The Best Music Streaming Services For Musicians You Can Try

Online presence is an essential part of success for every musician. When you have no limitations to release your music, perform audio streaming, and receive royalties, you will become recognizable among listeners and make your presence felt. The best tool for that is a music streaming service that allows users to upload their songs. Today, the most popular streaming platforms are

• Spotify
• SoundCloud
• Apple Music
• Tidal
• Pandora
• Amazon Prime Music

Everyone selects the platform according to personal preferences, available options, and additional features. Moreover, most streaming services are free while several remain paid for both musicians and listeners. It makes the choice more complicated because not everyone wants to pay for streaming music on a regular basis or advance to a premium version. In our article, we will have a detailed look at the most popular music streaming services and analyze the capabilities they give to clients.

Spotify and Soundcloud - Rivals in the World of Music Streaming

These two services are usually mentioned together. When you think of one of them, the other one also comes to mind. Spotify and SoundCloud are considered the most popular and the oldest streaming services, founded in 2006 and 2007 respectively. They both have a user-friendly interface, a huge music library, and an opportunity to share music for free. The platforms offer exclusive tools for effective promotion, analytics, and professional advancement. Once you join Spotify for Artists or SoundCloud Next Pro, you get access to a solid toolset. For example, Spotify Canvas allows you to create, customize, and publish short music videos, making your promotion more effective. SoundCloud Next Pro, on the other hand, gives users unlimited multi-platform promotions and private track uploads, as you can provide early access for exclusive subscribers or share music with collaborators.

Spotify takes advantage at this point, as Spotify for Artists is 100% free. SoundCloud Next Pro requires you to pay nearly $100 per year. Moreover, when you have this subscription, you monetize your content and get revenue. For example, Spotify needs you to break a 1000-stream limit to unlock monetization. 

It's not a complete win because SoundCloud is considered a better option for beginners. This platform presents all the existing genres and allows you to find your target audience without significant effort. Moreover, the tool you pay for makes it easier to track, analyze, and enhance promotion techniques.

Apple Music  - Cool and Expensive

The fact that Apple Music does not offer free subscriptions does not make it the last choice, especially when we comare it to Spotify or SoundCloud with free access. Apple Music remains one of the most popular platforms for listeners. A huge library with over 100 million songs makes it easy to find the needed track or album even if you think it can't be present in the list. Moreover, with an Apple Music subscription, you don't receive ads, so there's an option to listen to music with no disturbance. Another advantage is simple integration into Apple's ecosystem. People use Apple Music on MacBooks, iPhones, iMac, and other devices without complications.

Apple Music brings access to iTunes, where you purchase music and play it on your device. It may sound unappealing, but the fact that over 60 million users subscribe to Apple Music makes it reasonable to share content there.

Apple Music algorithm is also worth attention, especially for musicians who seem to promote their music on the platform. It's essential to understand how the system creates recommendation lists and playlists, what factors impact it the most, and how it can be used for effective music promotion. Moreover, Apple Music's per-stream payment is one of the highest on the market. If you decide to enter this platform to share new music and establish your presence, you should expect solid revenue.

Pandora - Streaming Service Exclusively in the USA

This music streaming service becomes a great choice in case you want to discover new artists and tracks. It gives access to customizable radio stations and changes the approach to music listening. You move away from streaming and offer more casual listening in the radio format. You search for the required radio station using keywords and phrases. After that, the system shows you related options. You have full control of the player (for example, Spotify offers player control only in the desktop version), access to lyrics, and information about the track. 

The interface is nice and adaptable, but it changes depending on the category you choose. The website changes layouts, so you won't have a similar interface on every page. Once you use the free version of the music service, you will see ads on the main screen. However, if you advance to Pandora Premium, you won't see any ads. 

Another point you should notice is that Pandora is not available outside of the United States. You have to remain inside the country to use it. Still, if this point is not crucial for you, you can try Pandora for an unusual music-listening experience.

Amazon Music - Unfairly Forgotten Tier-1 Platform

Everyone talks about Spotify and Apple Music as one of the best services for musicians and listeners. Still, it doesn't mean these are the only available options. Amazon Music is also a tier-1 music streaming platform. Moreover, it even beats Spotify in the question of sound quality. Moreover, Amazon Music offers access to a solid library with over 100 million tracks. All of them are available in HD, and most of them can also be played in ultra HD. In case you want to advance to a Premium subscription, you can get a Family plan. However, this is a controversial moment because there is Amazon Music Prime and Amazon Music Unlimited. The first one is part of your premium subscription while the second one is a streaming service. When you select Music Unlimited, it replaces Prime and updates all the listening data. You can also control the program via Alexa searching for songs and albums.  As a listener, you can create and save playlists featuring your favorite songs. You can also stream imported songs or the ones you purchased on Amazon. 

There's also a huge playlist library on Amazon Music. All-time popular podcasts, interviews, and episodes of favorite shows are available. You can check music videos as well. We should mention that Amazon does not offer a chance to listen to music on all platforms. For example, Amazon Music HD can't be streamed via a web browser, as it is only available via Android, IOS, and Mac OS.

Another thing to mention is Amazon's AI-based DJ Maestro. It's available for all subscribers and offers you an option to create playlists. Enter the prompt, and the system will show you the available options. AI reacts to keywords. When you enter "cold", it offers you associated tracks, and so on.

Amazon Music has become the #1 choice among Amazon users due to its huge music library and content availability. You can find whatever you need, listen to podcasts, and have a positive listening experience. As with every online service, it has disadvantages (for example, you can't listen to HD music on all platforms).

Tidal - Powerful but Underrated Streaming Service

Tidal always stays in the shadow of Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Music, but it doesn't lose to them in any aspect. This platform has one of the largest databases among all streaming services with more than 110 million songs (the number gets bigger every day), along with mixes and radio. However, one feature is worth attention more than others. Real-time music listening with friends and supporting your favorite artists is what changes the average listening experience. Still, you can join live sessions only if you are on a paid plan or trial. Premium subscription also increases the quality of your music and even gives a DJ extension for individual plans. You integrate your profile with DJ software, making it possible to mix songs and launch live streams. 

Tidal is useful not only for listeners but for musicians as well. For example, the latest update allows you to add credits to albums, featuring producers, composers, lyricists, marketing engineers, and other specialists working on the mix. Tidal Collabs simplifies communication between artists, as you can text each other in private chats, share early versions of your tracks, and build your own network on the platform. Profile management options, advanced analytics, and music publishing tools are also available for those who want to develop a music career on Tidal.

A great advantage of this platform is that it always advances and offers new options for both musicians and creators. Tidal is not the greatest streaming platform in the world and it won't be until Spotify and Apple Music exist, but definitely offers an unusual experience for users. With solid music promotion and a smart marketing strategy, you will effectively push your music to the top, making everyone recognize your work.

Does It Make Sense to Search for the Best Music Streaming Service?

People who don't know anything about music streaming and pretend to find "the best" streaming service compare the available options by features, number of listeners, and other factors. Still, is it that effective? All music streaming services in the 2024 trending list were created with different visions and goals. Some are good for musicians who already achieved something in the industry while other options will be better for veterans. It's usually a question of personal preferences, so you can choose any service you want. There are no bad options and you will find your audience on every platform.