Music apps promise listeners millions of songs on-demand, the capacity to store them without worrying about using up space on their phones or computers, and minimal ad interruption. Some apps include all of this for free, and they’re available for iOS and/or Android with a little web sleuthing. Spotify is, by far, one of the most popular music apps out there, and like other major subscription-based streaming services, like Apple Music or Tidal, it has a free tier, but there are others.

Free music apps are perfect for occasional listeners or those who already subscribe to too many other streaming services. Their sound quality won’t be quite as good as the paid versions, they’ll have more ads, and some functions may be limited, but there are more than enough perks to make these Spotify alternatives worthwhile.

10 Musi

Similar to Q, the free music app designed to let coworkers curate a unique public playlist for the office using Spotify tracks, Musi lets listeners create their own playlists using songs from YouTube and SoundCloud. It’s a straightforward and simple app to use to search music by genre and popularity, and it allows listeners to change the quality of their music settings.

Unfortunately, Musi does have ads that pop up sporadically, but the number of lists users can make is unlimited, and they can either keep them private or share them with friends and coworkers. At the moment, it’s only available on Android.

9 Pandora

One of Spotify’s biggest competitors is Pandora, the streaming music juggernaut that boasts the same features as Spotify’s radio with a few other tricks of its own. Drawing from their favorite artists and genres, users can choose stations to suit their tastes -even if it’s nothing but Hollywood musicals – and Pandora will intuitively make suggestions to promote the discovery of new music.

Pandora has built its reputation on curating music for listeners, with both a free and premium option. The free version does have short ads and limits the number of songs listeners can skip in a row, but it’s worth it for the unique and customized streaming experience. Pandora is available for both iOS and Android.

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8 YouTube Music

While not as widely used, YouTube Music is another competitor of Spotify’s, offering a free tier for users that want to explore the service’s vast selection of songs and music videos. When it comes to the latter, YouTube Music is unrivaled, offering hundreds of thousands of music videos not available anywhere else.

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With its simple, clean layout and access to lots of rare songs and artists, it may be just what users are looking for who want to build more alternative playlists. The free option doesn’t allow for downloading offline, so listeners will have to keep it open on their phone (iOS/Android compatible) or computer.

7 SoundCloud

One of the biggest platforms for emerging artists looking to make their mark on the music industry, SoundCloud ensures that listeners will find bands, artists, and genres they’ve never heard of on its streaming service. With the free tier, users will be able to have access to over 120 million songs (and some pop-up ads) on iOS and Android.

SoundCloud allows users to engage with up-and-coming artists directly, curate their own playlists, and share with friends. While the quality of the songs varies depending on the artist and their level of production, listeners who want something other than mainstream music may not mind because of the chance to discover an artist before they hit it big.

6 BBC Sounds

BBC Sounds, the music app formerly known as iPlayer Radio is known for being a dependable radio app, with the typical BBC radio stations like 1Xtra, Radio 1 and 4, etc., while also allowing listeners to explore podcasts, music mixes, and live sets.

Users can sort through the app’s catalog by genre, then download content and listen on various devices, pausing and resuming where they left off each time (which is perfect if a listener is going to work out but doesn’t want to miss their place in a podcast). The BBC is known for its excellent audio, so while this isn’t a music-only app, the music heard through it is top-notch. BBC Sounds is available for iOS, Android, and has a web player.

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5 LiveXLive

Known previously as Slacker Radio, LiveXLive is a streaming app that combines the best of audio and video, where users can create customized music stations and then share them with their friends. Similar to Pandora, it allows listeners to pick genres and pre-program their own streaming radio stations, which are accessible through all mobile phone platforms and on the web.

It keeps track of users’ favorite songs, either by selection or based on how many times they’ve played them, and tries to customize the experience as much as possible. For the few audio ads and banners it has, it’s worth exploring the free tier.

4 Deezer

Another user-friendly service that doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles but gets the job done, Deezer is a music app that boasts 56 million songs and is easy to navigate. If listeners want something more than music, it also offers plenty of podcasts and content that isn’t directly music-related.

Signing up for the premium service will ensure lossless audio, but the sound quality for the playlists curated on Deezer is decent enough given the minimal ads with the free tier. Deezer is currently available for both iOS and Android.

3 Amazon Prime Music

With 2 million free songs and the accessibility of operating through Fire and Echo devices, Amazon Prime Music is still a first choice when it comes to streaming music. Unfortunately, it’s only free to those members who already enjoy Amazon Prime Video. However, Amazon regularly runs promotions, so anyone interested in trying Amazon Prime Music can try it as part of a free trial.

Aside from getting free one-day shipping, Amazon Prime Video customers get access to Amazon’s extensive music library, and the best part about the arrangement is that they get all their favorite songs on-demand without a single ad.

2 TuneIn

Like BBC Sounds, TuneIn isn’t purely a music app, primarily focusing on radio stations. For those who don’t mind getting their music that way, it offers a large variety of stations, including BBC Radio, NPR, and C-SPAN, as well as news from Fox News and CNN, and even a library of unexpected podcasts.

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As far as radio-specific apps go, this is one of the best, especially given that genre-specific and local stations are widely available to suit every listener’s taste. Like other apps, users can still search for music by genre, artist, and song.

1 The Future FM

Standing out from the crowd, The Future FM is a free music app that promotes DJ mixes and live sets from nightclubs, festivals, and concerts. By publishing content from the world’s best DJs, listeners can get a different music experience and hear what the rest of the globe is partying to.

For those listeners intent on supporting DJs, it makes DJs the rightsholders of their mixes and ensures they get paid royalties for the works that they create. Users can also find out more about their favorite DJs through their podcasts, where they talk about their mixing process, their influences, and what being a DJ means to them.

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About The Author


Kayleena Pierce-Bohen
(1342 Articles Published)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she’s particularly proud of. When she isn’t writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she’s working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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