This is thanks to a fun, easy-to-use interface, an extensive catalog and the best device compatibility. When it comes to choosing a service, it's a close race between Spotify Premium and Apple Music, but Spotify still wins as the best music streaming service overall. It's also ramped up its nonmusic content with a push toward podcasts, which indirectly led to folk-rock icon Neil Young removing his music from the service. It offers a number of curated music discovery services, including its Discover Weekly playlist, and is constantly implementing new ones, such as Stations. Spotify is a pioneer in music streaming and is arguably the best-known service. Spotify: Comparing the Top Music Streaming Services We'll update this list periodically.Īnd if you want the TL DR, these are the top three. So which music streaming services offer the best combination of price, sound quality and library size? Read on to find an in-depth look at each of the services and a feature comparison, along with a full price breakdown in the chart at the bottom of the page. It's worth noting that, in this roundup, I've purposefully left out services that can only play music in a radio format (such as basic Pandora and UnRadio) and which don't allow you to select your own songs. I've checked out the biggest names, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon MusicĪnd YouTube Music, as well as smaller contenders such as Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer and Pandora Premium, to see how each platform stacks up for your subscription buck. While prices have been stable at around $10 a month (which is not something I can say about live TV streaming) there have been other big changes recently, including the addition of hi-res music.

Most of the services have music catalogs of over 60 million songs, so that's not really an issue, plus they enable you to stream from multiple devices. If you're shopping around for a new music provider the two things you need to consider most are monthly cost and compatibility.

Yet, with so many music services on offer, how are you supposed to choose?

Though some audiophiles may pooh-pooh the quality of streamed music, a growing number of providers include lossless and spatial Dolby Atmos audio at no extra charge. Music streaming services offer users a world of convenience and discovery, allowing people to listen to hundreds of thousands of artists easily and quickly.

Spotify++ may 2021