before the end of the free period. After logging into your account, you need to click on the three dashes in the upper left corner and then on File, Settings. In Settings, go to the Account tab and click Renew Subscription. A new tab will open in the browser. Click on Subscription, and then click on the small text: Unsubscribe.
Deezer
Deezer is a slightly less popular music streaming service. Nevertheless, it’s worth taking a look at its offerings. It has over 53 million tracks available. What sets it apart is its ability to stream to many devices and platforms. It allows you to create playlists and import your own music. The company has apps for Android and iOS. Like Tidal, it allows you to listen to music in lossless format as part of a Deezer HiFi subscription. However, Deezer is free to use (ads, random playback within a playlist, no music downloads).
Apple Music
This service is not just for owners of Apple devices, but under Windows it does not run directly in the browser, but requires the installation of iTunes. It has applications for Android and iOS. Provides access to 50 million tracks. Allows you to import music. There is no free version, only a free trial period. The maximum audio quality is only the standard 320 kbps. Apple Music provides additional integration between iTunes on macOS and the Music app on iOS.
To use the service on Windows, you need to install the iTunes app. Once you launch it, go to the For You tab and click Next. Then select your subscription type and click Start Trial. The cost for the first three months is £0.99. Enter your Apple account details (you’ll need to enter payment card details to set up) and click Buy. Then just click Get Started and pre-configure the service to work. You will find your music in the Browse tab.
Currently, the market for music listening applications is very large. Moreover, there is every reason to believe that we will see significant growth in the coming years. We hope that you were able to find something for yourself.