Best music streaming services

As fun as it trying out different headphones and speakers, it isn’t the reason the audio community exists. However good your favorite speakers or headphones might be, you don’t love them. They’re just a tool to help you experience what really matters: music. Thanks to the internet and streaming services, it’s now easier than ever to get access to literally tens of millions of songs. More music than you could listen to in a lifetime. But with so many streaming options and so much music, how do you know which one is right for you? We did all the research and picked a few of the best, but we also go over and compare some of the other alternatives as well.

Editor’s note: this list of the best streaming services was updated on October 13, 2022, to update formatting, and update information on the now-defunct Google Play Music.

Why is Spotify the best music streaming service for most people?

Spotify is one of the biggest and most prominent music streaming services available right now, and that’s one of the reasons it’s best for the majority of people. Aside from having a massive library of music to choose it also excels at helping you discover new music thanks to a combination of curated playlists by people, and smart algorithms that learn your preferences over time. One of its main features is the Discover Weekly playlist, which will suggest a playlist of new songs every week that the algorithm thinks you might like. On top of that, it’s also easy to share tracks between friends or on social media, which is part of the reason why we use Spotify links when reviewing products.

Features aside, Spotify is also available in a number of places and has a free model that was recently changed to include a number of curated playlists you can choose from. Now as far as sound quality goes, Spotify isn’t the leader of the pack by any means. Free users will max out at 160kbps, but if you’re a paid premium user you can up that to 320kbs. It also uses a file format called Ogg Vorbis, which is an open-source alternative to the MP3 format. If that means absolutely nothing to you don’t worry, we made a graphic explaining which formats have better quality that you can see down below. For now, just know that the Spotify way of doing isn’t that bad for the majority of listeners. Now if you want the best sound quality possible, that’s where Qobuz comes in.

On February 22, 2021, Spotify announced a new tier to its powerhouse streaming service: Spotify HiFi. Little is known about this lossless audio subscription except that it will offer CD-quality audio, and its initial debut will be limited to certain regions.

Amazon Music Unlimited is the best value for high-quality audio

Amazon Music Unlimited, formerly Amazon Music HD, might not have the biggest user base, but it was one of the first big-name services to offer lossless playback. As a response to Apple Music’s new high-quality streaming option, Amazon made its HD service available to all Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no extra cost. It now costs just $7.99/monthnth for Prime members, and $9.99/monthnth for non-Prime members. There are also family subscriptions which include the lossless FLAC audio at 24bit/192kHz.

In order to take advantage of Amazon Ultra HD hi-res quality, your device must support it. Additionally, certain speaker and headphone brands, are more suited for streaming Amazon Music Unlimited. As of October 20, 2021, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can take advantage of spatial audio (Dolby Atmos or Sony 360 Reality Audio) through any mobile device, without the need for specific headphones like the Apple AirPods (3rd generation) or Sony WH-1000XM4. Amazon Music Unlimited allows local media playback as well as downloading songs. However, keep in mind that it doesn’t have any podcasts or music videos.

There are multiple plans available with Amazon Music, and sub-plans within each plan. Amazon Music Unlimited is available for individual subscriptions, Prime individual subscriptions, and family subscriptions. There are also Amazon Music Unlimited and Amazon Prime Music. The Single Device plan is great if you want Amazon Music Unlimited only for your Alexa device.

If you want a little bit of everything, go with YouTube Music

The history of Google Play Music (GPM) is one of rebranding and confusing crossovers with YouTube. But it looks like the new YouTube Music is one of the better options out there (though it does have its downsides). YouTube Music keeps a number of the useful features people loved about Google Play Music—including a fairly large library of music you can stream from—and the option to upload your own songs to a personal library. YouTube Music is also compatible with compressed lossy files like MP3 as well as lossless files like FLAC if you’re uploading music, but the service lets you stream MP3 from its massive library.

Google also does a pretty good job at helping you to discover new music with playlists based on moods and genres. It isn’t as personalized as what you might get from Spotify, but it’s constantly getting better and their playlists are still pretty good at the moment. If you pay for YouTube Music Premium, you can play music with your phone screen locked as well as download music, something not allowed with the free, ad-enabled version of YouTube Music.

If you want ad-free YouTube videos on top of ad-free music, we’d recommend getting YouTube Premium rather than YouTube Music Premium. You can download any video directly to your device, whereas YouTube Music Premium limits download functionality to songs and music videos. Another great feature is background play whereby you no longer need to remain in the native YouTube app for a video to continue. Instead, by exiting the app, a small window is overlaid in the corner of your device’s screen. And, because it’s Google, it’s also easy to get whether you’re on iOS, Android, or just in a browser.

If you care about listening to music first, go with Apple Music

This is mainly a thing for anyone who listens to popular music like Frank Ocean or Drake. Apple Music has plenty of deals with artists and record labels, which usually results in an artist’s newest album being exclusive to the platform for a set amount of time. So if you wanted to stream Views by Drake when it was first released, you needed Apple Music. As far as quality goes Apple Music uses AAC which streams at 256kbps, but announced its entrance into the high-quality streaming service club. Apple Music now supports 16-bit/44.1kHz, 24-bit/48kHz, and 24-bit/192kHz streaming and Spatial Audio through Dolby Atmos content at no extra cost.

Apple Music is the default streaming service for many, particularly for iPhone owners, and funny enough the Apple AirPods line can’t take full advantage of the high-res tracks. The AirPods and AirPods Pro stream over Bluetooth only, while the AirPods Max requires a Lightning audio adapter, which loses some data during the re-digitization process.

Apple Music has plenty going for it though, like a large music library, excellent music discovery feature, and a simple UI. You can upload your own music and take it anywhere, too. Unfortunately, Apple still hasn’t added collaborative playlists to its menu of features but we hope to see that in the future.

Qobuz integrates with Sonos for Hi-Res streaming

Qobuz is the first streaming service to offer high-resolution audio playback directly through a Sonos speaker. Sonos S2 product streaming quality tops out at 24-bit/48kHz over FLAC files. This is great for anyone who is deeply invested in the Sonos ecosystem. Qobuz isn’t just for Sonos fans though, it’s a great service for everyone, albeit a bit pricier than some of the other options listed.

Qobuz supports a host of audio quality tiers that you can jump from at any time when you’re streaming. It maxes out at 24-bit/192kHz lossless, which is great but be aware: these files chew through mobile data fast. So it may be best for you to choose a lower quality option when out and about, or to download your favorite tracks for offline playback. Plus, you’ll need the appropriate equipment to take full advantage of these files anyway.

One of Qobuz’ most unique features is that it’s both a high-resolution streaming service and a standalone online store where you can purchase high-res music downloads (subscription not required). In that sense, it’s kind of like CD Baby or Bandcamp which let you stream certain artists’ albums, then buy and download your desired quality.

Is Deezer worth paying for?

Deezer is an excellent lossless streaming service and is one of the first to specialize in high-resolution audio. Deezer Premium costs $9.99/monthnth (320kbps) while you need to pay $14.99 for Deezer HiFi, if you want access to its FLAC library. This is a bit pricier than the competition which typically charges $9.99/monthnth for FLAC streaming (0r some equivalent). That said, we like Deezer because it has a vast music and podcast library, similar to Spotify, and it supports Sony 360 Reality Audio like TIDAL.

Should you get TIDAL HiFi?

As of November 17, 2021, TIDAL HiFi competes with the likes of Apple Music and Amazon Music. TIDAL now offers three tiers: free, HiFi, and HiFi Plus. HiFi offers lossless streaming (1411kbps), while Master Quality Authenticated files are limited to HiFi Plus. You can read all about the famed service in our full TIDAL HiFi Plus review, or you can skip the review altogether and sign up here.

The best streaming services: Notable mentions

For starters, these aren’t the only streaming services out there. These are just the best. There are also some others like Pandora and SoundCloud, just to name a few. We included these services in the comparison charts, but they all fall short in one way or another.

For example, SoundCloud does have an on-demand service now called SoundCloud Go+, but its premium music library isn’t the biggest and a lot of what’s available is user-uploaded content. Again that’s not to say it’s bad, it’s just specialized. There are plenty of amazing independent musicians who upload great music every day. SoundCloud, however, is great for independent musicians because it’s free to upload your first three hours of music, whereas most of these services charge a fee for any upload. This means that you can find more niche music, including artist demos and covers, than you can find on many of these other platforms.

What else you should keep in mind about the best music streaming services

When shopping around for your next music subscription, you’ll want to bear in mind many factors. A common question we get is whether a service supports local music libraries. Many don’t, but some do. You can use Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music to play local media but others like TIDAL or Pandora don’t support this feature. It’s worth noting that Amazon used to have this option but got rid of it.

Another thing to consider is whether or not your potential music streaming service offers an in-app EQ to adjust the sound. Some options have very basic equalizers like Spotify while others (i.e., Apple Music) offer just EQ presets with no ability to customize the sound. If you want to take things a step further, you may need to experiment with a third-party EQ app.

Read on to learn more about your next potential service.

What’s the difference between MP3 and FLAC?

So when it comes to audio formats it’s hard to really know what means what, especially if this is your first time hearing about such things. What’s the difference between MP3 and FLAC? What does kb/s even mean? You should definitely read our primer on the subject before putting too much stock into the numbers.

MP3 is a compressed or “lossy” file and uses clever tricks to delete information that humans shouldn’t be able to hear. It does this with algorithms that delete bits of data at, for example, really high frequencies. It also deletes frequencies that are right next to each other since the human brain can’t differentiate between them. By deleting this information that’s technically inaudible, it’s able to make the overall file much smaller which is perfect for streaming. But it’s still deleting data. The benefits of MP3 are all in its size. The files are so small that you won’t need super fast internet speeds to stream your music.

But that convenience can sacrifice quality. If you want the full quality file with no data cut out, that’s where lossless files like FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and WAV ( or Waveform Audio File Format) come into play. The problem is these are larger files, so it isn’t really ideal for mobile. But ideal doesn’t mean impossible. There are still services like TIDAL that let you stream uncompressed files, and the desktop versions of TIDAL, Qobuz Sublime+, and Deezer can stream extremely high bitrates.

Not all smartphones will be able to stream the optimal mobile quality. For example, we reached out to a Qobuz representative and inquired about the maximum bitrate for smartphone streaming. We were informed that smartphones with a proper DAC can reach Qobuz’ maximum bitrate (24bit/192kHz), but some smartphones are limited to 16-bit CD quality for streaming. In that instance, you may need an external DAC.

You don’t have to pay

If you don’t want to spend any money, it might be good to hear that you don’t have to. Most streaming services have a free model that lets you listen to music with varying levels of control. Just be prepared for ads. Lots of them. They have to make money somehow right? Some services, like Spotify and Pandora, just play a station on shuffle with ads dispersed in between. Spotify even beefed up their free model recently to include a few of their most popular playlists.

What’s the best way to find new music?

With more music that you could listen to in a lifetime, finding songs that you like can be difficult. So part of what makes streaming companies so successful is the ease of which their users can find new music that they actually like. With some services, like Spotify and Pandora, for example, you can start a “radio”. So after picking listening to a song that you picked, the service will continue to play songs that are by similar artists or in a similar genre. Other services, like Apple Music, take it a step further with a more traditional approach. One of Apple Music’s main features is live internet radio with popular DJ’s doing what they do best: playing a mix of new and popular music.

Of course, the radio function in any of these services isn’t always enough to find new music, so we recommend you bust out of your comfort zones and hunt for new music using more than just an automated feature. We feel like it’s really the only way to ensure you get the most out of your subscription.

Why you should trust SoundGuys

Each writer at SoundGuys has accumulated years of experience reporting on the consumer audio market, and our staff adheres to a strict ethics policy. We don’t use sponsored content on the website at a time when doing so is the norm. SoundGuys’ survival depends almost exclusively on readers enjoying their purchases. We pride ourselves on transparently outlining objective facts, while accounting for the subjective experience to contextualize an audio product’s performance. When we do misspeak, we correct and own up to it.

Frequently asked questions about music streaming services