The competition among music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music is more intense than ever. Here are the top choices for streaming.
Modern music streaming platforms provide unparalleled ease and convenience, allowing quick access to favorite artists. The sound quality has reached new heights, with many paid subscriptions including free spatial Dolby Atmos audio and lossless options. We’ve thoroughly tested and compared all major services, including a detailed price breakdown. Let’s explore.
What is the best music streaming service overall?
When it comes to choosing the best music streaming service, Spotify Premium and Apple Music lead the pack. Both offer extensive catalogs and a plethora of features, but there is a standout winner. Despite a price hike to $12 a month, Spotify remains the best option for most people. It combines a variety of features such as audiobooks, Spotify Connect, and engaging community elements like Spotify Wrapped. Additionally, Spotify has the best free tier, allowing users to listen to millions of songs and stream to Wi-Fi devices without any cost or need for a credit card.
For Apple device users, Apple Music is a strong contender, offering potentially superior sound quality with lossless and spatial audio, and it’s a dollar cheaper. However, despite improvements, it remains less ideal for Android or PC users due to some lingering limitations. Thus, Spotify is still the preferable choice for both iOS and Android users. For audiophiles or dedicated music lovers, Tidal and Qobuz provide excellent sound quality at reasonable prices. Tidal, in particular, has made significant advancements by eliminating the proprietary MQA format and offering a competitive price, while Qobuz distinguishes itself with its download store.
Our Picks
Best Music Streaming Service Overall
[Spotify](https://www.spotify.com)
Spotify offers a robust free version, easy device connectivity through Spotify Connect, and features like live “Jam” playlists and artist bios. While it doesn’t yet offer a lossless option and has some intrusive ads in the free tier, it’s still the top choice for most users due to its comprehensive features and excellent community offerings like Spotify Wrapped.
### Best Alternative to Spotify
#### [Apple Music](https://www.apple.com/music)
Apple Music stands out with its inclusion of spatial and hi-res music and seamless integration with Apple devices. It’s a strong contender to Spotify, especially for iOS users, but is less ideal for Android or PC users.
### Best for Serious Music Fans
#### [Tidal](https://www.tidal.com)
Tidal offers high-fidelity music streams, including Dolby Atmos mixes, and a rich catalog of video content. It has introduced a free tier and offers a competitive price for its high-quality music streams. The service is transitioning from MQA files to hi-res FLAC.
### Best for Audiophiles Who Want to Buy Albums
#### [Qobuz](https://www.qobuz.com)
Qobuz is perfect for audiophiles, providing 24-bit music without a specialized decoder and a unique download store. It offers two subscription plans, Studio Premier and Sublime Plus, the latter providing discounts on purchases from the download store.
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Today’s Music Streaming Services
Modern music streaming services offer unprecedented convenience and quality, with easy access to favorite artists and enhanced sound quality, including spatial Dolby Atmos audio and lossless options in many paid subscriptions. After testing all major services and comparing their features and pricing, here’s an overview.
What is the Best Music Streaming Service Overall?
Spotify Premium and Apple Music are the leading contenders. Despite a price increase to $12 a month, Spotify is the best choice for most people, offering a mix of features like audiobooks, Spotify Connect, and community offerings such as Spotify Wrapped. It also has the best free tier, providing access to millions of songs without any cost or need for a credit card.
Apple Music, a close competitor, offers potentially superior sound with lossless and spatial music and is a dollar cheaper. However, it remains less ideal for Android or PC users. For audiophiles or serious music enthusiasts, Tidal and Qobuz offer excellent sound quality at reasonable prices. Tidal has made significant strides by removing the MQA format, while Qobuz stands out with its download store.
