In 2021, it's pretty clear we are now living in a golden age of streaming.

Monday 23rd August, 2021

Using almost any smartphone, you can stream millions of songs worldwide, from the latest Billboard hits to tracks created in someone's bedroom or even a classic. 

Here are some of the best apps to cater for your music needs: 

Spotify is probably the best-known music streaming app with a massive subscriber base of over 100 million while offering access to 50 million tracks from a wide range of artists. Both the mobile app and the desktop app have similar features, allowing users to stream individual tracks, entire albums or even create a playlist.  

The free account only allows for Shuffle Play, playlists, and podcasts. If you want to play any song at your will, download music or podcasts and get rid of ads, you'll have to move up to the premium version.

YouTube Music is an underrated service by Google that absorbed Google Play Music. YouTube Music is free to use with ads, but if you want ad-free listening, background listening (with the screen locked or in another app) and offline downloads, you'll need to get a Premium subscription.

However, with a slightly higher premium subscription, you generally get access to YouTube premium, which unlocks background videos, Picture in Picture and downloads on YouTube. 

 

Apple Music offers you complete access to any song available on the platform. However, Apple Music is only a paid version with no free model available for its users. Surprisingly, Apple Music works on Android and iOS, so you don't necessarily need the latest iPhone to enjoy millions of songs on this platform.

You can stream it directly to a HomePod or any HomeKit enabled device from your iOS device. If you have an Android, you can stream directly to any Chromecast device, making Apple Music a flexible yet powerful app for both operating systems.