Services typically charge $ 10 a month and do n’t have a shrink ,
Sarah Tew/CNET so which music stream services offer the best combination of price, sound timbre and library size ? Read on to find an in-depth spirit at each of the services and a feature comparison, along with a full price breakdown in the chart at the bottom of the page. We ‘ll update this number sporadically. And if you want the TL;DR, these are the top three. Angela Lang/CNET
Spotify is a pioneer in music streaming and is arguably the best-known service. It offers a count of curated music discovery services, including its Discover Weekly playlist, and is constantly implementing new ones, such as Stations. It ‘s besides ramped up its nonmusic message with a push toward podcasts. It ‘s a close race between Spotify Premium and Apple Music, but Spotify wins as the best music streaming service overall, thanks to a fun, easy-to-use interface, an extensive catalog and the best device compatibility. Spotify besides offers the best detached grade : Without paying a dime or providing a accredit poster numeral, you can stream Spotify Connect to numerous Wi-Fi devices. Spotify announced a raw HiFi ( lossless ) tier would be coming at the end of 2021, but there has been no far bible about when or if it would actually appear. interim, competitors like Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited and Tidal are now offering lossless or even Dolby Atmos music for no extra charge. In addition, Spotify hiked prices on a number of plans recently, even though the basis price remains $ 10 a month in the US. The Good
- Free version is impressively robust
- Spotify Connect simplifies connecting to wireless speakers and AV receivers
- Easy to build your own playlists and sync them for offline listening
- Allows you to follow artists and to be alerted when they release new music or announce an upcoming show
- Now includes podcasts
The Bad
- Advertisements in the free service can be intrusive
- You can’t listen to specific songs in the free tier, just a mix based on the requested music
- No lossless option
Best for: People who want a solid all-around service, and specially for people who love to make, browse and parcel playlists for any scenario .
Read our Spotify review .
Sarah Tew/CNET
Apple Music runs a stopping point moment to Spotify. It offers a friendly interface, over 75 million tracks and compatibility with both iOS and Android devices. Yes, it has spatial audio albums for no excess charge, but these 1,000 tracks are dwarfed by the rest of the catalog. not amazingly, Apple Music is the best option if you ‘ve invested heavily in the Apple ecosystem. If you own an Apple HomePod or Mini, it is the default subscription service to summon music with your voice. Apple Music besides makes the ideal company for an ipod Touch, which, after 20 years, is placid a thing. There ‘s besides a short ton of curated playlists, many handcrafted by musicians and tastemakers, but it lacks the robust share options built into Spotify. Apple Music is the only one of our crown three with a digital footlocker to store your own library of songs — YouTube Music, below, is the early music footlocker option. There are two ways to upload your music : loose with a music subscription, but with DRM ; or $ 25, £22 or AU $ 35 a class for iTunes Match, which will let you download again even without a music subscription. The Good
- Spatial and hi-res music included for your $10 a month
- Combines your iTunes library with music you don’t own and a choice of music lockers
- Human music experts and algorithms help find music you’ll want to hear based on what you play
- You can control what you hear or search for new music using Siri on Apple HomePod or other Apple devices
The Bad
- The Android app and experience isn’t as smooth as the iOS one
- Doesn’t work with old iPods (except the iPod Touch)
- Hi-res doesn’t work on HomePod
Best for: Those who are wrapped up in the Apple world, or who plainly want excellent bang for buck .
Read our Apple Music review .
Screenshot : Ty Pendlebury/CNET
Qobuz offers hi-res audio streams besides and unlike Tidal you do n’t need a specify MQA decoder to listen to them. They can sound capital on an Android telephone or a high-end music system. It may not offer Dolby Atmos music, but the current catalog of songs on early services is n’t that impressive anyhow. The serve offers two plans — the hi-res Studio Premier ( $ 13 monthly/ $ 130 annually ) and the $ 180 annual Sublime Plus. uniquely, the service offers its own hi-res download storehouse and if you sign up for that second gear plan you get a discount on purchases. At 70 million tracks, Qobuz ‘s streaming catalogue rivals Tidal ‘s and Spotify ‘s in number, though it may not have the most obscure artists. Qobuz broadly steers towards hi-res recordings so is particularly suited to jazz and classical fans, though its rock excerpt is fairly robust. The fact that it ‘s cheaper than Tidal, and does n’t require a limited DAC to listen in 24-bit/192Hz, makes Qobuz our favorite service for unplayful music lovers. The Good
- The app is really clean and fun to use
- Ability to listen to 24-bit music without needing a specialized decoder
- One of the more affordable hi-res services
- Offers a download store as well
The Bad
- May be some gaps in the catalog
- No spatial audio
Best for: Audiophiles who want hi-res music for a properly price plus the ability to buy and download albums .
sarah Tew/CNET
now partially owned by Jack Dorsey ‘s Block, Tidal has introduced some crucial changes recently, namely that it nowadays has a free grade called, naturally, Tidal Free. The company besides offers the $ 10 Tidal HiFi plan, which includes lossless playback, and the premium $ 20 Tidal HiFi Plus grade. Tidal HiFi Plus may be the most expensive of all the services, and while it offers hi-res and Dolby Atmos mixes it now has another estimable reason for this. Tidal ‘s main hook has always been that its higher subscription price translates to better payouts to artists. specially musicians who are n’t at the top of the pop charts. As an extension of this doctrine, the avail will now pay your acme stream artist — calculated after each month — a 10 % deletion of your subscription fee. flush if you alone stream one song all month the full $ 2 will go to them. Forget fractions of a cent for a act ; with adequate spins from enough people this could mean serious money for your favorite band. While Tidal used to be the best option for audiophiles, Qobuz has caught up by promising arguably better sound quality ( no MQA decoder required ), a cheaper price and some recent improvements in its catalog. Based on my own experience, Tidal still trumps it for breadth — and it now exceeds 80 million tracks including longtime holdouts Metallica. If you ‘re an audiophile, a winnow of urban music or a desegregate of both, then Tidal should appeal to you. The Good
- High-fidelity music streams including Dolby Atmos surround mixes
- Lots of video content, including concert livestreams
- Profiles and record reviews on every page, plus up-and-coming artist spotlights
- Free tier, while its top tier offers payouts for favorite artists
The Bad
- The mobile apps and web player aren’t as straightforward as some others
- The catalog isn’t as exhaustive as Spotify Premium
- Most high-res music uses MQA, which needs a specialized decoder
Best for: musically disposed purists who care deeply about sound quality and discovering new, energetic artists .
Screenshot : Ty Pendlebury/CNET
Amazon Prime Music comes “ spare ” as function of a Prime membership but users can choose to upgrade to Music Unlimited is the “ adult ” ( a.k.a. paid ). ” Music Unlimited now includes the original HD service for free ( yes, the one Neil Young said would change the Earth forever. ) For $ 8 for Prime members, or $ 10 if you do n’t have Prime, you get entree to millions of lossless tracks angstrom well as 1,000 “ spatial ” remixes. These remixes are able to be played back on Dolby Atmos soundbars, Android/iOS devices angstrom well as the Amazon Echo Studio. In terms of serviceability, the Music Unlimited interface is besides more elaborate than always with playlists, genres and podcasts all accessible from the chief page. The Good
- Cheaper than the top three if you’re an Amazon Prime member
- Lyrics automatically pop up on the “now playing” screen
- Hi-res and spatial audio from Sony 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos for no extra charge
- Offers free music stations for Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Amazon Tap (includes ads)
The Bad
- Artist profiles don’t have biographies
- Officially advertised as “tens of millions” of tracks strong, it’s unclear if the catalog is quite as large as its competitors
- The service no longer includes a music locker
Best for: Amazon Prime members who want to save a few bucks on a becoming music catalog .
Read our Amazon Music ( Android ) follow-up .
The best of the rest
YouTube Music
Screenshot : Ty Pendlebury/CNET YouTube Music is the successor to Google Play Music, and if you sign up for the ad-free YouTube Premium you get YouTube Music throw in for absolve. The full newsworthiness is that YouTube Music is a by and large impressive service, and Google has retained the predecessor ‘s music footlocker system. If you have a bequest Google Play Music account you may be able to still transfer your library over to YouTube Music. And it ‘s not fair bequest capacity : YouTube Music allows users to upload new tracks to its on-line music cabinet, excessively. In even better news, YouTube Music offers a cleaner interface than Google Play Music. alternatively of playlists, YouTube Music offers well-curated radio stations which play infinitely and are updated frequently. The Good
- Monthly fee includes commercial-free streaming on YouTube as well
- Over 60 million tracks
- Retains Google Play Music’s music locker system: You can transfer existing songs from the old service, plus upload new ones in YouTube Music
The Bad
- Competitors offer a better music focus for the money
- Bit-rate is lower than Google Play Music
Best for: Heavy YouTube users and Android device users .
Pandora Premium
still one of the most democratic stream radio services in the US, Pandora besides offers the a louisiana menu Premium ( $ 10 a month ) and no-ads Plus ( $ 5 a month ). The leave is more flexibility than most competitors, and Premium has gained batch more subscribers in holocene years, even if the service is behind in terms of overall catalog size. The Good
- One of the largest user bases, thanks to its free version
- Pandora’s Music Genome Project analyzes each track according to 450 different attributes in order to give better suggestions
The Bad
- Its audio quality is among the lowest available, even on the Premium subscription (192Kbps)
- It doesn’t really offer enough of an incentive for an upgrade from its free tier compared to the others here
- Not available outside the US
Best for: Pandora Premium is of most interest to people who already use Pandora and want to be able to pick precisely what they listen to. We ‘d recommend it to about no one else .
Deezer
french stalwart Deezer has been operating in the States since 2016, and it has a lot to offer, including a dislodge grade ( mobile merely ) and 56 million tracks. It has more subscribers than some others on this tilt, thanks in part to its previous affiliation with Cricket Wireless. The main Premium design is $ 10 a month but users are besides able to upgrade to a lossless adaptation ( CD quality ) for $ 15 a month. While it reportedly boasts more users than Tidal, the service does n’t do much to differentiate it from similarly priced offerings. however, it is the first gear service to offer the ability for users to upload their catalogs from competitors for no extra charge .
top services compared
| Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Qobuz | Spotify | Tidal | YouTube Music | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | Prime members: $8, £8, N/A; Non-Prime members: $10, £10, AU$12; Echo-only service: Free, AU$5 | $10, £10, AU$12; voice $5, £5, AU$6 | $13, AU$20 | $10, £10, AU$12 | Hi-Fi: $10, £10, AU$15; HiFi Plus: $20, £20, AU$24 | $10, £10, AU$12 |
| Free option? | Yes, with ads | No | No | Yes, with ads | Yes | Yes, with ads |
| Free trial period | 30 days | 3 months | 30 days | 30 days | 3 months | 30 days |
| Music library size | 75 million | 90 million | 70 million | Over 70 million | Over 80 million | Over 60 million |
| Maximum bitrate | 256kbps, 3730 Kbps (HD) | 256kbps, TBD | 6,971 kbps | 320kbps | 1,411kbps | 320kbps |
| Family plan? | Yes, $15, £15, AU$18 for up to 6 people | Yes, $15, £15, AU$18 for up to 6 people | Yes, $16.67, £16.67, AU$44.99 | Yes $16 per month, up to 6 | Yes, 50% off each additional account, up to 4 | Yes, $15, £15, AU$18 per month for up to 6 people |
| Student discount | No | Yes, Price varies by country | No | Yes, $5, £5 with Hulu and Showtime | Student HiFi: $5, Student HiFi plus: $10 (US only) | Yes, $5 |
| US military discount | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Offline listening | Mobile and desktop | Mobile only | Mobile and desktop | Mobile and desktop | Mobile only | Premium and mobile only |
| Radio stations | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Podcasts | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music videos | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music locker functionality | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
What else do you need to know?
Erin Carson/CNET
How do you swap between music services?
Without contracts it ‘s pretty easy to cancel one serve and start with another. That said, swapping between music services is n’t angstrom square as swapping between movie footlocker services using Movies Anywhere. If you do n’t want to have to rebuild your playlists and library from incision when you switch, you have two main options — a music cabinet serve such as YouTube Music ( but this implies you have a library of rend or bought MP3s ), or the library import joyride Soundiiz. The latter option is a service that lets you import the songs from each of your music services and transfer them, and while there ‘s a $ 4.50 monthly charge, you can always cancel once you ‘ve converted your library. recently, Deezer has offered the ability for new users to convert their libraries from other services for exempt .
Do I need spatial or Atmos audio?
The short answer is “ no ” and the long answer is “ not in the little. ” Stereo music has been around since the ’50s and it makes the handful of Atmos audio tracks available seem insignificant in comparison. Apple may rave about how “ charming ” spatial music is, but unless you have a pair of compatible AirPods or an expensive Atmos organization, you wo n’t be able to hear it by rights anyhow. In our own listen tests we ‘ve found that the catalog is indeed limited and the quality of the mixes varies wildly. The music diligence tries to push environment music every 20 years or so — beginning with Quadraphonic in the ’70s, and continuing with DVD-Audio in the 2000s — but we think it will continue to remain niche .
Music catalog sizes compared
The number of songs offered by a music avail used to be one of the main differentiators, but all of the major ones immediately have over 60 million tracks. however, depending on your prefer genre, some of them have a more full-bodied catalog that include many under-the-radar, indie or rap artists. If you ‘re musically inclined, constantly on the hunt for your favored new set, a pour military service like Spotify or Tidal may be more up your bowling alley. Users who are less ambitious about expanding their musical smack will be satisfied with the smaller catalogs Amazon Music Unlimited or Pandora offer. Apple Music is somewhere in the in-between, offering a healthy blend of mainstream tunes and belowground unknowns.
Streaming radio vs. on-demand
This guide covers on-demand music pour services, and for that reason, we ‘ve intentionally left out services that only play music in a radio format. Until recently this list excluded Pandora, but now that the caller besides offers a premium grade we ‘ve included it here. Slacker Radio, TuneIn and iHeartRadio are radio-style services or playlists based around a composition or artist, without you explicitly picking tracks .
Music lockers: Your MP3s in the cloud
Amazon was one of the first services to offer uploading your MP3 collection into the cloud, but this was officially discontinued in 2018. interim, the Apple and Google services listed either allow you to combine your personal music collection with the streaming catalog, though tag and organization can be a time-consuming challenge ( your countless live Phish tracks wo n’t organize themselves ). placid, if you ‘ve invested money in digital music over the years, those two services offer a patch to continue enjoying that music on-line .
