Top 5 music streaming services
Music streaming has really taken off as of late, with the way mobile phones have essentially invaded our everyday lives (for better or worse) that also now means with mobile internet structure that we have instant access to the internet, anywhere and at any time. This is has really been quite the boon for music streaming services and that’s why it’s important to have a list of what I feel are the top 5 music streaming services.
A lot of people listen to their music on the go and seeing how space on our phones is usually at a premium being able to stream anything you want without it having to take up copious amounts of space on your phone is pretty much a godsend. It isn’t for everyone though. I personally prefer to have my own files on my phone as I like to know I can access them whether I have internet or not and I also like to have the highest fidelity possible.
Libraries’ vary from region to region so using Smart DNS is a must have if you really want to get the most from the services you pay for. Smart DNS is easy to set up and doesn’t affect your speed. You can even use it on your phone whilst you are out and about.
Onto the list though:
Spotify
I pretty much have to have this on my list. It is impossible to have a list with what essentially made music streaming a mainstream (no pun intended) thing. Spotify offers two ways to use their service. You can either just go free but you lose a few features. Spotify premium ($10 a month) gets rid of ads, offline listening and higher quality audio, mind you we are still only looking at MP3 320kbps, which is fine for the majority of people. Spotify offers a whopping 25 million songs for your delectation. There has been some controversy though with regards to how much Spotify pay the artists. Taylor Swift for example removed all of her music from the service because she felt the percentage of revenue was unfair.
rdio
You’ll find a lot of streaming services are trying to imitate Spotify. rdio is no different but it does a good job and adds a lot of features that put it ahead of Spotify for many people. The radio function for example works really well and the GUI in general is way easier to navigate than Spotify’s. The music selection is around 20 million and they come in 192kbps or 320kbps flavours for premium users. Premium costs the same as Spotify at $10. Of course there is free streaming too which is ad supported.
Pandora
Pandora is what I would consider the old guard of the industry. It has been around for a whopping 15 years. When it came out in 2000, it was a fantastic tool for music listeners as music started to go digital. Nowadays it isn’t the pioneer it once used to be but that reflects in the price, as its just $4 a month for Pandora One (premium service). There are ‘only’ one million songs to choose from and the quality is either 128kbps or 192kbps but for the price, that it may well be enough for some people.
Rhapsody
Rhapsody has been around for a while now and you really can’t go wrong with it. You get 320kbps quality for $10 a month. They have a huge music selection for you to peruse. You can also download any songs you wish. Rhapsody also has their radio service that you get with your subscription that works very well.
BBC iPlayer Radio
Obviously this is not quite like the other services on this list but it still a good source of music streaming. If you prefer having a real radio experience then you can’t go wrong with iPlayer Radio, you get access to all BBC radio stations so you can listen to brand new music with their various shows.
