Did You Know?
Rhapsody was the first music subscription service to offer on-demand access to songs for a flat monthly fee.The Internet today is flooded with a plethora of music streaming sites which offer tons of music for free or for a small premium. For all the audiophiles out there, it is, in fact, a problem of plenty. This Buzzle article aims to put you out of your dilemma, and lists the best music streaming services in the market today.
Pandora
This, probably, is one of the most popular streaming services on the Internet today, with a user-base of more than 200 million registered members. One of the oldest music streaming services, Pandora has a large library of songs across major genres. What really makes this service stand out from the rest of the players in the market is its Music Genome Project which uses advanced algorithms to analyze over 400 different attributes of every song in its database. This helps the service find the perfect song for every mood. The free version of this service is pretty good, but if you want to enjoy high quality music and get rid of pesky ads, the paid version should serve you well. The only downside to this service is the fact that it is currently available only in the US, Australia, and New Zealand.
Website: www.pandora.com
Spotify
A relative newcomer to this arena, Spotify has slowly, but surely, made its way to the top tier. With over 20 millions songs in its database, it has, by far, one of the largest collections on the Internet. The service has high quality curated content which caters to the music needs of even the most demanding of audiophiles. Its web player is a great addition and does not require users to install the app on the computer or mobile. It also features rich social integration, and users can login with their Facebook ID, and easily share tracks with their friends online. It also lets you add your own library of songs to the streaming list, a feature that is offered by very few competing services.
Website: www.spotify.com
Rdio
One of Rdio's biggest strengths is the seamless sync option it offers for all your favorite tracks across various devices. You can dive right into its large library of over 18 million songs once you choose to register for an all-access 30-day trial. It features a clean and clutter-free interface which gives you easy access to your tracks. There are plenty of free radio stations to choose from, although to avoid the barrage of ads every couple of songs, you might want to opt in for its premium service.
Website: www.rdio.com
iTunes Radio
Apple made a rather late entry into the field of music streaming with its iTunes Radio. Currently catering just to audiences in the USA, the service is expected to be launched in other countries soon. It is needless to say that this is a massive hit with people used to the Apple ecosystem. The service itself is free and gives you access to over 27 million tracks. The only catch here being that you would have an ad pop up every 5 tracks. Also, you are limited to skipping 6 songs per hour. Getting a premium account, of course, gets rid of these hurdles, and you can then enjoy a blissful time with your favorite music playing away for hours on end.
Website: www.apple.com
Google Play Music
Google Play Music pretty much matches the big names in the industry track for track. It gives you access to scores of tracks across various genres, and even has the very latest albums in its library. Much like Spotify, it too lets you add songs from your library to the playlist and even stores up to 20,000 of these songs on its cloud. This, in turn, means that you can easily access your tracks from various devices. The best part about the service is that it does not require you to download any player, instead has a rather nifty web player. The only area in which the service is found lacking is in the social arena, as it only offers Google+ integration. According to their official site, by opting for the premium All Access version of their service, you will get unlimited access to all the tracks with the option to create your own personalized radio from any song or artist, and get smart recommendations based on your taste.
Website: play.google.com
These were some of the best names in the music streaming arena. Grooveshark too is a very nice option when it comes to music streaming, but fails to make the cut in our list as it features user-uploaded tracks. So, tune into your favorite music streaming service, and let the music take over. Cheers.
