The modern world of listening to music can be a confusing business. People are buying more music on vinyl than on CD, and most people download music rather than buy a physical album. You can also listen to music without buying or downloading anything at all. Music streaming services are becoming more and more popular, with many different options available, often for free.
Here are our picks for the best places to listen to music for free.
Probably the best-known music streaming app, Spotify has well over 20 million songs. There are radio stations, lots of playlists, and easy connections with your social media. It’s free with ads every few songs, or you can sign up for premium for unlimited song skipping and offline listening across your mobile devices.
Google’s own service is free for 30 days, after which you’ll need to sign up to get access. It has a huge library of music, and you can upload up to 20,000 of your own songs to make them available from any device, including from iTunes.
One of the older music streaming apps, Deezer has been included on many mobile phones for years. It has a huge catalogue of music, and is usable on many different devices from Windows phones to Android, Blackberry, and Apple.
This is a great service for finding independent music, as anyone can upload and share their creations. It has a very large library, and streaming is free, with all the basic features you’d expect from a streaming service.
One of the best truly free services, iHeart Radio has millions of songs that can be listened to across Android, Apple, Windows, and gaming consoles. There’s a live music station, and plenty of options for customisation.
Last.fm is another one that’s been around for a long time, and offers a free basic version of its service. It recommends tracks and artists based on what you listen to, and has apps for Android, Apple, and Windows, as well as a browser version.
