Music streaming services have revolutionised how we consume music meaning fewer of us now store our music locally on our devices. Not only do streaming services provide a massive catalogue of artists and albums, it means music is available on all of your devices, whether you want to listen on your desktop, smartphone and tablet or through your multiroom speakers. There are plenty of streaming options out there, making it difficult to decide which service you should subscribe to.
We’ve looked at five of the most popular services looking at price, bit rate and app support to help you to decide which music streaming service is best for you. We’ve also picked a few artists and albums to give you a basic idea of what music is available on each service.
Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly is a notable new mainstream hip-hop release to give you an impression of what new music availability will be like. We’ve also gone with Menahan Street Band’s funk and soul classic Make the Road by Walking and The Touré-Raichel Collective’s The Paris Session for fans of world music. While it’s well known that Taylor Swift’s latest album 1989 isn’t available for streaming anywhere, we’ve opted for one of her older albums, Red, to see what streaming availability is like across the services.
SPOTIFY
Price: Free / £9.99 per month (Spotify Premium) Bit rate: 320Kbit/s (Spotify Premium) / 160Kbit/s / 96Kbit/s Apps: Web Player / Windows / Mac / iOS / Android / Windows Phone Music: Kendrick Lamar (Yes) / Menahan Street Band (Yes) / Touré-Raichel Collective (Yes) / Taylor Swift (No)
No list of streaming services would be complete without Spotify, a company that has become synonymous with music streaming since its launch in 2008. It has grown to over 10 million users, 2.5 million of which are paid subscribers. It’s also easily the most supported music streaming service when it comes to multiroom audio and media streamers.
Spotify Free, as the name implies, has no cost and is instead ad-supported on desktops. You’re able to create and listen to playlists and albums, but you’ll intermittently hear adverts between tracks. Even if you’re a Free user, you get access to Spotify’s curated playlists and music recommendations.
The Spotify experience gets a bit more convoluted when using the Spotify app on smartphones and tablets, however. Using a Spotify Free account on a smartphone you’re able to play playlists or use Spotify’s Radio service that chooses tracks for you in shuffle mode. You’re not able to play specific tracks, though. Pressing play will start a mix of an album or artist with similar or suggested tracks thrown in. You can also only skip up to six songs per hour. On tablets, you’re able to choose specific tracks to play without restriction, much like on desktops. Spotify considers the tablet experience as like using a desktop so you’re also able to create playlists.
Spotify Premium
Spotify’s paid offering is Spotify Premium, which is available for £9.99 a month. This gets you access to offline mode for your mobile devices, allowing you to download and save albums and playlists so you don’t need a data or internet connection to listen to music. This also gives you access to high-quality streaming (320Kbit/s) whereas you’re limited to 160Kbit/s on a Free account.
Premium also gives you access to Spotify Connect that is integrated into many multiroom audio speakers and televisions. This lets you use the Spotify app or desktop software to control the music from any Spotify Connect compatible speaker associated with your Premium account. This even means you can start the music playing from your home speakers even when you’re outside, provided you have an internet connection. Each Spotify Connect compatible device connects directly to Spotify to stream music from the service rather than using the controlling device.
Apps and Multiroom
Spotify is well supported across multiple platforms including desktop and mobile apps. The desktop applications can be used to sync your own local music to your devices as well, which is a useful feature if you have music that’s unavailable to stream from the service but it has to be in .MP3, .MP4 or .M4P formats.
Spotify is supported by basically all multiroom speaker systems from the big names including Sonos, LG and Samsung, either through Spotify Connect or native integration with their controller apps. Spotify also announced a partnership with Sony that sees the service brought to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 games consoles. We're big fans of the Sonos implementation, which lets you stream different tracks to different rooms at the same time; with every other service, you can only stream a single song.
GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC
Price: Free / £9.99 per month (Google Play Music All Access) Bit rate: 320Kbit/s / VBR Apps: Web Player / Android / iOS Music: Kendrick Lamar (Yes) / Menahan Street Band (No) / Touré-Raichel Collective (Yes) / Taylor Swift (Yes)
Google sells music tracks via its Google Play Store but also offers a streaming music service that combines both cloud storage for your own music as well as access to Google’s catalogue of tracks. Even with a free account, you’re able to upload up to 50,000 of your own music tracks into the cloud, providing streaming access from any number of devices or locations. This was recently bumped up from an already generous 20,000 track storage capacity.
Google actually matches your uploaded music with its own catalogue, so if you upload an album it already has available, Google will actually provide access to its own version. This is even the case if you upload a lower bit-rate version, meaning you get access to Google’s 320Kbit/s version instead, which is a nice upgrade. Google will only host music it doesn’t have itself, saving on the company’s own storage requirements.
If you’re using a free account, you’re only able to stream music that you have uploaded but it’s a great way to make your catalogue available across devices (up to 10 of them can be registered to your account).
Google Play Music All Access
There have been a few hints that Google will adopt the less longwinded ‘Google Play Unlimited’ name in the near future but for £9.99 a month you can subscribe to Google Play Music All Access as it’s currently known.
This provides unlimited streaming of Google’s music catalogue as well as up to 50,000 tracks of your own music we mentioned earlier. It should be noted that not all tracks or albums that are sold by Google on its Google Play store are available to stream through All Access. As an example, the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack is available to purchase for £6.49 but is not available to stream even as a paid Google Play Music All Access subscriber. Any music you purchase separately from the Play store does not count towards the 50,000 track uploads.
With All Access you also get the option of saving offline albums and playlists, so you don’t need a data connection to listen on your mobile devices. An All Access subscription also provides access to Google’s music discovery service that is now powered by its acquisition, Songza. This recommends music and playlists based on different contexts, such as time of day.
YouTube Music Key
As added value, Google recently rolled in access to its YouTube Music Key beta for subscribers to All Access. This lets you watch music videos on YouTube without the adverts as well as background playback. Normally when you exit the YouTube app, say to check your email or texts, the music stops. With YouTube Music Key the audio will continue playing in the background, but only for videos labelled as being ‘music’, so this won’t necessarily work for the sound coming from that amusing cat video. Similarly, you’re also able to save music videos for offline playback.
Apps and Multiroom
There’s no dedicated desktop software, instead you play your music through the web player. You can also use this to manage your uploaded music or download Google’s software to monitor your music library to automatically upload new tracks from your desktop.
For mobile there are free apps available for Android as you would expect as well as iOS. If you’re a Windows Phone user you’re left out in the cold, however. There are third-party apps available for Windows Phone but many of these aren’t free.
Google Play Music All Access isn’t very well supported when it comes to multiroom audio speakers at the moment. The biggest supporter is Sonos, who provides native integration with its Sonos Controller app.
Google is in part tackling the lack of support itself by launching Google Cast for audio, which will handle multiroom audio much like the Chromecast handles video. A number of manufactures such as Denon, Sony and LG have already pledged support in releasing Google Cast ready speakers in the near future.
TIDAL
Price: £19.99 per month Bit rate: 96Kbit/s (AAC) / 320Kbit/s (AAC) / 1,411Kbit/s (FLAC) Apps: Web Player / Android / iOS Music: Kendrick Lamar (No) / Menahan Street Band (Yes) / Touré-Raichel Collective (Yes) / Taylor Swift (Yes)
Tidal is being advertised as the streaming service of choice for the discernible audiophile. While rival services such as Spotify and Google Play Music All Access top out at 320Kbit/s, Tidal streams its music at up to 1,411Kbit/s in FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) format. This means music is streamed in lossless CD-quality, although this shouldn’t be confused with high-resolution audio, which uses up to 24bit/192kHz files that equate to 9,216Kbit/s.
Still, 1,411Kbit/s is considerably better quality than a 320Kbit/s file. Whether or not you can hear the difference is up for debate, and it will be dependent on your music playback equipment. Differences in quality will be more obvious with high-quality headphones or speakers than with a cheap pair of earbuds. Tidal actually has a lossless sound quality test to see if you’re able to hear the difference, which is worth doing to see if you’ll actually benefit from the service.
At £19.99 a month, Tidal is considerably more expensive than other streaming services and its music catalogue isn’t quite as strong as its rivals. There's no free streaming option, either. There will be tracks you might only find on Tidal and not elsewhere, or elsewhere and not on Tidal. However, it’s a bit more aggrieving to not find a track on Tidal considering the higher cost outlay for the service.
Like Spotify and Google Play Music All Access, Tidal curates and recommends music and its regularly updated ‘High Fidelity’ playlist is a great way to find tracks that take advantage of the improved sound fidelity.
Apps and Multiroom
Tidal has apps available for iOS and Android as well as desktop applications for Windows and Mac. There’s also a web based player but the only way to play tracks in lossless FLAC is to use the Google Chrome browser. There’s no support for Windows Phone at present.
Support for Tidal through multiroom speakers is steadily increasing. At the moment the most prominent supporters are Sonos, Bluesound, Astell and Kern, Polk and Raumfeld.
DEEZER
Price: £9.99 per month Bit rate: 1,411Kbit/s FLAC (Sonos only) / 320Kbit/s / 128Kbit/s Apps: Web Player / Windows / Mac / Android / iOS / Windows Phone Music: Kendrick Lamar (Yes) / Menahan Street Band (Yes) / Touré-Raichel Collective (Yes) / Taylor Swift (No)
Deezer first started in 2007 and with 6 million paying subscribers and a catalogue of more than 35 million tracks it’s one of the biggest streaming services available. The service is available as both a restricted Free account and Premium+ for £9.99 a month. With a Free account you’re able to play unlimited music on computers and tablet devices while you’re restricted to radio channels or Deezer’s tailored music recommendation service Flow while on smartphones. The Free service is also ad-supported and you are limited in how many tracks you are able to skip per hour. Deezer also has integrated lyrics for certain songs, which is useful for anyone wanting to sing along.
Premium+ and Deezer Elite
If you’re using a Free account you’re limited to lower-quality streams at 128Kbit/ whereas with Premium+ you have access to 320Kbit/s. You also get access to offline music by subscribing and unlimited skipping on tracks if you're listening to a curated playlist through Flow. Your music listening also won't be interrupted by ads and you can import your own MP3s.
Deezer has also recently announced that its ‘Deezer Elite’ service is rolling out outside of the United States as of March 19th, 2015. This provides access to 1,411Kbit/s streams in FLAC format, much like with Tidal.
However, there’s a caveat: Deezer Elite is only available on Sonos speakers but the good news at least is that there won’t be any additional charge for the improved quality if you're an existing Deezer Premium+ subscriber with a Sonos speaker. If you're a Sonos promotional subscriber you can upgrade to Elite for €36 (around £27). Pricing for new subscribers is slightly more expensive at £14.99 if you opt for the rolling monthly option or £120 for a year or £240 for two years. This makes Deezer Elite half the price of a Tidal subscription if you happen to have Sonos speakers.
Apps and Multiroom
Deezer is well supported when it comes to its apps. There are desktop applications for both Windows and Mac as well as a fully-featured web based player. On mobile there are iOS, Android and Windows Phone apps.
Deezer also does well when it comes to multiroom audio, with support from most of the big players including Sonos (bolstered with the aforementioned Deezer Elite partnership), Samsung, Denon, LG and Bluesound.
NAPSTER
Price: £5 per month (Napster Unlimited) / £10 per month (Napster Unlimited Plus Mobile) Bit rate: 320Kbit/s / 192Kbit/s / 128Kbit/s / 64Kbit/s Apps: Web Player / Windows / Mac / iOS / Android / Windows Phone Music: Kendrick Lamar (Yes) / Menahan Street Band (Yes) / Touré-Raichel Collective (Yes) / Taylor Swift (Yes)
If you were around the internet during the late 90s, you might associate Napster with obtaining music through slightly unscrupulous means. Nowadays it’s a legitimate music streaming service that has a catalogue of over 30 million tracks.
Napster Unlimited
Napster’s subscription service is divided into Unlimited and Unlimited Plus Mobile. The latter is more expensive but provides access to mobile streaming from the Napster apps on mobile devices, whereas the cheaper plan only provides streaming from a desktop.
Napster has improved the streaming quality it offers gradually over time. Previously the service was limited to 192Kbit/s, which was behind its rivals in terms of sound fidelity. Nowadays what quality you can stream at isn’t so simple, however. If you’re streaming from a desktop you’re limited to 128Kbit/s, although tracks downloaded using Napster’s software are downloaded at 192Kbit/s. Some tracks aren’t available in the higher quality, however, and will be in a paltry 64Kbit/s.
On mobile most tracks can be played back at 320Kbit/s, which puts the service at parity with other services. You can also opt to play at 192Kbit/s or 64Kbit/s if data usage is a concern. Again, not all tracks are available at up to 320Kbit/s, so some might play only at 192Kbit/s or even 64Kbit/s.
Napster Unlimited Plus Mobile also allows for offline syncing so you can save music for when you don’t have an internet connection on both desktops and mobile devices, which is useful. Offline syncing, however, is not an option for the cheaper plan.
Apps and Multiroom
The Napster app is available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone, covering you for most mobile devices. Again, you’ll need to have subscribed to the Unlimited Plus Mobile plan for mobile playback.
In terms of multiroom speaker support, the likes of Sonos, Samsung’s SHAPE speakers and LG’s Music Flow range will all happily play Napster tracks around your house. There’s also a Napster app for Xbox 360 but not for the current generation consoles.
CONCLUSION
The number of digital downloads is steadily decreasing as we all begin to embrace the convenience of streaming our music. That doesn’t mean to say it’s a completely smooth ride, though. There’s a lot of controversy around royalties being paid to artists for their music, such as with Bjork most recently, which means that not all the music you might want is available and there are still plenty of big-name artists that aren’t available for streaming, such as The Beatles.
Spotify has an enviable lead when it comes to music streaming and one of its strongest selling points is its compatibility and support. If you’re looking to use a streaming service with your multiroom speakers, Spotify leads the pack here. Google has made great strides since its streaming service first launched. The addition of YouTube Music Key is a nice added bonus for subscribers and its implementation of Songza recommendations works great for discovering new music.
If you care about sound quality, Tidal is a great choice but you are paying a premium. If you happen to be a Sonos speaker owner, then Deezer Elite could be a great choice instead as there’s no additional cost for the higher quality streams. Surprisingly, of our five artists and albums, Napster was the only service to include all of them. With two paid options depending on whether you need mobile access, Napster is decent value, but you can't always get the best quality stream for your chosen track.
At the moment, there’s not a lot to separate the different streaming services. They all have various strong points. We would say Spotify just edges it but the great news is that most of the services offer free trials so you can take them for a test run to decide which is best for you. There are other services to keep an eye on as well, such as Apple’s revamped Beats music service so the streaming music landscape might quickly change.