Best Music Apps for Android?

Best music apps for android

• YouTube Music Premium
• Spotify
• Apple Music
• SoundCloud
• Poweramp Music Player
• iHeartRadio
• Deezer
• Audible

YouTube Music Premium

Replacing Google Music in 2020, YouTube Music allows you to listen to a massive variety of music, with a choice of turning music videos on or off depending on your mood. In the Premium version, you can listen to music ad-free, download music to listen offline, play videos with the screen off and integrate YouTube Kids with YouTube gaming apps, with YouTube Music also able to integrate with Android TV, Google Maps and Google Assistant, allowing you to listen while on the move. You can also sign up to a one month free trial.

YouTube Music Premium cost

YouTube Music Premium has multiple subscription options, including:

• YouTube Music Premium: $17.99 per month
• Student plan: $10.49 per month, with annual student verification required
• Family plan: $29.99 per month, with up to five family members allowed to be added

Spotify

One of the largest- and arguably the best – music streaming services around, Spotify remains hugely popular with Android users. The app provides a free, ad-supported service with some limitations, or Spotify Premium for on-demand streaming and offline listening. Spotify’s biggest advantages are its support for custom, shareable playlists, which can be easily embedded into websites and social media posts all over the internet, and its popularity amongst artists, who often release albums either first or exclusively on Spotify. The first month is free, and you are able to cancel at any time.

Spotify costs

Spotify has a number of plans available for users to choose from, including:

• Spotify Free: free to sign-up and use, but you’ll be exposed to ads every few songs, with other restrictions enabled
• Spotify Premium Individual: $16.99 per month, with ad-free listening and offline listening available
• Spotify Premium Student: $8.99 per month, although terms and conditions apply to student sign-ups, including student verification
• Spotify Premium Duo: $22.49 per month, which allows two people to share a Spotify Premium account
• Spotify Premium Family: $25.99 per month, which gives up to six people access to a shared Premium account. Also provides access to Spotify Kids: a separate music app made just for kids

Apple Music

Despite being marketed primarily towards Apple devices, Apple music can also be used on Androids.

Apple’s proprietary music app offers access to more than 100 million songs in its catalogue, as well as providing you access to any and all iTunes music you might have purchased over the years. The app also offers plenty of exclusive content, such as music documentaries, TV shows and behind-the-scenes footage. The only catch is that this requires a subscription – Apple Music unfortunately doesn’t have a free, ad-supported option.

Apple offers a free one-month trial on its Voice, Student and Family plans, with the Individual plan eligible for a three month trial.

Apple Music cost

Apple Music is available on a number of different plans, including:

• Apple Music Individual: $16.99 per month, with access to full library, ad-free listening and access to additional content such as shows
• Apple Music Voice: $7.49 per month, with access to full music library, but no downloads or support for non-Apple products available
• Apple Music Student: $6.99 per month, terms and conditions apply to students, with verification needed
• Apple Music Family: $25.99 per month, can have up to five accounts allocated to the Family plan

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SoundCloud

SoundCloud is arguably the largest platform for up-and-coming artists and fans to check out. The mobile app and website allow you to create an account and upload your own music, podcasts, poetry or whatever audio takes your fancy. You can listen to other people’s music and subscribe to their own channels, with many celebrity artists continuing to post tracks. With more than 200 million tracks currently on the platform, and the ability to create your own playlists and discover new music, there’s something for everyone. SoundCloud offers a free platform and paid options specifically for creators.

SoundCloud cost

SoundCloud has multiple plans on offer, including:

• SoundCloud Free: explore artists and playlists for free, with some limitations in place
• SoundCloud Go: $7.99 per month for ad-free listening, with offline listening capabilities
• SoundCloud Go+: $14.99 per month for ad-free listening and access to SoundCloud’s full catalogue and high quality audio
• SoundCloud Go+ Student: $7.49 per month for everything SoundCloud Go+ has to offer, verification required
• SoundCloud Next: the free subscription for creators looking to get their music out there
• SoundCloud Pro: $11.25 per month with unlimited track uploads, access to SoundCloud’s promotional toolkit and advanced fan insights

SoundCloud Go has a free seven day trial, while SoundCloud Go+ and SoundCloud Go+ Student have a 30-day free trial.

Poweramp Music Player

Poweramp Music Player is a service made just for Android, offering premium features for the flat price of under $10. Playing songs from your own library of songs, Poweramp features include gapless play, a ground-breaking equalizer, crossfade abilities and support for a wide range of file formats as well as app integration with Google Assistant, Chromecast and Android Auto. If you are picky with your music players, you will appreciate Poweramp’s free 15-day trial during which you have access to the entire service. If you choose to go ahead and subscribe, all and any updates will be forever free. If you have amassed an impressive library of music during your time, Poweramp is the way to go.

Poweramp cost

Poweramp has just the one price tier for music-lovers to consider:

• Poweramp Music Player: $8.20

iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio is an internet radio app offering thousands of radio stations from around the world, covering genres such as music, sports, talkback and comedy, as well as countless popular podcasts, with the ability to create your own personalised stations with your favourite content.

iHeartRadio Cost

iHeartRadio is available for free, with a premium version also available:

• iHeartRadio: free
• iHeartRadio Plus: $4.99 per month, save and replay songs, unlimited skips and a personalised playlist of up to 40 songs

iHeartRadio+ offers a 30-day free trial to new customers.

Deezer

Deezer is a personal music player which lets you stream tracks from thousands of artists. Much like Spotify or Apple Music, Deezer lets you stream music and podcasts, download MP3 tracks to listen offline, create playlists and listen to radio stations. Deezer offers on-screen lyrics when listening to a song, allowing you and your friends to sing along to your favourite tracks. Deezer also has a feature called Flow, which provides a never-ending personalised radio of tracks based on your tastes. The app is available for free and with an optional Premium subscription, with a one-month free trial also available.

Deezer cost

Deezer has two plans available for music lovers to choose from:

• Deezer Premium: US$10.99 per month, ad-free listening and download music to listen to offline
• Deezer Family: US$17.99 per month, comes with six individual Premium accounts

Both plans offer a one-month free trial.

Audible

Audible is a little different to the other music services as it focuses more on audiobooks and audio shows. Owned by Amazon, with access to the company’s vast book library, Audible provides you with ad-free listening for a huge variety of audiobooks.

Your collection is stored in the cloud, meaning you can access it across all devices, and you can pick up where you left off thanks to place saving. Audible is a subscription service, but offers a 30-day free trial and a free first audiobook.

Audible cost

• Audible: $16.45 per month, comes with a monthly credit to buy any book, regardless of price and the Plus Catalogue – a selection of Audible originals, audiobooks and podcasts

Users can also upgrade their plan to receive extra credits (to purchase premium content):

• 2 credits monthly: $27.45 per month
• 12 credits annually: $164.50 per year
• 24 credits annually: $274.60 per year

About the reviewer of this page

This report was reviewed by Canstar Content Producer, Caitlin Bingham. Caitlin is an experienced writer whose passion for creativity led her to study communication and journalism. She began her career freelancing as a content writer, before joining the Canstar team.