The 10 Best music services
'Appy days are here again… the online music stores and streaming sites which we believe are the hippest and hottest around.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Launched in the UK last year, this is a new streaming service from the creators of Skype giving users unlimited, ad-free access to a library of around 18 million songs. It also has a social element, allowing you to follow others users.
Free for first 6 months, £4.99 a month for web streaming, £9.99 a month for web and mobile, rdio.com
An online streaming site with a vast library and radio channels. It has agreements with over 2,000 labels and features more independents than the more commercial services. The mobile app could still do with some tweaks.
Free with adverts for 12 Months, £4.99 a month for basic, £9.99 for premium, deezer.com
One of the most popular streaming sites, with a smooth, user-friendly interface and large library of tunes. There is also a great range of third-party apps to enhance your experience. The adverts, however, can get annoying, so the premium service is well worth the money.
Free with adverts, £4.99 a month for premium, £9,99 a month for unlimited including access to mobile app, spotify.com
Solving a problem almost everyone can relate to, Shazam helps you find out all the details about songs you love, but don't know anything about. Just hold up your phone to the speakers and it does the rest. You can even sing into it.
Free, shazam.com
Includes a huge music-streaming library, Apple and Android apps and the option to save music to play in offline mode – and unlike the original file-sharing website, it's all perfectly legal and above board.
Free for 30 days, £5 a month for unlimited, £10 a month for unlimited with mobile access, napster.co.uk
After iTunes, this is the most popular online music store. You can sign up to a subscription, with reduced prices, or just buy as you like. The site is particularly good for indie and alternative music.
£9.99 a month for 23 songs, £24.99 a month for 66 songs, emusic.com
An online streaming station that helps you discover new music based on your personal tastes and listening habits. You can also download "The Scrobbler", which lets LastFM track what your listening to on external programmes – enabling it to make its own suggestions.
Free, last.fm
Originally launched as a way for music-makers to share their tunes, Soundcloud is geared up for listeners, with a slick interface and mobile apps and easy sharing. What makes it so excellent is its ability to let you hear new or unreleased tracks directly uploaded by artists.
Free, soundcloud.com
A must have for radio lovers, the all-encompassing TuneIn allows you to listen via your mobile internet service, so you don't have to download different apps to listen to your favourite stations.
Free, tunein.com
A smooth and fun smartphone app, which allows you to scroll through all the BBC digital radio stations by spinning a wheel with your thumb. You can also use it on your laptop and save your favourite programmes.
Free, bbc.co.uk/radio
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments