Best Spotify Alternatives

As one of the most popular music streaming services in the world, Spotify boasts an impressive 400 million users around the globe. And while the company is considered a giant in the world of music, many of its users are leaving the platform for greener pastures after continued support of dangerous podcasts that share misinformation about health and other crucial cultural talking points. Alternatively, some users simply seek a better way to support artists, as Spotify is notorious for underpaying musicians. We’ve put together this list of the best Spotify alternatives in 2022. Take a look below to learn more. 

Best Spotify Alternatives 

When it comes to music streaming services that rival Spotify, there are quite a few platforms going after the throne. Depending on what you’re looking for in a music streaming service, users have a variety of options to choose from. Some users are looking for higher-quality streaming while some are looking for better ways to support the artists they love. Whatever your reason, let’s take a look at some of the best Spotify alternatives on the market today. 

Amazon Music Unlimited

This streaming service from Amazon is an upgraded form of Amazon Music Prime, which comes free with an Amazon Prime subscription. Amazon Music Unlimited, on the other hand, offers users the same features as Amazon Music Prime with the addition of a larger catalog. The Amazon Music Unlimited platform boasts a massive 75 million songs, HD streaming, music stations, and playlists. 

Cost	$3.99/mo for Amazon Echo or Amazon Fire TV $7.99/mo, or $79/annual for Amazon prime subscribers  $9.99/mo for non-Prime users
Quality	HD and Ultra HD
Free Trial	90 Days (with eligible Amazon purchase)
Platforms	Android, iOS, Amazon Echo, Fire TV, PC, macOS

Apple Music 

Apple is another high-stakes player in the world of streaming music and other media. They offer users a great ad-free package and, most notably, a recognizable name. Many users of Apple Music are fans of the service purely for ease of use on their iOS devices. They offer over 90 million songs, playlists, and radio stations, as well as films, TV shows, and even music videos. This makes the Apple Music platform a one-stop shop for all things entertainment. 

Cost	$4.99/mo for students $9.99/mo, or $99/annual  $14.99/mo for a family plan (up to 6 users)
Quality	Hi-Res Lossless, Apple Music Lossless (24-bit/48 kHz)
Free Trial	1 Month
Platforms	iOS, PC, macOS

Bandcamp

If you want to support the artists you love, Bandcamp is one of the best platforms for it. When you purchase music off of the Bandcamp website, 90-85% of your funds go directly to the artists. This is huge, considering that Spotify has been well-known to underpay artists per stream. Bandcamp was built on the idea of allowing fans to pay artists directly for their music. 

Cost	Free Pay per song/album (prices vary)
Quality	MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, ALAC, WAV, and AIFF
Free Trial	N/A
Platforms	Android, iOS, PC (browser based), macOS (browser based)

Deezer

This French music streaming service has been making waves online in recent years. With competitive pricing that matches many competitors, the platform offers a catalog that ranges from 70-90 million songs. Another notable feature is the option to transfer your music library from one streaming service over to Deezer with very few complications. As accessible and popular as it is, the platform itself works best on mobile devices.

Cost	Free version with advertisements  $4.99/mo for students  $9.99/mo or $89.91/annual for Premium $14.99/mo for HiFi $14.99/mo for a family plan (up to six users)
Quality	64 kbit/s, 128 kbit/s, 320 kbit/s, and 1141 kbit/s
Free Trial	1 Month
Platforms	Android, iOS, PC, macOS

Pandora

If you long for the days when radio stations were your best chance of catching the latest music, then Pandora is for you. One of the most well-known features of Pandora is its algorithm which generates song recommendations based on what you’re listening to. Pandora’s tiers allow users to listen seamlessly to different stations based on their interests, but some do come with ads. Although it doesn’t allow you to build playlists (or use popular features that are available on other services), many users still turn to Pandora to discover new music.

Cost	Free with advertisements  $4.99/mo for Pandora Plus (includes ads) $9.99/mo for Pandora Premium (ad-free)
Quality	32 kbps AAC+, 64 kbps AAC+, 192 kbps MP3
Free Trial	30 Days for Pandora Plus and 60 Days for Pandora Premium
Platforms	Android, iOS, Apple Watch, PC (browser based), macOS (browser based)

Tidal

Tidal is best known for its high-quality sound, offering four different varieties of streaming quality. Similar to Bandcamp, Tidal also works with artists to pay them directly for their streams. Reports even show that artists receive more from streams on the Tidal platform than on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music. The application also offers the ability to listen to live streams from artists you love, as well as access to live shows and much more. 

Cost	$4.99/mo for students $9.99/mo for HiFi  $19.99/mo for HiFi Plus
Quality	Up to 24 bit, 352kHz for Master Quality
Free Trial	30 Days
Platforms	Android, iOS, PC, macOS

Soundcloud

Much like Bandcamp, Soundcloud is a platform made to directly support artists. The platform has been popular for some time, allowing artists to showcase their work to new audiences across the world. Users can easily upload their music or podcasts to the service and tag them appropriately so that new listeners can discover them. The tagging system is similar to what you would see on other social media platforms, but it allows listeners to search for songs and even comment on them as they listen. This makes Soundcloud one of the few streaming platforms to encourage community engagement, which can help artists grow significantly.

Cost	Free with advertisements  $4.99/mo for SoundCloud Go $9.99/mo for SoundCloud Go+
Quality	128 kbit/s MP3, 64 kbit/s Opus, and 256 kbit/s for higher-quality streams
Free Trial	7 Days for SoundCloud Go, 30 Days for SoundCloud Go+
Platforms	Android, iOS, Chromecast, PC (browser based), macOS (browser based)

YouTube Music

Beyond being known for its videos, YouTube music is a highly popular service that has been climbing the ranks of the most-used music streaming platforms in the world. There are a variety of great features on YouTube music, including official music videos and the ability to search through lyrics to find certain songs. Unfortunately, many have criticized the platform for its ability to recommend music based on your location and time of day. While this may be an invasion of privacy to many users, some listeners enjoy the specification of these recommendations.

Cost	$4.99/mo for students $9.99/mo, or $99/annual  $14.99/mo for a family plan (up to 5 users)
Quality	48 kbps, 128 kbps, and 256 kbps
Free Trial	1 Month
Platforms	Android, iOS, PC, macOS

Improving Your Online Security on Music Streaming Services

With platforms like YouTube utilizing your location information to give you specific recommendations, it’s important to keep your private data safe. You can update your location settings on your device, or check to see if there are any options to opt-out of sharing your data. 

Another issue is platforms that experience security breaches. Protecting yourself in that circumstance can be challenging, but there are steps you can take to improve your security. One of the best ways to do this is to ensure that your login information is unique. If your login username and password are the same across all of your streaming platforms and social media accounts, someone who gains access to your credentials through a security breach can easily access your other profiles. Make sure your password is strong and unique across all platforms to give yourself more control over your security. 

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