The music industry is ever-changing. While digital music distribution is still quite popular, many users have now gravitated towards music streaming. Even music labels are finally on board with this fledgeling trend and Spotify is often considered to be the biggest music streaming platform, with the best discovery and recommendation system too. However, it’s not perfect in every aspect. And that’s what has led us to line up the 12 best Spotify alternatives for the folks who are hunting for a better substitute.
Spotify – Why and Why Not?
One of the most popular music streaming services today is Spotify, with a massive 299 million userbase and around 138 million paid subscribers. It has made its mark in the music industry over the past couple of years, building itself as the greatest hotspot for music consumption and capturing the interest of music labels and artists alike.
While all this sounds amazing, Spotify’s free tier is limiting and you need to shell out a whopping $9.99/ month for the premium subscription. However, the $9.99 gets you ad-free streaming, offline downloads, and most importantly, the ability to skip and play all tracks instead of being stuck with random shuffles. The premium feature set here looks limited for the asking price.
Apple Music is one of the most popular music streaming services, with more than 60 million paid subscribers worldwide but it still lags behind Spotify by a huge margin.
One of the notable features of Apple Music is exclusive album launches and 24×7 Beats1 radio station, curated playlists, and more. It is lush with features, including Apple Watch and Siri integration but the social experience is now being phased out and there’s the lack of a free tier– which is a major plus for Spotify. You can pick between the free tier, a monthly subscription, with the cheaper student and family plans.
Cons:
Availability: Web (Unofficial); Android and iOS
Cons:
- Lacks a modern-looking UI
Availability: Web; Android and iOS
Pandora is not only one of the oldest, but one of the more popular streaming services as well. It has been around since 2002 and currently boasts around 80 million active users, even though it’s a pioneer of the streaming industry.
Unfortunately, due to DMCA regulations, Pandora is only available in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
Tidal is a subscription-based music streaming service, owned by renowned rap star Jay-Z. It combines lossless audio and high fidelity (HiFi) music videos with curated editorial.
The service prides itself on providing users with the highest quality of music possible and also doling out the highest percentage of royalties to music artists and songwriters in contrast to its competitors. Then, there’s the Tidal X experience that brings listeners closer to their favorite artists.
- Pretty neat interface
- Delivers high-fidelity music
- Personalized suggestions are top-notch
There is a lot to like on YouTube Music. So, if you are hunting for a full-fledged alternative to Spotify, do not miss out on YouTube Music.
Probably the best part about YouTube Music is the song recommendations that can comfortably beat Spotify’s song suggestions. It offers suggestions based on several things including your interest, location, and even time of day. So, finding the song that can get along nicely with your mood shouldn’t be a big deal.
Availability: Web; Android and iOS
6. Deezer
Deezer is one of the most reputed and oldest music streaming platforms, which is now known to offer users a collection of over 56 million licensed tracks, over 30,000 radio channels, podcasts, and more. It currently has around 14 million monthly active users, which pales in comparison to Spotify.
- Hi-Fi streaming option
- 16-bit FLAC quality
- Pretty good personalized recommendations
- Offline mode
Well, if you are looking for some fresh indie music or an up-and-coming rapper – the likes of Post Malone, then Soundcloud is the perfect music streaming platform for you. It’s one of the popular platforms among creators, with its whole collection adding up to over 200 million tracks including popular songs and indie ones. Now, that’s a massive library for a melophile like me, even bigger than Spotify, who likes to go on a new artist hunting spree every so often.
If you want to remove ads and want to support emerging artists, well, SoundCloud Go is the perfect way to go about it. It’s a $4.99/ month subscription that shares revenue with creators, brings offline support, and more. It’s cheaper than Spotify and equally fun.
Both in terms of personalized music listening experience and versatility, iHeartRadio can make a match with Spotify. Just like Spotify, it’s also a great platform for music, radio, and podcasts. Thanks largely to thousands of live radio stations and plenty of customization on offer, iHeartRadio has a clear edge over Spotify in terms of radio listening.
- Music recommendations need some enhancement
If you are in quest of a Spotify substitute for better music discovery, look no further than SoundHound. It’s by far the best app to discover music playing around you. Besides, you can also sing or hum the tune to find out the music that seems to get stuck in your mind.
Pros:
Availability: Android and iOS
Spotify recently arrived in India, and so far, we’d recommend you to not switch to it. Still, if you’re craving Bollywood music, I’m sure that some of these aforementioned apps can come to your rescue.
10. JioSaavn
While Gaana once claimed itself to be the number one music streaming service in India, there’s a new victor in town and it’s all thanks to Reliance Jio. Saavn and Jio Music have recently been merged to create the biggest streaming service in India called JioSaavn.
Cons:
Coming to Gaana next, well, it’s not really far behind from JioSaavn in terms of features and usability. The streaming service offers a wide collection of more than 45 million Bollywood and English tracks.
- Downloaded songs may not play in the desired sequence
If you’re an Airtel user, you would have surely heard of Wynk Music, the music streaming service from the telecom giant. The platform has tons of Bollywood content, along with a hoard of western and regional content to round off its collection.
Hungama Music is a well-known name in the music streaming industry in India, but with the introduction of Saavn and Gaana, paired with their growing popularity over the years, Hungama Music has lost its touch.
- Lacks a huge music library
What is the best alternative to Spotify?
Along with Apple Music, YouTube Music is the best alternative to Spotify.
In terms of sound quality, Deezer does have an edge over Spotify. However, if you take everything into account, Spotify is better.
No. You need to have an account to sign in to Spotify before being able to stream music or listen to podcasts.
Top Spotify Alternatives You Can Try
Spotify has my heart and soul, all because of its outstanding recommendation algorithms. However, I did not land on the perfect choice for me right away. I had to check out many different services to find the right fit.
