A Guide to the Best Music Streaming Services

Gone are the days of buying individual songs on iTunes or downloading albums from Napster. Thanks to music streaming services, you can download and enjoy millions of songs for a small monthly fee. Some services even let you download music for offline use, so you don’t have to be connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network to enjoy your favorite songs. Here is a breakdown of some of the best music streaming services out there.

With more than 60 million tracks, Apple Music’s extensive library makes it one of the best music streaming services out there. Apple Music integrates seamlessly with all of your Apple devices, making it a perfect choice for those who are Apple-loyal. Starting at $9.99, you can access Apple Music on a multitude of devices such as the iPhone, iPad, Mac products, Apple Watches, Apple TVs and more! They also offer a family plan, so the whole family can enjoy streaming music.

Spotify is excellent at curating playlists specific to your music activity and taste. You can also create and share your own collaborative playlists with friends. They offer paid plans starting at $9.99, as well as a family plan. But, if you aren’t ready to take the plunge quite yet into a Spotify Premium plan, you can try their free version which is ad-supported! They also have many of your favorite podcasts in their library.

Pandora’s plans start at $4.99, but they also offer a free version and a family plan. The paid plan includes unlimited skips & replays with no ads. One of Pandora’s unique features is that they recommend songs to you via personalized stations. You can thumbs-up and thumbs-down songs as you listen to help Pandora learn your taste.

SiriusXM isn’t just satellite radio for your car; they also offer online streaming so that you can enjoy all of your favorite SirusXM stations, including talk and sports, no matter where you are. You can pause and rewind tracks, with many options to customize your channels. Starting at $10.99, if you already love listening to satellite radio, this option might be great for you!

Amazon Music Unlimited integrates seamlessly with Alexa & Amazon devices. They have HD and Ultra HD tiers available, with plans starting at $7.99. Amazon Music offers an extensive music library with over 50 million songs. You can also listen offline with unlimited skips. If you already heavily use Amazon, this could be worth checking out!