Music streaming has brought a whole new dimension to music listening. Developed in the mid-2000’s, streaming services are now easily accessible, and some let you listen for free. If you’re on the hunt for your favorite music by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square or other music or podcasts—these are the music streaming apps and music streaming services to consider:
Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming service provider, with over 381 million monthly active users. A Swedish-based audio streaming and media services provider founded in 2006, it launched in the U.S. in 2011. Its active users include 172 million paying subscribers as of September 2021.
Spotify offers digital copyright restricted recorded music and podcasts, including The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (also accessed as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) and more than 70 million songs from numerous record labels and media companies. As a “freemium” service, basic features are free with advertisements and limited control, while additional features such as offline listening and commercial- free listening are offered via paid subscriptions. You can search for music based on artist, album, or genre, and can create, edit, and share your playlists.
Spotify’s premium subscription rate is $9.99/month and you can find out more here: https://www.spotify.com/us/premium/.
Apple Music is a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. You can select music to stream to your device on-demand, or you can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country, which broadcast live to over 200 countries 24 hours a day. The service, launched in 2015, currently has 72 million monthly active users.
Originally strictly a music service, Apple Music began expanding into video in 2016. The company is actively investing heavily in the production and purchasing of video content, both in terms of music videos and concert footage that support music releases, as well as web series and feature films.
Apple Music’s subscription rate is $9.99/month and new subscribers get a three-month free trial period before the service requires a monthly subscription. You can find out more here: https://www.apple.com/apple-music/.
Amazon Music (formerly Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and online music store operated by Amazon. Launched in 2008, it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights management (DRM) from the four major music labels, as well as many independents.
In 2016, Amazon announced the launch of Amazon Music HD and Amazon Music Unlimited, a full-catalog streaming service platform with more than 75 million songs. As of January 2020, Amazon Music had 55 million subscribers.
Amazon Music’s subscription rate is $7.99/month for Prime members and $9.99/month for non-Prime customers. New subscribers get a three-month free trial period before the service requires a monthly subscription. You can find out more here: https://www.amazon.com/music/unlimited.
Pandora is a subscription-based music streaming service owned by Sirius XM Holdings and founded in 2000. The service’s recommendations are based on the “Music Genome Project” — a means of classifying individual songs by musical traits. The service originally launched in the consumer market as an internet radio service, which would generate personalized channels based on these traits and songs liked by the user; this service is available in an advertising-supported tier, and a subscription-based version. In 2017, it launched Pandora Premium, an on-demand version more in line with contemporary competitors.
Pandora is a “freemium” service; basic features are free with advertisements or limitations, while additional features, such as improved streaming quality, music downloads and offline channels are offered via paid subscriptions. In 2021, Pandora had about 55.9 million active monthly users, and 6.4 million subscribers.
Pandora’s subscription rates are $4.99/month for Pandora Plus and $9.99/month for Pandora Premium.
You can find out more here: https://www.pandora.com/account/sign-in.
YouTube Music is a music streaming service developed by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. It replaced Google Play Music as Google’s main brand for music streaming in 2020. YouTube Music provides a tailored interface for the service, oriented towards music streaming, allowing you to browse through songs and music videos on YouTube based on genres, playlists, and recommendations. In September 2021, Google announced it had 50 million users subscribed to or trying YouTube Music and YouTube Premium.
YouTube Music’s subscription rate is $9.99/month and new subscribers get a one-month free trial period before the service requires a monthly subscription. You can find out more here: https://www.youtube.com/musicpremium.