Top 8 Music Streaming Apps Android

These days, people want to stream music wherever they go! Whether driving in the car or our jogging, the current demand is for huge, almost limitless access to all kinds of music delivered directly to your smartphone no matter where you are in the world. The idea of such a service is incredible: the fact that you can actively download and play songs at the same time, even when away from your computer or in another country altogether. Such a service however costs a lot of money, since you are paying both for the music you are accessing and the internet charges you are incurring. While I don’t agree with the price of either, I think it’s great to see the music industry finally adapting to and in many ways embracing the world of technology and the demands of the users. iTunes learned early on that the only way to combat digital music piracy and peer to peer stuff was to make it available in a much more convenient manner for a nominal fee, and others are finally catching on. We recently took the bigger and better music streaming apps out there for a spin, and came up with a best of list for Android users.

8. Google Play Music (Free)

Since we are talking about Android devices, I think the best place to probably start is with Google Play’s own music streaming service. This may not be the go-to app for most when it comes to music streaming apps, but the service being offered is steadily being improved to rival similar services and apps, and we all know how fans of Google would rather keep all of their apps under the same umbrella. Despite its drawbacks, I’ve seen people compare Google Play Music to both Spotify and Pandora positively, though I feel that it will be some time before we see the true stengths of this one in the given market. The main plus point is of course that YouTube and Google are side by side, so if you spend money on one in the future then you should be able to use the other. Or at least, the two services will be combined to offer a superior music streaming service. Time will tell, but it’s never too early to jump on a bandwagon, is it? – Download from Google Play

7. TuneIn Radio (Free)

No list of music streaming apps would be quite complete without a radio streaming app, and I believe that TuneIn Radio is one of the best. Whether you are into commercial radio shows or podcasts, it has just about everything you could want! – Download from Google Play

6. Shazam (Free)

While Shazam started life as an app to recognize songs playing around you quickly and easily using your smartphone, it should be considered in the vein of music streaming apps because it has spent a lot of time adding such capabilities. It’s no longer a gimmick, and has now integrated with Google Play Music to offer you the full experience! – Download from Google Play

5. Songza (Free)

Songza was recently acquired by Google, which may not seem that important but this will prove to be a big factor in the future. The app offers a curated streaming service based on a number of things. One cool thing that it does when you install and boot up the app is to work out which day of the week and time it is, then offer you different channels (similar to how Pandora does) based on these things. For those into pop music, there are a lot of artist-made playlists out there on Songza if you are interested in what kind of music Justin Bieber is into! The app is free to download, whreas the premium version costs $3.99 a month and gets rid of all those pesky ads! – Download from Google Play

4. Beats Music (Free)

Beats Music is one of the newest music streaming services available – it remains to be seen whether it will be able to compete with the likes of Spotify just yet, but with Apple’s backing and the fact that just about everyone is wearing a pair of Beats Headphones these days, it shouldn’t take too long! – Download from Google Play

3. Pandora (Free)

Pandora was among the first music streaming services to really make it not only break into the market but also to help create the current market as we know it today! As with Spotify (below) you can use this on your mobile, tablet or desktop or laptop computer which is really great for those who typically use a host of different platforms when streaming music – depending on which screen they are in front of throughout the day. While Pandora has changed a lot since its initial inception, the main idea behind the program from the beginning has remained in place: the idea of the app learning your musical taste based on a simple thumbs up or down process, then adhering to your desires to provide you with stuff that you would like to listen to. The app is free to download and stream stuff with, through the ad-free premium version Pandora One costs $4.99 a month.  – Download from Google Play

2. Spotify (Free)

Spotify has understanably become one of the premier music streaming apps out there these days, and it is partly because of this huge success that you can now enjoy Spotify tracks for free both on your smartphone and tablet, as well as on your computer! There is an ad-free Spotify premium package that is typically around $9.99 a month (half that for students, I believe!) which isn’t bad when you consider that it also allows you to save tracks offline so that you can listen to them later. This is great for those who don’t wish to rack up data charges, or who don’t always have access to the Internet for whatever reason. The sound quality offered with Premium is also a lot better, and the Discover mode introduces you to new music. So yes, a great free servie but also a lot of reasons to upgrade!  – Download from Google Play

1. SoundCloud (Free)

I think that SoundCloud should be considered as the best music streaming app out there at present for a few reasons. Firstly, it caters not only to the listener but also the music artist, allowing you a way to forget a base of listeners even if you are just creating electronic music in your room and lack the funds to set up a band and play shows and that kind of thing. It also gives you access to a huge database of music, and encourages input from users – if you are looking for remixes and customized versions of songs, SoundCloud is the app for you. SoundCloud isn’t just a small, user-driven app hwoever because it has been embraced by big artists and labels in recent years also, and is often the only way to access exclusive material by your favorite artists, as and when it becomes available. The interactive ability ot comment on tracks and leave your comment at a particular moment in the track is unique, and makes it more like a social media platform than a music streaming app. – Download from Google Play