Where do you store music on Android?

With the rise in popularity of streaming music services and digital music files, many Android users need robust options for storing their music libraries. While onboard storage offers simplicity, expandable SD cards provide extra capacity, and cloud services enable access across devices. This article will examine the main methods of storing music on Android, including the pros and cons of each approach. We’ll also look at best practices for managing your music storage as well as some handy apps that can make the process easier. Whether you have a few albums or an extensive playlist collection, we’ll help you determine the ideal storage solutions so you can take your music with you everywhere.

Onboard Storage

Onboard or internal storage refers to the built-in storage on an Android device that comes pre-installed with the phone. This usually takes the form of solid state memory or a hard drive soldered onto the motherboard of the device. The main benefits of using onboard storage for music include:

Reliability – Being physically connected to the device, onboard storage is less likely to become corrupted or fail compared to removable SD cards.

Speed – Onboard storage is typically faster than external SD cards, allowing for quicker loading of music files.
Seamless access – Music stored internally can be accessed directly without the need to mount external drives.

Some downsides to onboard storage are:

Limited capacity – Onboard storage tends to be lower capacity compared to SD cards, limiting the amount of music you can store.
Not removable – Music cannot be physically removed and transferred to another device like with SD cards.
Requires backups – If the phone is lost/broken, internal music is also lost unless backed up externally.

Overall, onboard storage provides reliable high-speed access to music, but capacity limits mean external SD card storage may still be required for large collections.

SD Cards

Many Android devices have a slot for an SD card which allows you to expand the phone’s storage capacity. SD cards provide a convenient way to store lots of music on your device. The pros of using SD cards for music storage include:

SD cards can add substantial extra storage, often up to 512GB extra.

Music on SD cards can be accessed by various apps on the device.
SD cards keep your music separate from the device’s onboard storage.
SD cards are removable, so you can swap cards to access different music libraries.

You can set where apps store data, so you can make sure music goes on the SD card.

Some potential downsides of using SD cards for music are:

SD cards are slower than onboard storage, so music playback may stutter.

Not all Android devices have SD card slots anymore.
SD cards can fail or become corrupted, leading to data loss.
Removing the SD card prevents access to music stored only there.

Overall, SD cards provide a great portable way to massively expand the music storage on your Android device. Just make sure to get a high quality, high speed SD card and be diligent with backups to protect your music library.

Cloud Storage

Storing music in the cloud has become increasingly popular in recent years. Some of the top cloud storage options for music include:

Google Play Music – Google’s music locker service that allows you to upload up to 50,000 songs for free. You can then stream your music to any device. Pros are its integration with Android, ability to upload your own music, and included streaming service. Cons are its discontinuation in late 2020 in favor of YouTube Music (source).

Spotify – Widely used streaming service with over 50 million songs. Spotify Premium allows you to save music offline and listen ad-free. Pros are its massive music catalog, playlists, and social features. Cons are its purely rental model with no ability to upload your own music (source).
Amazon Music – Amazon’s cloud music locker. Store up to 250,000 songs that can then be streamed or downloaded. Pros are ad-free listening and downloading for offline playback. Cons are its smaller music selection compared to Spotify and lack of a free tier (source).

Cloud services allow you to access your music anywhere but rely on an internet connection. They also do not offer unlimited storage for large music collections. However, streaming services like Spotify give you access to millions more songs than you could store locally.

USB Storage

One option for storing music on your Android device is using a USB flash drive or external hard drive. This allows you to store a large music library separate from your phone’s internal storage. There are a few advantages and disadvantages to this method:

Pros:

External USB drives can store much more data than onboard storage. High capacity USB 3.0 flash drives up to 1TB are available.

Music is stored separately from apps and other files, keeping your phone storage less cluttered.
Files can be accessed on different devices by plugging the USB drive in.

Cons:

You need an OTG adapter to connect USB storage to Android.
USB drives are less convenient than cloud storage as they need to be physically connected.
Possible performance lag or battery drain from USB drives, depending on the drive speed and USB standard supported.

Overall, USB flash drives provide a simple way to expand music storage for Android if you want to keep your collection offline. High capacity and fast USB 3.0 drives will offer better performance. Using an OTG adapter is required for connecting external storage.

Best Practices

When it comes to storing music on your Android device, there are some best practices you should follow to keep your collection organized, secure, and easy to access.

First, organize your music files into folders by artist, album, genre, or however else makes the most sense for your needs. Giving your music structure through folders will make it much easier to browse and find what you’re looking for. Services like MP3Tag can help edit metadata tags to enable folder structures.

Next, be sure to back up your music collection regularly. Services like Google Drive or external hard drives can provide redundancy if something happens to the main storage location on your device. It’s a good idea to have multiple backup sources.

Finally, utilize built-in Android storage management features to monitor how your music storage is being used. This allows you to identify issues before you run out of space. The Files app provides a breakdown of storage by type and lets you easily delete unneeded items.

Following organizational, backup, and management best practices will ensure your music collection remains available anytime on your Android device.

Storage Management Apps

There are several useful apps that can help you manage your music storage across different locations on an Android device.

One of the most popular is MX Player. This versatile media player allows you to access and play music files stored in internal storage, SD cards, attached drives, and cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox. MX Player makes it easy to switch between storage locations and playlists.

Another great option is DoubleTwist. This app specializes in managing music collections across multiple storage locations. It can sync music between Android devices, cloud storage, computers, and external drives. The app features playlists, airplay streaming, and equalizers for managing large music libraries.

For moving files between locations, apps like Files by Google and Send Files to TV allow transferring music to SD cards, USB drives, network locations, and more. This helps consolidate music collections scattered across various places.

Finally, cloud locker apps like Google Play Music and Amazon Music make it easy to upload music to the cloud and stream it on any device. Their apps seamlessly integrate cloud music storage with locally stored music.

Leveraging storage management apps helps optimize music storage and access on Android devices across multiple locations and drives.

Music Players

There are many great music player apps available for Android that provide robust options for managing your music library and storage. Some of the most popular Android music players include:

Google Play Music – Google’s official music app lets you upload up to 50,000 songs to the cloud and stream your collection across devices. It also offers subscriptions to YouTube Music and YouTube Premium for streaming.

Samsung Music – Preinstalled on Samsung Galaxy devices, this player lets you manage both local and cloud-based music libraries. It has a clean interface and useful tools like a lyric viewer.

Phonograph Music Player – A minimalist open source player with support for on-device, SD card, and cloud music. It has a tag editor, equalizer, gapless playback, and home screen widgets.

BlackPlayer – A highly customizable player with support for themes, queues, bookmarks, and embedded lyrics. The free version has ads while the paid version unlocks additional features.

Poweramp – A feature-rich music player with gapless playback, crossfade, and bass/treble boost. It works well with large local libraries and has many theme options.

Most Android music apps let you choose where to store your downloaded music, such as device storage or an SD card. Cloud-based apps like Google Play Music also offer online storage and streaming. Overall, Android provides many excellent options for playing music from different storage locations.

Security

When storing music on your Android device, it’s important to consider security and privacy. Here are some tips:

Use caution with public WiFi and Bluetooth – Public connections can potentially expose your data. Avoid downloading or streaming music over public WiFi.

Enable encryption – If storing music locally on your device storage or SD card, enable encryption for an extra layer of security.
Check app permissions – Be selective in granting access to music apps. Only enable permissions needed for core functionality.
Use trusted cloud services – When using cloud storage, choose reputable providers that offer robust security features.

Backup your data – Occasionally back up your music library to protect against data loss.
Delete sensitive files – If storing any private voice memos or recordings, securely delete them when no longer needed.

With some basic precautions, you can securely store your music library on an Android device. Focus on controlling app permissions, enabling encryption, and using trusted services.

Summary

There are several great options for storing music on Android devices. The main storage locations include:

Onboard storage – This is the built-in storage on your device. It offers fast access but limited capacity.
SD cards – SD cards can massively expand storage capacity. However, app support can be limited.

Cloud storage – Services like Google Play Music allow you to store music in the cloud. This provides ubiquitous access but requires an internet connection.
USB storage – Flash drives and external hard drives connected via USB OTG offer flexible extra capacity.

To get the best experience, utilize a combination of storage locations. Use onboard storage for active listening, SD cards for capacity, and cloud services for access everywhere. Stay organized with storage management apps and secure your files with encryption. With the myriad storage options on Android, you can always have your music collection available.

As we covered, Android offers several great options for storing your music. By understanding the pros and cons of each method, you can create the ideal setup for your needs and preferences.