The Best Free Music Streaming Subscriptions

Music streaming has quickly become the main way that we all consume our favorite songs and albums. There are so many services available now that offer millions upon millions of different discographies for users listening pleasure. If you aren’t one of the many who already is paying for a music streaming platform monthly, don’t fret. Plenty of these platforms offer free subscription packages so users don’t have to add another monthly payment on top of all their other bills. These free packages are often limited in terms of song skipping, and contain some advertisements, however, that doesn’t mean they don’t still offer the same great quality music. 

Spotify has definitely become one of the most popular streaming services currently on the market. The company offers multiple payment packages that include other perks such as Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus as well. These packages allow for customers to pay one monthly fee for both either Spotify and Hulu, or Spotify and Disney/ESPN Plus. Additionally, if you’re a student, the monthly price for all the packages are cut in half. That would equate to about $5 a month for both music and video streaming service. However, some individuals don’t want the visual additions to these packages and want to remain completely cost-free when it comes to their music. The free package of Spotify has a lot of the perks similar to the premium packages, making it one of the most desirable free packages for music streaming. 

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With Spotify’s free package you still have access to the entirety of their music library and can access the service on any compatible device including Alexa and Google Hub speakers. When you’re listening to playlists, whether it be ones you made yourself or pre-made ones, you can select whichever song you want to listen to, however, you have a limited number of skips forward and can’t go backwards. Additionally, you are subject to advertisements, however, Spotify has a pretty standard algorithm in which they let users have thirty minutes of uninterrupted listening, and then commercials appear every fifteen minutes for every given streaming session. When on the mobile app, you can’t select songs to listen to in a given playlists library like previously mentioned, that feature is exclusive to desktop listening. You also are only able to listen to albums and custom made playlists on shuffle mode, and are given a total of six skips per hour, according to Gizmodo Magazine. 

Amazon Music is another music streaming service that has newly emerged for free users. Previously, you had to have an Amazon Prime account to have access to Amazon’s music streaming, however, now the company has two separate services. Amazon Music Unlimited is what’s included with Prime, and standard Amazon Music is available for users free on any compatible device, you do need to have a regular Amazon account though, but that’s also free.

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The free package is much more limiting compared to Spotify’s free package, but it still definitely has its perks. According to Gizmodo, the free package only includes a library of 2 million songs to stream, compared to the Unlimited Package which has a library of 50 million songs. Like Spotify, you can’t select songs within albums, you have a limited number of skips, and are subject to frequent advertisements. You also can’t create your own custom playlists either, and Amazon will pretty much be constantly harping you about upgrading to the Unlimited package, but if you’re the type of person who wants a streaming service that can deliver you a good radio mix based off a certain artist, album, mood, etc. than this service could definitely be for you. 

Finally, another relatively new streaming service that’s entered the market is YouTube Music. Like Amazon and Spotify, this service is available on any device that’s compatible with music streaming. Additionally, like Amazon, if you have a YouTube Premium membership, YouTube Music is included for free, however, you can have the music streaming without a premium account, just with some more obvious restrictions. Unlike the other streaming services, all that applies to desktop use, also applies to mobile use with the service. On the mobile app, however, you have to keep the app open in order for the music to continue to play, which could be a major drawback. Other than that, users are able to skip around inside given playlists, pick out specific songs they want to hear, listen to their music in any order they’d like and create their own playlists. Advertisements are a given, but users have reported that they’re relatively infrequent, and most of them can be skipped (Gizmodo). 

Regardless of what you choose, there are definitely plenty of free music listening services online today that can help you save some money every month. Just do your research and find one that can fulfill your specific streaming desires.