There are a lot of music-streaming services, which you can use to listen to almost any song and album for a small fee. There are a lot of music-services all over the world, such as: Apple Music, Google Play Music, Xbox Music etc.
Music Catalog – What is this?
According to CNET, some of the top music-streaming services have over 20 million songs. With other words, there is a very high chance that they will have any song that you’re looking for.
However, there are popular artists, which prefer to not allow the music-stream services to use their songs. This is because they are not making money from the streaming-service and they prefer to sell music on the internet or through the old fashion way, by selling CDs.
So, before paying for a monthly subscription, we suggest you to sign up for a free trial account (if the streaming-music service allows you to make free trial account). This way, you will see what they are offering and if they have all the songs you’re interested in listening to.
Streaming music
Almost all the music-streaming services have an application available for Android, Windows Phone, iOS and some of them even allow you to listen to music while using your desktop PC via a Web application.
Also, there are services which sync up with home audio devices such as the Sonos players. There are others such as Xbox Music or Spotify, which can play music on the Xbox or PlayStation consoles.
Free trial or free subscription
The good news is that most of the popular music streaming services come with a free trial period, which lasts from one week to one month. Also, after ending the trial period, you will just have to pay for one month. This way, in case you are not satisfied with their services, you will be able to cancel the subscription after one or two months.
The Google Play Music, Rdio and Spotify will allow you to listen to music for free, but you will hear lots of advertisements between tracks. Also, by using the free subscription on Rdio, you will only be able to play some specific radio stations, without having the ability to demand a song. On the other hand, while using a free trial account on Apple Music, you will be able to stream only Beats One online radio station.
Plans for families and students
The good news is that some of the music streaming services come with discounts when you want to add one or more family members to the application. For example, Spotify will give you a 50% discount for each person you add to a Premium Account, which cuts the price to 5 dollars. So, for two people you will need to pay 15 dollars, for three – 20 dollars, for four – 25 dollars etc.
On the other hand, Apple Music allows up to six people to use the same membership for a cost of only 15 dollars per month. Rdio will allow you to add a family member or friend for 5 dollars per month.
In case you are a student, we suggest you to check Rdio or Spotify, as they come with big discounts for college students.
Availability
Rdio, Google Play Music, Spotify and Tital are available in many countries around the world. Most of them are available in South America, Western Europe, North America, Central America, South America and some regions from Australia and Asia.
On the other hand, Rhapsody is available only in the US, but Napster is available for Italy, France, UK and other parts of Europe.
Storing music on the music streaming services
Amazon Music, Spotify, Xbox Music and Google Play Music allow you to upload your own music. With other words, you will be able to use the applications to scan your computer for music files and have them uploaded. However, if you want to select just a few songs, you can manually select them and upload them.
After the files are uploaded, you will be able to play those files directly from the music streaming service application. Google Play Music is allowing you to make playlists with the songs you like, which you can download later. This way, you will be able to stream all those songs while you are offline.
Conclusion
Mostly, all the music streaming services are great, but you’ll choose one over the other according to your favorite music genre. With other words, in case Rdio has some music that you like to listen to and Spotify doesn’t have it, you will most likely choose Rdio over Spotify.
This is why we suggest you to check out the trial accounts of these music streaming services before paying for them. This way, you will know which one is best for you and you will not pay for a service that doesn’t have the songs that you love.
