Best Music Streaming Services

How to choose among Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, and more

By Thomas Germain

The best music streaming services have a lot in common: mostly identical libraries of songs, a lot of the same features, and a price of around $10 per month. Most music streaming services have an unpaid trial period, and many offer a free tier. Check out CR’s guide to free music streaming for details.

You can thank market competition. Music streaming is one of the rare corners of the tech industry where multiple companies offer near-identical products. That forces the streaming giants into a constant race to add features, match competitors’ perks, and keep prices low to hold on to subscribers. Listeners get to enjoy the benefits of services that just keep getting better.

There are a few differences, however. Some of these services have catalogs of exclusive content, including podcasts. You’ll also find a few gaps, where some platforms are missing particular artists and albums, though these are generally exceptions to the rule.

Below, you can see what sets each streaming service apart. You can also check out CR’s guide to moving your library of playlists to a different music streaming service if another one catches your eye. Scroll through or click on the links below to jump to the details about a particular service.

(In the market for new headphones? Check out the best earbuds of 2022. CR’s lab tests reveal great Bluetooth and wired options for every budget.)

Amazon Music Unlimited and Amazon Prime Music

Price: Prime Music is included free with Amazon Prime, Amazon’s paid subscription service that costs $15 per month or $139 per year. It has a library of 2 million songs.

Starting May 5, prices for Amazon Music Unlimited are going up. It will cost a dollar more, or $9 per month for Prime members, though the $10 per month price for non-Prime members will stay the same. There’s a free three-month trial and a discounted family plan. You can also get a special rate if you sign up for the Single Device Plan via an eligible Amazon Echo device, but that price is going up a dollar as well; the plan will cost $5 per month.

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You can also access free, ad-supported playlists and stations by asking an Alexa smart assistant to play music.

Who it’s best for: Amazon Prime members looking for a bargain. But the deal for Amazon Music Unlimited isn’t as sweet with the price hike. A lot of other services still cost 99 cents more, though. It’s still a good option to stream high-quality files, but there are more and more competitors.

Pros: Both are ad-free, on-demand services, and if you already have a Prime subscription, Amazon Music Unlimited is the best deal you can get (though not by much). Unlimited has over 90 million songs, curated playlists, podcasts, and personalized stations. That entire library can now be streamed in high definition, and over 7 million tracks are available in 24-bit Ultra HD.

Cons: Amazon Music Unlimited doesn’t seem quite as effective in making recommendations as many of its competitors, Spotify in particular. And while you don’t have to pay for Prime Music, its 2 million songs amount to a thin selection compared with what you get from other streaming services.

Apple Music

Price: Individuals pay $10 per month; the service costs $15 for up to six family members. Apple Music also has a discounted rate of $5 for students. There’s no free tier, but you can get a three-month free trial. People with eligible AirPods, HomePod minis, or Beats headphones can also get six months free. Apple Music also has a more limited “voice plan” for $5 per month, but you can also access the music using Siri, Apple’s digital assistant.

Who it’s best for: People who already have large iTunes libraries or who are otherwise committed to the Apple ecosystem.

Pros: Apple Music has a library of 90 million songs that can be accessed on Apple, Windows, and Android devices. After a recent update, the entire library is available in lossless hi-fi at no extra charge. Human curators create a variety of themed playlists that help users discover new music. Unsurprisingly, the Apple Music experience is particularly smooth on iPhones and Mac computers.

Last year Apple purchased Primephonic, a classical music streaming service built to handle the idiosyncrasies of the genre, such as track titles that don’t work as well in systems designed for contemporary music. Apple plans to bring some of Primephonic’s features to the Apple Music app, which could make it an excellent choice for fans of the genre. Apple says it’s also launching a stand-alone classical app this year but hasn’t revealed any details about the plan.

Cons: The desktop app for Windows computers is a little clunky. But you can listen to Apple Music in a browser for a more streamlined experience.

Idagio

Price: Idagio is a classical music streaming service that costs $10 per month. There’s a free two-week trial period so that you can try the service before you commit. Students can get 50 percent off, and Idagio also has a free ad-supported tier with fewer songs.

For $16.67 per month you get access to Idagio’s exclusive online concerts, which sometimes feature leading performers.

Confusingly, the price and premium options differ depending on where and how you subscribe, via a web browser, an iPhone, or an Android phone. The differences include access to lossless audio quality. In some cases it’s a free bonus of the basic tier; in others, you have to pay more.

Who it’s best for: Fans of classical music and those who want to explore the genre.

Pros: Idagio is built to suit the idiosyncrasies of the classical world. It can be hard to find your favorite recording of a beloved Rachmaninoff concerto on more mainstream services because of the complicated way tracks have to be named, even though those services might work perfectly well for digging up that Silk Sonic song you can’t stop listening to. On Idagio, the search tools handle the naming conventions of classical tracks with ease.

Idagio also has a number of browsing tools, such as curated playlists and the option to sort by various instruments. Streaming high-quality audio files is another perk that may be free, depending on how you subscribe (see above).

Cons: For now, Idagio is the best choice for classical music purists, but it might be hard to justify paying for a separate service in the near future. Apple Music just purchased Primephonic, a classical music streaming service that used to be Idagio’s main competitor. Apple plans to launch a stand-alone classical music service and roll many of Primephonic’s features into the Apple Music app.

And, of course, Idagio doesn’t have music that falls outside the realm of classical, so you’re out of luck if you like some Springsteen with your Stravinsky.

Pandora

Price: The streaming radio feature is free with ads. For $5 per month, you can listen to streaming radio without ads or specific songs with ads. The $10-per-month tier gets you access to the entire service ad-free. A $15 family plan is also available. Pandora offers free trial periods for the paid plans and discounts for students and members of the military.

Who it’s best for: Paid subscribers can stream specific tracks, as they can on any other service, but Pandora was designed for those who want tailored recommendations and the kind of hands-off listening experience you get with a live radio station. You don’t need to scroll through lists of songs or do a lot of searches—you just sit back and listen to what the service picks for you.

Pros: It’s easy to get started. Tell Pandora which artist you want to hear and it creates a channel with selections from that artist and others with similar styles. You can tweak the channel to match your tastes.

Pandora was purchased by SiriusXM. Pandora subscribers also get access to some SiriusXM content and vice versa. See the help page for details.

Cons: Pandora’s maximum audio quality isn’t as high as that of some of its competitors’. And it doesn’t advertise how many songs are in its library, which suggests that its offerings may be more limited than those of leading competitors.

SiriusXM Select and SiriusXM Premier

Price: SiriusXM is best known for its satellite radio service for cars, but it also has cheaper packages that let users listen through an app or a web browser.

The packages SiriusXM offers change so frequently that it isn’t worth keeping track of the specifics. For around $11 per month you can get a subscription that will let you listen on your phone, with access to hundreds of channels including music, comedy, sports, talk radio, on-demand shows, and ad-free music with skippable tracks. Sometimes that price includes access to the Howard Stern channels (his new content is a SiriusXM exclusive), but sometimes you need to pay more for that.

There’s also an extra charge if you want to stream directly to a car radio via satellite (though you could just get the app and use Bluetooth if you have good cell service). Last we checked, that cost a total of $18 per month.

There are free trials, discounted rates for the first year, and family plans. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind bargaining, haggling with a customer service rep may be the way to get the best price. Just make sure you don’t get roped into a plan with hidden fees and shifting costs. And be advised that the last time we tried canceling, it was an enormous hassle.

Who it’s best for: People who like terrestrial radio stations but want more options and a commercial-free experience with the option of skipping tracks. SiriusXM is also the only game in town for Howard Stern fans who want access to the latest content.

Pros: SiriusXM has a wide variety of offerings that will probably be a significant upgrade over your local radio stations. And if you have good cell service on your commute, plus an unlimited data plan, you can stream to your car stereo from your phone. You’ll get cheaper access to the same content offered in the company’s satellite radio packages.

As described above, SirusXM purchased Pandora, and the two services now share some features and content free of charge. See their help page for details.

Cons: You’ll probably have to call customer service to end your subscription, which was a convoluted, time-consuming process when we tried it. Choosing a package is also surprisingly complicated. When you factor in the satellite radio tiers, new users need to pick from numerous subscription choices with a confusing variety of offerings, optional add-ons, and hidden fees. The packages change constantly and details are hard to find, so you’ll never know for sure if you’re getting the best deal. The SiriusXM app and web interface can also be more difficult to navigate than those of most competitors.

Spotify

Price: Users can stream music free with ads via desktop and web apps. The Premium tier costs $10 per month for individuals, $13 for two people, or $15 for up to six users. It grants ad-free on-demand access to Spotify’s library of 82 million tracks and 3.6 million podcast titles. Students pay a discounted rate of $5 and get free access to Hulu (with commercials) and Showtime. A 30-day trial period is available.

Who it’s best for: People who want to hear plenty of music on a variety of devices. The free tier is also one of the better options for users who don’t mind ads and want to listen to songs on demand. Spotify is also famous for its effective recommendation algorithm.

Spotify has doubled down on podcasts as well. The service is host to a variety of exclusive content, particularly in the realm of podcasts.

Pros: Spotify combines a large library of popular songs with a series of robust playlists. These playlists are often geared toward specific activities and genres, helping people find music for specific situations, such as the gym or long car trips. Podcasts and other original programming are also available. If you’re a student who also wants a TV streaming service, bundling with Hulu could save you money as well.

Spotify works with a variety of connected devices, including the Sonos One and Google Home Max smart speakers, as well as video game consoles. Desktop apps are available for macOS and Windows, and mobile apps are available for Android and iOS.

Cons: On a smartphone, users can stream playlists and stations free with ads, but on-demand song selection is limited to a small number of tracks, and you can skip only a certain number of songs per hour. You can’t connect Spotify directly from the Apple HomePod, though you can connect your phone to the smart speaker over Bluetooth and play Spotify that way.

After a recent controversy surrounding misinformation, some artists have pulled their music from Spotify, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Spotify’s handling of the issue pushed some users to switch streaming services.

Spotify says high-quality audio is coming “later this year.”

Tidal

Price: Tidal starts at $10 per month for hi-res audio quality; $20 per month unlocks even higher fidelity “master quality” audio. Discounted plans for families, students, and members of the military are available. The service offers a free, ad-supported tier with lower audio quality, and a one-month trial of its paid services. The company says it has “over 80 million” tracks and hundreds of thousands of videos.

Who it’s best for: Music lovers who want high-quality audio (including high-res audio) and offline listening. The service is also great for hip-hop and R&B fans; its offerings are particularly comprehensive, including some exclusive material.

Pros: Tidal offers CD-quality and high-res audio (via HiFi, its top-tier service). Its library features over 80 million songs and hundreds of thousands of videos.

Cons: The cost of $20 per month is steep, especially when lossless streaming doesn’t cost extra with the Amazon and Apple services. You also might not be able to hear the difference with the high-quality files if you don’t have excellent audio equipment. And even if you think high-quality audio files are worth the price of admission, they can use up small cellular data plans pretty quickly.

YouTube Music

Price: YouTube Music is free with ads. YouTube Music Premium, which is ad-free, costs $10 per month for an individual or $15 per month for families. A free one-month trial is available. Discounts are available for students. People with a Google smart speaker can access free ad-supported playlists and stations without signing up by asking their device to play music.

Adding some potential confusion, there’s a separate service called YouTube Premium, which costs $12 per month. It includes the same music streaming service plus ad-free videos and some original video content.

Who it’s best for: If you have a collection of your own audio files, YouTube Music has an amazing free feature. It’s the best option for anyone who wants to upload their own library and listen to it on the go without paying a fee. YouTube Music is also a great option if you’re considering paying to get rid of the ads on YouTube; the bundle makes for a nice discount. YouTube Music is also one of the few free options for listening to specific songs on demand.

Pros: What sets YouTube Music apart is the ability to upload up to 100,000 of your own audio files to stream from the cloud. You don’t have to pay anything to use this feature.

YouTube Music Premium gives you access to a library of 70 million songs, personalized playlists, and music videos. Location-based playlists will even suggest songs—think high-tempo music at the gym—at appropriate times.

Cons: There’s a major flaw to the free tier of YouTube Music. Unless you’re listening to tracks you uploaded yourself, you can’t lock your phone or switch to another app without the music stopping.

How to Listen

Whichever service you choose, you’ll have a better time with your music if you play it on equipment that sounds great. Here are a few of the best-rated headphones and speakers from CR’s ratings.

1MORE E1001 Triple Driver

Sennheiser HD 250BT

Edifier S1000DB

JBL Flip 4

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