The Best Music Platforms for Artists in 2025
Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, SoundCloud, and Tidal are the most popular music streaming platforms among musicians. Platforms offer various publishing and promoting options depending on your membership, so that everyone can find a good tool for themselves. Still, there is a slight problem. When there are so many options, it gets complicated to make a decision. You have to compare pros and cons, evaluate available options for musicians, and decide what platform you are ready to work with.
Dozens of voices say what music streaming platform should be selected. Some users rely on personal experience or recent reviews, others check video reviews, listen to experts, and make their own choices. Still, nobody can provide a detailed comparison of the most popular music platforms, highlighting their pros and cons. If you are the one looking for such a comparison, keep reading. In this article, we are going to review Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud to choose the best music streaming services in 2025.
|
Feature |
Spotify |
SoundCloud |
Apple Music |
|
Price |
Free (ad-supported), Premium $9.99/month |
Free (ad-supported), Go $4.99/month, Go+ $9.99/month |
$9.99/month, Family $14.99/month, Student $4.99/month |
|
Library Size |
82 million+ songs, 3 million+ podcasts |
200 million+ tracks |
90 million+ songs |
|
Offline Listening |
Premium only |
Available for Go and Go+ |
Available for all paid plans |
|
Audio Quality |
Free: up to 160 kbps, Premium: up to 320 kbps |
Free: 128 kbps, Go+: 320 kbps |
256 kbps AAC |
|
Global Reach |
Available in 180+ countries |
Available in most countries |
Available in 167 countries |
A compartment of key features for Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Music.
Best Music Platform For Independent Musicians: SoundCloud
When you choose a streaming music platform to continue your career or take advantage and move to the next level, it's essential to select the right one. A lot depends on the platform's core features, its functionality and options for sharing. If you are at the beginning of your music career, you should select SoundCloud. Despite having a solid competitiveness with platforms like Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube music, it still remains a top choice for most musicians. This is a simple, user-friendly streaming audio service equipped with a bunch of features for effective music sharing and promotion. Check out how SoundCloud algorithms work.
On SoundCloud, users are free to upload their music, customize descriptions for tracks, and add related hashtags to increase search capability. Still, the number of uploads is limited unless you upgrade to SoundCloud Next Pro. You can get a monthly plan or pay once a year to get access to all the available features. With the Next Pro plan, you can upload up to 6 hours of audio, receive stats about listeners, replace tracks and combine them into playlists.
Still, what's more important, you unlock monetization and share your music across other platforms like Amazon Music, Spotify, etc. SoundCloud is a good starting point not only for musicians but also for podcasters. Users listen to the shows for free, but thanks to SoundCloud Next Pro, you get your revenue for every stream.
|
Feature |
Next Free |
Next Plus |
Next Pro |
|
Price |
Free |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
|
Track Uploads |
3 hours total |
Basic |
Advanced |
|
Audience Insights |
Basic |
Available |
Available |
|
Monetization |
Not available |
Available |
Available |
|
Track Replacement |
Not available |
Available |
Available |
|
Distribution to other platforms |
Not available |
Not available |
Available |
|
First Fans |
Not available |
Available |
Up to 100+ |
|
Track Spotlight |
Not available |
Not available |
Available |
|
Pro Badge |
Not available |
Not available |
Available |
|
Custom Profile Control |
Not available |
Not available |
Available |
|
Advanced Insights and Reports |
Not available |
Not available |
Available |
|
Exclusive Promotions and Features |
Not available |
Not available |
Available |
Compare the list of available features with three different SoundCloud subscription plans for artists.
Still, SoundCloud is not a perfect platform, and it has a couple of disadvantages. For example, you can't sell your tracks directly to listeners or make them pay for your music like on Apple Music. Also, the number of tracks is limited due to a lower artist count on the platform.
Music Streaming Service for Apple Fans: Apple Music
It's true that sometimes people choose an app to listen to music depending on the devices they use. For example, Apple Music is highly preferred among Apple users. With it, you get access to the music library with more than 100 million tracks. You can also listen to the radio stations and find podcasts from various authors (available in a separate app). You can upload your songs to Apple Music or sell them via iTunes. What’s also important is that tracks have good sound quality.
Artists who use Apple Music get access to multiple tools and features. The program helps you track the listener count, see how many users have listened to a specific song, and analyze the activity to change your posting schedule or make other changes. The app also gives access to creative tools. You can record, edit, and mix songs right on the platform. No third-party tools are needed because Apple Music already has the needed instruments.
Last but not least - promotion features. You can promote your songs by creating catchy descriptions, selecting images for songs, and sharing them via various platforms. The program generates a unique link for your track so you can share it on social media, on public forums, and on other platforms.
What also makes Apple Music one of the most popular streaming services for musicians is its high revenue. You receive $0,01 per stream and get additional income when someone buys your songs on iTunes.
If we talk about disadvantages, the main thing to mention is the complexity of the whole Apple Music system. People have limited listening options in the library, so they have to buy songs in another application. Moreover, there is a separate mobile app for podcasts, so if you want to enjoy the show, you have to download it. Despite these disadvantages, Apple Music is still one of the best music streaming platforms worldwide.
In case you are starting on Apple Music and wonder how to raise the stream count, check our article and use the mentioned tips to share your tracks more effectively.
Spotify: The Greatest Streaming Service of All Time?
Spotify has the highest monthly active users, the biggest library of songs and podcasts, a simple, user-friendly interface, and a good recommendation system. It is considered the best streaming service. Why do musicians choose it?
The first reason is its complexity. Spotify for Artists, which is available for everyone who wants to build a career with this app, gives you plenty of capabilities to work with your music. You can communicate with your audience by receiving feedback about the latest releases, chatting, launching Q&A sessions, and performing other activities. You can monitor the metrics of your music and see how the number of streams changes over time. For example, with discovery mode, you can create personalized playlists to reach a higher listener count.
You can analyze the dynamic of the overall engagement and analyze your audience's behavior. Based on the stats, you can change your marketing strategy and improve your Spotify promotion. Also, there is an option to pitch your Spotify playlists, which shares key context about your tracks and makes them more discoverable.
The second reason to choose Spotify is its monetization feature. You need to reach at least 1000 streams over the last 12 months to get paid. The payment for music listening depends on the region you are located in and the type of subscription your listeners have. Those who subscribe to Spotify Premium will bring you higher revenue.
Over the last few years, Spotify has evolved from a music streaming platform to a solid platform for business promotion. In addition to earning revenue from music streaming, individuals sell merch and promote goods and services, which increases total income.
When you upgrade to a premium subscription, you eliminate most disadvantages (limited music skips, average sound quality, ads, etc.). Moreover, according to the stats, the number of premium subscribers is rising, so this is an advantageous move.
How to Make Your Music More Discoverable on Streaming Services?
You can choose any music streaming service, but no platform will give you instant results. High stream count, solid engagement, and earnings will come only if you invest in music promotion and push your tracks to the top. You can do it with free and paid methods, but the best option is to combine both of them.
Free promotion could be performed via social media and online music forums when you show your music and invite users to listen to it directly on the platform. Even industry giants like 21 Savage or French Montana share their songs via social media by creating unified link trees. Users access them and select the platform they want to choose for music listening. Also, musicians create additional posts to announce the upcoming concerts and stadium tours. You may not announce concerts, but you can announce new releases and prepare your listeners for new songs.
Paid promotion is effective, too. It boosts your engagement specifically (likes or streams) or gives combined results by increasing the follower count. High-quality audio promotion from Artist Push is a game-changing decision because it offers you a chance to get organic engagement and place your music higher in the rankings. You can choose various promotion packages for your music streaming service. Define your goals and choose according to them.
How to manage your promotion capabilities if you want to establish a presence on multiple music streaming platforms? The best possible decision is to get promotion packages for each platform, pushing your tracks equally. With Artist Push, you can get comprehensive promotion for
It’s not a rapid, low-quality promotion to get more plays. It’s a high-quality promotion with a complex approach where your music is shared with genre fans and music lovers. It takes a few days to see the first results, but once it’s combined with free promotion, it will make a difference for you as a musician.
Music Distribution: Paid or Free?
Besides selecting the services for music streaming, you also have to consider the distribution process. It doesn't matter how huge your music catalog is. If you publish new tracks regularly, it's essential to ensure new songs will be distributed effectively, reaching listeners from different age groups on more than one music service. Whether it's Tidal, YouTube Music, or Amazon Music, you have to make sure new music won't be lost among hundreds of other tracks. There are two basic types of music distribution: paid and free. Which one suits best for you? Let's analyze pros and cons.
Free promotion can be easily achieved via social media, forums, and music-related platforms. All you invest is your time, preparing proper promo materials, scheduling posts, and monitoring activity. Most musicians invest in their social media profiles on Instagram and TikTok, using them as major tools for free promotion.
Besides Instagram, the distribution of audio streaming products is also performed via Threads. In one of our recent articles, we showed the value of this platform for both new artists and industry veterans.
Once you turn your social media profiles into solid personal brands, you establish constant presence in the music industry and become recognizable among genre fans. Still, free music promotion sets limiataions, as you can't achieve more without paying extra. That's where paid distribution shows up.
With access to paid promotion tools you can push music faster, create advanced promo posts, track stats on multiple platforms, and receive reposts showing performance during specific amount of time. The negative side is that you have to invest constantly, using more tools to achieve a better result. LANDR is a new, unusual tool that may help you achieve your goals and empower effectiveness.
The key feature of this tool is the unlimited power of AI that helps creators automate music releases, keep all the royalties, and get on-time support to resolve issues. Moreover, the program grants access to 40+ plugins that simplify music distribution even more. You can split the music files, add special effects, enhance the tone of the song, utilize sounds from a unique creative sequencer, and other unusual concepts.
What Music Streaming Service Is the Best?
The definition of the best streaming service always differs because every musician has different expectations, goals, and capabilities. Someone who has already made a name on one platform will likely move to a new service to share their tracks with a larger audience. For example, those who succeed on SoundCloud move to platforms like Spotify or Apple Music.
We highlighted three of the most powerful streaming companies. Each of them has a different set of features and available options, so you can compare them and decide which one meets your goals.
Which music streaming service is the best in 2025?
Is Apple Music better than Spotify in 2025?
Is SoundCloud good for musicians in 2025?
How to effectively promote music with free and paid methods?
How to get paid for music streaming?
Is Tidal impactful for musicians in 2025?
Sophia Lee
Decent overview, but it seems like the Apple Music section was a bit rushed. I’m an Apple user and was hoping for more in-depth info on how its features can specifically benefit artists. Still, it’s a good start!
Decent overview, but it seems like the Apple Music section was a bit rushed. I’m an Apple user and was hoping for more in-depth info on how its features can specifically benefit artists. Still, it’s a good start!
James Novak
I’m an Apple Music fan through and through! The seamless integration with my Apple devices makes it a no-brainer for me. Plus, the sound quality is superb. The only downside, as mentioned, is the complexity and having to use separate apps for podcasts and music purchases. But overall, it’s worth it for the quality and exclusive content.
I’m an Apple Music fan through and through! The seamless integration with my Apple devices makes it a no-brainer for me. Plus, the sound quality is superb. The only downside, as mentioned, is the complexity and having to use separate apps for podcasts and music purchases. But overall, it’s worth it for the quality and exclusive content.
BT Music
Thanks for the comprehensive breakdown! I’ve been debating whether to upgrade my SoundCloud account to Next Pro, and the detailed feature comparison was exactly what I needed. The advanced audience insights and monetization options make it seem like a good investment. It’s also reassuring to know that I can distribute my music to other platforms like Spotify, which could help expand my reach.
Thanks for the comprehensive breakdown! I’ve been debating whether to upgrade my SoundCloud account to Next Pro, and the detailed feature comparison was exactly what I needed. The advanced audience insights and monetization options make it seem like a good investment. It’s also reassuring to know that I can distribute my music to other platforms like Spotify, which could help expand my reach.
Erik Miles
Interesting read! As someone who uses all three platforms as a listener, I can definitely say each has its unique strengths. Spotify’s discovery features are unmatched, but for supporting indie artists, SoundCloud is still the best.
Interesting read! As someone who uses all three platforms as a listener, I can definitely say each has its unique strengths. Spotify’s discovery features are unmatched, but for supporting indie artists, SoundCloud is still the best.