There are many alternatives to Spotify if you are not interested in paying for this popular music streaming service.
KAMPALA | NOW THEN DIGITAL — Spotify is a popular music streaming service, but if you do not want to pay for it, there are a number of alternatives.
- If you love Spotify but have no intention of paying for it, don’t despair. There are many alternatives to this popular music streaming service.
- One great option for listening to podcasts is Pocket Casts. Pocket Casts is free for both Android and iOS devices, and it offers premium features.
- Deezer, which boasts a library of more than 73 million tracks, has an algorithm-backed playlist and is available on a variety of platforms.
- You may also be interested in these Cash App alternatives: Those that accept international payments.
In this article, we’ll look at Pandora Plus, Deezer, Qobuz, YouTube Music, and Pocket Casts. Then, we’ll look at Spotify’s biggest rival Apple Music and give you an idea of what to expect.
After all, a streaming service is only as good as its users, so you should do your homework before choosing one.
Pandora Plus
One of the best alternatives to Spotify is Pandora. It’s an American-based service that’s only available to US subscribers.
This service works by inferring likability based on your past choices. Instead of ranking songs in a random order, it uses a variety of conditions to determine what you’ll like.
Every time you rate a song, it marks the song you liked in a way that reflects your personal preference.
Pandora offers excellent audio quality for free. But, because the service is only available in the US, Australia, and New Zealand, it doesn’t appeal to many users.
Pandora’s licensing restrictions are also quite limiting. You can’t skip tracks during playback, and you can only listen to one song per album.
Also, unlike Spotify, Pandora has a low limit of tracks per hour, which limits how much you can listen to at one time.
If you’re not keen on paying for a subscription to Spotify, Pandora Plus may be an option for you. It’s considerably cheaper than rival services and is more user-friendly.
In addition, you can customize the algorithm to make Pandora stations more personalized to your tastes. Pandora also lets you save your favorite tracks and organize your saved playlists.
Jacob, our product manager uses Pandora almost every day. Pandora used to be one of the best music apps, but now it’s more like a radio, with commercial breaks every 1-3 songs.
Amazon Music
Unlike Spotify, Amazon Music has nearly 70 million songs.
Amazon Prime members get a $2 discount on their monthly subscription, but you can also get a discount by purchasing an annual subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited.
Amazon Music Unlimited includes a wide variety of genres, including jazz and classical, and lets you download songs for offline listening.
It also offers playlists, stations, and videos. If you’re not a Prime member, Amazon Music also has an excellent alternative service.
Deezer
Both Spotify and Deezer offer similar features. Both are based on the same platform and allow you to stream music from multiple devices.
Besides the catalog, Spotify has a feature called “Flow” that lets you choose music based on your mood or favorite artists. It lets you view lyrics as the song is being played.
There are two different subscription plans available on Deezer. There are also discounts for annual subscriptions.
The main difference between Spotify and Deezer is the catalog. Spotify’s catalog has over 70 million tracks, while Deezer’s is much larger.
Deezer also has a huge collection of podcasts. While Spotify’s catalog is bigger and offers more genres, Deezer’s is more accessible to people from all over the world.
Both services feature recommendations tailored to your tastes based on your listening habits and preferences.
Another notable difference between the two services is that Spotify is the industry leader. Other music streaming services can also provide you with the same library.
Deezer’s playlists are more diverse and are easy to transfer. It also offers cross-fade features that play music from one track to the next without a pause.
It also integrates with Google Maps and Waze for easy navigation. This means that you can listen to your favorite songs while you’re driving.
While Spotify has an impressive library, it isn’t for everyone. If you love music on the radio, prefer radio, or use your phone to listen to audiophile tracks, Deezer is an excellent option.
Its free streaming service lets you listen to millions of tracks. It also offers ad-free streaming. You can also buy physical CDs, download them, and use them to listen to the music without interruptions.
Qobuz
If you’re tired of paying for streaming services that aren’t up to par, look no further than the Qobuz, a hand picked Spotify alternative.
This app has everything you need to listen to great music without ever having to leave the comfort of your couch. Not only does it offer high-quality audio streams, but its interface is centered around the music.
The interface is designed for music lovers, with standard search options, audiophile equipment resources, and exclusive longform music journalism.
There are three main differences and some similarities of course between Qobuz and Spotify. First, both services are available on numerous platforms.
Qobuz and Spotify both offer OS store apps. Apps provide greater security, updates, and easier installation.
Unfortunately, Qobuz doesn’t have apps for smart speakers. Nonetheless, there are many other similarities. For those who prefer to stream music through a desktop, Qobuz is a great option.
As far as new releases go, Qobuz has the most extensive selection, with over 70 million tracks available. It also offers every major recent release, though not all of it is in lossless FLAC.
Another feature that makes it an excellent Spotify alternative is the ability to create and save playlists. While the service is focused on music, it also includes comedy releases.
There are several features to consider when choosing between Spotify and Qobuz.
Second, Qobuz does not match the music quality of a dedicated specialist. While you can download lossless files to listen offline, these can take up gigabytes of storage.
If you’re constantly streaming music, you may end up burning up your phone plan if you don’t have unlimited data.
Third, you might be able to buy individual tracks or albums. You can also find an audiobook, which you can download and save to your computer.
YouTube Music
YouTube Music is another popular alternative. With over 80 million songs, YouTube Music can become your favorite music source.
You can save as many as 100,000 songs and create playlists.
Apple Music also incorporates Apple’s famous artist tracking feature into its platform, allowing you to view “liked” songs by an artist.
If you’re a subscriber to YouTube Music, you can also access the entire catalog of videos uploaded by that artist.
Apple Music
If you have tried out YouTube Music but are not impressed with it, try out other Spotify alternatives like Apple Music.
The Apple-owned music service is similar to Spotify, but offers more music selections and a price that is about the same.
Moreover, it supports over 50 million songs. If you don’t want to pay a subscription, you can try out the service’s free trial and get full access to all the features.
Once you’ve made a decision, you can always choose a paid plan.
If you’re an Apple user, though, you’ll probably prefer Apple Music.
One of the biggest differences between Apple Music and Spotify is their approach to content. Spotify provides users with playlists based on their interests, and you can even make public ones.
Apple announced that the number of users of its Music service reached 60 million in June 2019 and will reach 660 million by April 2021.
It’s easy to understand why so many users enjoy Apple Music, and the vast majority of users are loyal to the service.
Pocket Casts
If you want to listen to podcasts on the go, Pocket Casts is a great option. It is a popular podcast app that works on iOS and Android.
It also offers desktop apps, watch playback, and cloud storage. Its streamlined interface lets you search for podcasts by title, category, duration, and name.
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It also has a built-in widget to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Pocket Casts also features a detailed stats section that lets you know how many podcasts you’ve listened to and how long they’ve been running.
Its feature set is very similar to that of Spotify, allowing users to find new podcasts by following their favorite authors. It also lets you customize your listening experience across devices and tiers.
For example, you can cut silences in podcasts and customize your skip intervals. It supports several audio formats, including Ogg and AAC.
So if you’re looking for free music streaming alternatives to Spotify, Pocket Casts is definitely worth checking out.
It has a good UI, a decent discoverability system, and even some power user features like themes.
However, you need to be aware that it’s no longer free. If you can’t pay for a premium app, there are other apps that are better than Pocket Casts.
However, they might cost money to use.
Conclusion
Some Spotify alternatives are similar to Apple Music, while others are completely different in concept and functionality. Most have similar features, but vary greatly in sound quality.
Tidal is one of the cheapest alternatives, while YouTube Music and Deezer are free. Alternatively, you can try SoundCloud and Bandcamp, as they both offer new and underground music.
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