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The best music streaming services you can subscribe to
The best overall
The best for Apple fans
If you use an iPhone and other Apple products, then it's worth considering Apple Music. Apple Music integrates very well with Apple's hardware and software, plus it's well-designed and works with your existing library of iTunes music. Not only that, but Apple Music has 45 million songs, which is absolutely massive.
One of the best things about Apple Music is that it integrates with Siri and the Apple Watch perfectly, plus it can be played on a HomePod without issue. In other words, if you have other Apple devices, then Apple Music is probably the service to go for.
Apple Music has a nice selection of content too. Apart from the songs available on Apple Music, the service also offers the Beats 1 radio station and some exclusive music.
There are a few downsides to Apple Music. For starters, while there's an Apple Music app on many different platforms, even Android, there's no web app for it, so you do need to install and log in to an app to use it.
Pros: Huge selection of content, live radio, excellent integration with Apple devices
Cons: No web app
Subscribe to Apple Music for $9.99 per monthThe best for audiophiles
Tidal is a little different from other music streaming services in that it's targeted toward those who want a higher resolution audio — and as such, it offers an excellent sound quality. While other music streaming services offer a bitrate of up to 320Kbps, Tidal steps things up to a whopping 1,411Kbps, meaning that audio can be streamed in FLAC format.
Tidal works across a range of apps too. There's a Tidal app for all your favorite platforms, including iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows, plus there's a web-based app for when you don't want a native app on your device.
Tidal is also known to get access to some great exclusive content. Albums like Jay-Z's "4:44" and Kanye West's "The Life of Pablo" were first launched on Tidal, and the service will likely get other exclusive content too. There are also music videos and other behind-the-scenes content, plus Tidal subscribers get access to select concert and sports tickets.
Nothing's perfect, and Tidal is no exception to that rule. The service doesn't have some features that others offer, like lyrics, and there's no free version for those that don't mind an ad-supported service.
Pros: Excellent audio quality, available on a range of platforms, exclusive content
Cons: No free version, missing some features
Subscribe to Tidal for $9.99 per monthThe best with Alexa
If you're an Amazon Prime subscriber, you might want to save a few bucks and go for Amazon's music subscription service, Amazon Music Unlimited.
If you're a Prime subscriber, you already have access to Prime Music, but if you really want a great streaming service, then it's worth stepping things up with Music Unlimited, which offers a much bigger music library.
Music Unlimited is available on a range of platforms, including iOS, Android, and the web. The service is tightly integrated with Amazon's Alexa, so if you have an Echo or other Alexa product, it'll work perfectly.
If you use other Amazon products, you might get a bit of a discount, too — Amazon Prime subscribers pay $7.99 per month instead of $9.99 per month for Unlimited, and Amazon Echo or Echo Dot owners pay only $3.99 per month, which is pretty great.
When it comes to audio quality, Prime Music streams at 256Kbps. It also offers access to a pretty huge range of songs. Amazon Music Unlimited boasts "tens of millions" of songs, which is a pretty impressive library.
Music Unlimited doesn't offer any non-music content, but apart from that, it's a pretty great service for those plugged into the Amazon ecosystem.
Pros: Discounts for Amazon Prime and Echo customers, good music library selection, Alexa integration
Cons: No content other than music
Subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited for $9.99 per monthThe best for Android users
YouTube Music is the way to go if you're really plugged into Google's ecosystem of products. In other words, if you have an Android phone and want your music streaming service to integrate well with Google Assistant, then YouTube Music is a great service.
YouTube Music isn't only available for Android devices. It's also available on iOS and on the web, so you should be able to access the service wherever you are.
The service is smart, so you'll get interesting location-based playlists and the ability to search for songs based on the lyrics in that song. There's also a free, ad-supported version that you can try out first.
YouTube Music isn't perfect, though Google has been working on making it better. For now, there isn't much content on the app beyond music. Not only that, but it doesn't really integrate with other voice assistants like Alexa, so if you have an Echo you'll be stuck with playing music through the Bluetooth connection on your phone.
Pros: Interesting playlists, good integration with Google services, free version available
Cons: Doesn't integrate with other voice assistants
Subscribe to YouTube Music for $9.99 per monthPopular Right Now
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