All of us are extremely lucky. Thanks to the proliferation of services like Spotify, Google Play Music and Apple Music Spotify vs. Apple Music vs. Google Play Music:Which is the best? Spotify vs. Apple Music vs. Google Play Music:Which is the best? While there are a plethora of music streaming services out there, there are three main ones that stand out above the rest:Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play Music. But which one is better? Read More
Of course, there are many things to consider when you're about to sign up. How to Choose the Best Music Streaming Service for You How to Choose the Best Music Stream Service for You Do you use a music streaming service? If so, how do you know you're using the best one for you personally? Read More
Sure, $10 a month isn't too expensive, but it's also too much for many people. Low-income students or large families often can't afford to throw away that much money every four weeks on something as trivial as streaming music.
If you can't afford one of the premium services, don't despair. In this article, we'll introduce you to seven legal ways to listen to music online without downloading.
“Every song, every artist, every album.”
Spotify is the only one of the "big three" to offer a free tier. Neither Google Play Music nor Apple Music have the facility.
The free tier has gone through several incarnations since Spotify first launched in 2008. At various times, the company has limited users to five streams of each track per month, a listening allotment of 10 hours per month, and a restriction on smartphone playback..
At the time of writing this document, the restrictions have been reduced to a minimum. The only major differences between the free and premium versions Is Spotify Premium worth it and should I upgrade? Is Spotify Premium worth it and should you upgrade? Is Spotify Premium worth it? In this article, find out what Premium offers and whether you should upgrade from Spotify Free. Read More
Spotify is notoriously tight-lipped about its long-term plans for the free tier, but in terms of number of artists and volume of songs, it's second to none.
“Free music for lazy people.”
Like Spotify, Pandora has a free and subscription level. The free tier is more restricted than the Spotify equivalent, but that doesn't mean it's not worth it, as it offers a way to listen to music online without downloading.
Essentially, it only has one feature:Pandora music radio based on your likes and dislikes. You can't skip tracks, listen offline, listen on demand, or customize your own playlists. Since September 2013, when the company removed a 40-hour monthly limit on free accounts, there has been no limitation on the amount of music non-paying users can listen to.
The free tier may be subject to restrictions, but it's the perfect way to listen to music you know you'll love without much effort.
On the downside, Pandora is only available to residents of the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. If you live outside of these three countries, you will need to use a Smart DNS provider. Save to 2 DNS Services and Heartbeat Region Restrictions Save to 2 DNS Services and Heartbeat Region Restrictions If you live in a place where the content you want to watch is blocked due to geographic restrictions, you're in luck, because today you can get one of two different Smart DNS services to... Read More Pandora has blocked users on VPNs since 2007. Unfortunately, smart, reputable DNS providers don't come cheap, so they defeat the whole purpose of free music in the first place.
“The number one source for music videos.”
Ever since MTV played the first music video on live TV in 1981 (ironically, it was aptly named Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles), the music industry hasn't looked back. Michael Jackson broke records when he spent $7 million on Scream , Madonna angered the Catholic Church in Like a prayer , and the rest is history.
These days, it's almost impossible for a song to top the charts if it doesn't have an accompanying video (although if you're a budding pop star, don't worry, it's surprisingly easy to create one) How to Create Your Own Basic Music Video How to Create Your Own Basic Music Video There are plenty of music artists hoping to shine, but you're forced to have some sort of video to go along with your music. Fortunately, it's not difficult to create your own video content online. Read more ).
If music videos are your thing, YouTube is the obvious answer. Thanks to its record-label-backed partnership with Vevo, it has videos available for just about every song you can imagine. You'll be able to find old classics, new releases, and anything and everything in between.
“Short user-generated playlists make music discovery a breeze”
With the three heavy hitters out of the way, let's wrap up the list with some lesser-known options. The first one we will investigate is 8tracks..
The service approaches music streaming in a unique way compared to its competitors. Its raison d'être is music discovery, and the entire app is geared towards that goal. Music is grouped into user-generated playlists, each of which must have a minimum of eight songs. In each playlist, you must skip three songs before you can skip to the next playlist.
The free plan underwent a significant review in December 2016. Due to declining revenue and the developers' desire to keep the site active, a new paid tier was introduced and restrictions placed on free subscriptions for any person based in the United States. Initially, US residents were limited to 30 minutes per week, but this has now increased to one hour per week.
The good news? The changes do not affect people outside of the United States. If you are anywhere else in the world, you can listen to as much free music as you want.
“Pandora, but with fewer ads and more music.”
Jango has been gaining popularity in recent years. The service itself was a trendsetter, in 2007 becoming the world's first streaming music service to combine an internal social networking feature with Internet radio.
Also, unlike the other services we've covered so far, there is no premium version of Jango. The entire product is supported by advertising, but in return, you will not be asked to pay anything.
The service itself revolves around users creating and sharing their personal playlists. There are no features on demand.
The site divides the playlists into more than 40 categories. Clicking on a category will reveal all the options in that category. Once a playlist is played, you'll find links to other similar playlists, song lyrics, and even current band bios.
“Yes, that MySpace. No, he's not dead. Yes, it has a lot of free music. I'm not kidding”
Do you remember MySpace? It was the social network that started it all. Since the rise of Facebook, its usefulness as a network has long since evaporated. But its usefulness as a free music streaming service? He's alive and well.
Much of MySpace's musical renaissance is due to Justin Timberlake. It was part of a $35 million takeover of the ailing company in 2011. The new owners, the Specific Media Group, dropped most of the social aspects and refocused the site on a streaming music service.
Today, You'll Find Thousands of Free Songs 7 Sites Where You Can Download Music for Free (Legally!) 7 Sites Where You Can Download Music for Free (Legally!) If you're the type of person who loves to cater to a vast music collection, there are still ways to get free music Here are seven websites to get you started... Read More And they're not obscure songs that no one wants to hear. MySpace features the latest hits from everyone from Lady Gaga to Blake Shelton.
There are no playback limits, no time limits, no ads, no subscriber-only features, no geo-blocked songs. Do not be ashamed; make an account. There's no reason not.
“Find new bands and support upcoming artists.”
Unlike all the other services we've discussed, you won't find a Lady Gaga track anywhere on Bandcamp. Or anything from Coldplay. Neither does Drake. Nor any other global superstar. Why? Because Bandcamp's sole purpose is to help you find and support new music artists 7 Websites To Discover New Music From Indie Artists 7 Websites To Discover New Music From Indie Artists If mainstream music doesn't appeal to you, you should check out indie artists online Here are seven websites to help you discover new music from independent artists around the world. Read more.
It's an arrangement that works well for artists and fans. Fans can listen to all the music on the site for free, donate to the bands they love, buy the albums they love, and in some cases even download music without paying.
Artists get to create their own microsite. They can use it to create a biography and sell their music, but also to sell merchandise, concert tickets, and other associated products.
In recent years, some slightly better-known artists have even started to ditch their record labels in favor of self-promotion on the site. The most famous example is The Dresden Dolls singer Amanda Palmer; she left her label just days after being named the 2010 Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards.
In this article, we introduce you to seven ways to legally listen to music online without downloading. Some of these are well known, others less so. In any case, we hope that the information about the free tiers is useful when you are trying to decide which service to use. If you prefer to download music to your computer, there are some online sources for legal music, including these sites for free Christmas music downloads.
Now it's time for you to add your own suggestions to this list. What apps and services do you use to get your free music fix? If you know of a high-quality free app that you think deserves a spot in the article, we'd love to hear about it.
As always, you can leave all your suggestions, recommendations, comments and queries in the comments below.
