Which music app is totally free download?
In recent years, free music streaming apps have become incredibly popular. Companies like Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and Pandora allow users to listen to millions of songs at no cost. These services make money through advertisements, premium upgrades, and other means while providing users free access to expansive music libraries.
Some of the most widely used free music apps include Spotify, which pioneered the streaming model and has over 400 million users, YouTube Music with over 50 million subscribers, Amazon Music with access to 100 million songs, and Pandora with over 70 million monthly listeners. These services allow users to search for and play any song they want instantly.
Music streaming began in the early 2000s but did not gain major popularity until smartphones became ubiquitous in the late 2000s and mobile data speeds improved. Initially companies like Spotify and Pandora used a freemium model balancing free ad-supported tiers with paid subscriptions. More recently companies like Amazon, YouTube, and Apple have entered the market promoting free options supported by their other businesses.
Spotify
Spotify launched in 2008 and is now available on iOS, Android, and desktop. It offers both a free, ad-supported tier as well as a paid Premium subscription. The free tier allows shuffle play but with limited skips and no offline listening. Premium removes ads and limitations, granting full on-demand playback with unlimited skips, downloads for offline listening, and improved audio quality.
With over 500 million users as of 2023, Spotify has far more subscribers than competing services like Apple Music and Amazon Music. However, only about 40% of its users pay for Premium, down from nearly 50% in previous years. The free, ad-supported tier appeals to more casual listeners, while Premium provides a full-featured experience for music enthusiasts willing to pay.
YouTube Music
YouTube Music launched in 2015 as Google’s latest attempt at a streaming music service. The app is built on YouTube’s massive catalog of official music videos, covers, live performances, and more. It aims to blend the worlds of video streaming and music streaming.
YouTube Music offers a free, ad-supported tier with limited functionality, especially on mobile. Free users can search for songs, albums, playlists, and more to stream on-demand. However, features like downloading for offline listening, background play, and ad-free listening require a paid YouTube Premium subscription.
According to Google’s support page, the paid YouTube Music Premium provides the full listening experience across devices, including:
- Ad-free, background, and offline listening
- Downloads for offline listening
- No interruptions from ads or distractions
Essentially, the free YouTube Music experience is quite limited on mobile, pushing users to upgrade to the paid tier for full access across devices.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music offers users an ad-supported free tier as well as paid options for an upgraded experience. According to Amazon’s website, the free version provides access to top playlists and thousands of stations, but includes advertisements (Source).
The free tier has a limited catalog compared to paid plans, but still provides millions of songs to stream on demand. Listeners can also get recommendations and create personal playlists. Additionally, the free Amazon Music app allows hands-free listening on Alexa-enabled Echo devices.
For Prime members, Amazon Music Unlimited provides an upgraded experience without ads or listening restrictions. This paid tier unlocks over 100 million songs and millions of podcast episodes to stream or download (Source). Subscribing to this plan also enables high quality audio, offline listening, and unlimited skips.
Pandora
Pandora pioneered internet radio when it launched in 2000. The service offers an ad-supported free tier that allows limited skips and replays per hour. Users can create stations based on artists or songs and Pandora’s algorithms will generate a customized playlist.
The free tier includes advertisements between songs. Users are limited to 6 skips per station per hour and can replay tracks a maximum of 12 times per station per day.
Pandora also offers a paid subscription called Pandora Plus for $4.99/month that provides unlimited skips and replays. Pandora Plus removes advertisements so listeners can enjoy their stations uninterrupted (https://help.pandora.com/s/article/000001089).
Pandora Premium is a higher tier subscription at $9.99/month that adds on-demand playback and offline listening. Pandora Premium gives users full control to play any song or album at any time without any limits (https://freeyourmusic.com/blog/pandora-plus-vs-premium).
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a popular music streaming service with a huge catalog of remixes, covers, and original music from indie artists. The platform is known for its vibrant community of independent musicians who share their tracks. As described on the SoundCloud website, “With a free SoundCloud account, you can easily upload your first tracks, begin to build your presence and start growing your audience” (https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003454807-How-does-SoundCloud-work).
SoundCloud offers a free, ad-supported tier as well as paid subscription plans like SoundCloud Go and SoundCloud Pro which provide additional features like offline listening. As noted on their help site, “With a SoundCloud Go subscription there are no ad interruptions between you and your music. Promoted tracks will still appear, even with SoundCloud Go” (https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051838554-SoundCloud-Go-General-FAQs). The platform is especially popular for its remixes, covers, and DJ mixes.
Comparison of Key Features
When choosing between free music apps, some of the key features to compare include:
- Free vs. paid tiers – Some apps like Spotify offer a free ad-supported tier while others like Apple Music are paid only.
- Library size – Spotify boasts over 80 million songs while Pandora has a library of under 3 million tracks.
- Platforms – Most services are available on iOS, Android, web, and allow offline listening. Amazon Music is mostly limited to Amazon devices.
- Audio quality – Paid tiers of Spotify, TIDAL, and others offer high bitrate streams up to 320kbps. Free tiers are typically capped at 160kbps.
| App | Free Option | Song Library | Audio Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | Yes | 80+ million | 160kbps (free) 320kbps (paid) |
| Apple Music | No | Over 90 million | 256kbps |
| YouTube Music | Yes | Over 70 million | 128kbps |
| Amazon Music | Yes | 90 million | 256kbps |
| Pandora | Yes | Under 3 million | 192kbps |
Listening Experience
When it comes to the overall listening experience, music apps rely heavily on algorithms and machine learning to curate playlists and recommend new music that matches users’ tastes. According to Cloud Cover Music, Spotify and Pandora offer some of the most robust recommendation engines and tailored playlists. Spotify has a “Discover Weekly” playlist which refreshes every Monday with 30 new songs based on what you’ve been listening to. Pandora’s “Music Genome Project” analyzes songs based on hundreds of attributes to serve up stations based on your favorites. Meanwhile, Wired notes that Apple Music and YouTube Music both leverage Google’s machine learning prowess to enhance discovery features.
When it comes to user-curated playlists, Spotify is the undisputed leader. Spotify users can browse over 4 billion playlists created by other users on a vast range of topics. This makes discovering new music through other listeners incredibly easy. Meanwhile, Pandora still relies heavily on its algorithmic radio stations rather than user playlists. The ability for users to create and share playlists helps make Spotify feel more dynamic and social versus Pandora’s more solitary radio listening experience.
Overall, while all major music streaming apps leverage some form of recommendation engine, Spotify and Pandora seem to promote the most personalized and tailored listening experience based on algorithms and machine learning. However, Apple Music and YouTube Music are quickly catching up thanks to Google’s machine learning expertise.
Advertisements and Upselling
When evaluating free music apps, users often find frequent advertisements irritating. Of the apps reviewed, Spotify and Pandora have the most ads on their free tiers. On Spotify’s free plan, users can expect audio ads every few songs. Pandora also inserts audio ads frequently on its free tier, after about an hour of listening. Both apps also display banner ads.
While ads can interrupt listening and affect the experience, Spotify and Pandora employ relatively soft upselling tactics. They mainly advertise their paid subscriptions in the app itself rather than pushily upselling users. Still, some find the frequency of ads in Spotify frustrating.
YouTube Music provides a better ad-free experience on its free tier by limiting video ads and including background listening. Amazon Music also includes a selection of songs for Prime members to stream at no cost. Of the free options, YouTube Music and Amazon Music offer the least intrusive ads and upselling.
In summary, Spotify and Pandora have the most frequent audio ads on their free tiers which can hamper enjoyment. But their upselling tactics tend to be low pressure. YouTube Music and Amazon Music provide the most seamless free listening with minimal advertisements and upselling.
Conclusion
In summary, there are pros and cons to each of the major free music streaming services:
Spotify offers the largest music library and has a great user experience, but is supported by advertisements and has limited features for free users. YouTube Music provides official music videos and live performances, but the interface is not as polished. Amazon Music has seamless integration with Alexa and Echo devices, but a more limited catalog for free users. Pandora pioneered personalized radio stations, but has more audio advertisements and restrictions. SoundCloud showcases emerging artists and original tracks, but has a smaller overall music selection.
For casual listeners looking to save money, Pandora or Spotify free may be your best bet. Power users who want unlimited, on-demand access to the top charts will likely need to upgrade to a paid subscription. Audiophiles seeking niche content may prefer SoundCloud. Fans of music videos and concerts can get their fill on YouTube Music.
Looking ahead, competition will continue to increase as tech giants aim for growth in the streaming market. Integrations with smart home devices and automobiles will provide more listening scenarios. Music discovery and personalization will improve through advanced algorithms and AI. While free services will remain ad-supported, new tiers like Spotify HiFi hint at further segmentation of subscriptions. Still, expect the core offerings of unlimited, on-demand streaming ad-free to carry a monthly fee. For budget-conscious music fans, excellent free options fortunately remain.