Listening to music has been an essential part of our living. We enjoy listening to music while commuting, when trying to loosen up, having our daily runs, or when we simply want to keep pace with the latest music of our idols. Imagine how boring life can be without music!
Nowadays, we are exposed to a large number of methods to listen to our favorite music online. And if you are searching for a nice site where you can enjoy your music, then you should learn about the best sites that provide these services.
The internet provides plenty of things, and one of them is music. There are lots of best sites for listening to music in 2020 that offer music streaming services. However, you should know that not all of the occurring sites are permissible. And just to give justice to the artists, we always recommend going away from the non-legal sites.
What is Music Streaming?
The majority of the music streaming platforms provide an amazing song library, playlists, and albums. These songs can hypothetically be played by each user at a particular time through the internet, regardless of their location and regardless of the gadget they are using.
Seeing it from a technical viewpoint, streaming functions by transmitting or streaming information coming from a server to a particular player. The actual song appears on the server being in a raw file. These raw files are large and comprehensive; hence, they are processed and compressed so they can travel through the internet spontaneously. Once the stream gets into the device, it will interpret the compressed information through a plugin or an app.
Since the raw files went through compression for transmission, some contend that music streaming comes in lower quality as compared to the other formats such as vinyl records, CDs, and digital downloads.
The victory of music streaming has convinced that listeners do not essentially value highly of the quality over convenience and quantity. The absolute volume of available songs and the comfort of searching and listening to them makes it very appealing. It became very prominent that the entire industry had to think it over.
List of Best Sites for Music Streaming
For most of us, purchasing albums to listen to music is already over. Rather, music streaming services providing a lot of tracks that you can purchase – and listen – from a tablet or smartphone that has access to the internet are taking place. However, with the numerous services available in the market nowadays, how do you determine which one is the best? How can you tell whether the site gives you the best services out of your subscription? We have listed some of the best sites for listening to music in 2020:
1. Spotify – Best Overall
- Fun and very easy to design playlists
- Imports Windows Music and iTunes libraries
- Share playlists
Spotify is extremely popular worldwide because of its music streaming services. It offers listeners somewhat a radio-like encounter plus other on-demand features. You can opt to listen to music for free or be one of the many paying users to maximize the services. Free users may stream ad-supported music. Paying users, on the other hand, may acquire offline access, stream on-demand, and also listen to ad-free music.
One of the best things about this site is its recommendations. For instance, the Discovery Weekly playlist is a very prominent attribute that suggests thirty songs to you every Monday according to the kind of music you have listening to.
2. Pandora – Best Customized Recommendations
- Provides excellent quality audio
- Can enjoy music offline
- Distinct search function
Pandora offers music streaming services, and it is run by the Pandora media. This website lets the users listen and delve into the music. Additionally, according to your music test, the website makes a custom station with the same tracks.
Pandora is another good site to stream your most loved music and, at the same time, uncover new music. As you get into the page and enter your chosen artist or preferred genre in the search box, Pandora establishes a radio station meant for you that comprises music that is complementary to your choice. Basing on the feedback that you have given, Pandora decides about what will be the music that will be next recommended.
Similar to other services, the free version of Pandora is ad-supported. However, you have the option to avail of its two paid plans, which are Plus and Premium. The Plus plan will grant you access to boundless skips, boundless replays, and great audio quality. The Premium plan, on the other hand, also comprises all the features available in the Plus. But other than that, it also grants you access to the 40 million song database. It also allows you to keep music offline.
3. Google Play Music – Best for Google Users
- Works on many devices
- Offers great music recommendations
- Easy to navigate
Google Play Music is run by Google to offer services such as podcasts and music streaming services and music locker. The website is a continent for usage and provides access to online browsing and radio for music.
Google Play Music has a huge collection of music. You can also search for the name of artists or music to instantly begin streaming. Another option, you can check the new releases portion or top charts to listen to the well-known tracks. You may directly stream on some music, although some ask you to initiate a radio station.
One distinct feature of Google Play Music, which makes it exceptional from the others, is the privileged given to the users to upload a maximum of 50,000 legally-acquired songs to the Google Library. Users can listen to this music anytime.
Google Play Music is ad-supported. However, if you find these ads so annoying, you may opt to go for a paid subscription.
4. SoundCloud – Best Place for Unreleased Recordings
- Easily locate free downloads
- Can stream to music before downloading
- Exhibits a mix of great and upcoming artists
This Berlin-based online audio platform lets users promote, record, upload, form a community, and share their created sounds. Having over 150 million music tracks, this site is one of the biggest audio and music streaming platform.
SoundCloud can somehow be illustrated as a YouTube for music. It contains a huge music collection made by artists from different parts of the world. Since it advertises music made by independent artists, it may time a little a bit longer to search and find the music that you like. However, once you track several good artists, you will always get good music prompting in your feed.
You may stream music all you want, but aside from streaming, SoundCloud also allows you to do free song downloads. Simply click on the download button and listen to your favorite song even when you are not online. However, not all songs are downloadable. If the uploader has permitted downloads, that is the only time that you can download the song.
SoundCloud also has a free version that is also ad-supported. It also has a paid plan, which is the SoundCloud Go+. The premium plan eliminates the ads and includes offline listening.
Another premium plan is the SoundCloud Pro. It is devised for the artists that place their music on SoundCloud. It provides detailed analytics, greater upload limits, and some other features.
5. Grooveshark – Best Site to Share and Save Playlists
- Huge library available
- Share and save playlists
- Can search for albums, artists, and titles
Grooveshark is the best place for discovering new music, making playlists, establishing a connection with other music aficionados, and bringing music throughout the web.
Users can also check what others are thinking about their chosen songs. They can also take advantage of the feature of sharing music on a smartphone through mobile apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, and more.
Since anybody is free to upload their music in Grooveshark, the quality of audio on some tracks may differ. With Grooveshark, free accounts are not limited, as contrary to the 10-hour wrap up in Spotify. Nonetheless, both systems have ads.
6. iHeartRadio – Best Site for Custom Stations and Live Radio Stations
- Devise custom radio stations
- Play on-demand songs through paid subscriptions
- Can listen to live radio streaming
The iHeartRadio is an unpaid broadcast as well as an internet radio program that allows users to listen to their favorite music online, talk and comedy shows, sports, news, podcasts, and radio stations. Here, users can also make the design of their creative stations.
It also features a sleep timer – best for users who get soothed to a good sleep when listening to music.
It is an incredible free music streaming site and music app. Stream news and podcasts, listen to the live radios, and devise your custom radio stations that fit your preferences.
7. NoiseTrade – Best Site to Offer Unlimited downloads
- Free music for streaming
- Music promotion
- Direct-to-fan handling services
NoiseTrade is a global online program book and audio website that offers direct-to-fan handling services. It permits the creators of books and music to stream and, at the same time, upload their creation to earn money.
It is a platform designed for artists so they can reach out to their fans. Artists give users free music while trading for their postal code and email addresses. Users can download music for free, and they are free to do it whenever they want, all they have to do is to give their consent to certain promotional emails which are sent every once in a while.
The majority of the artists in NoiseTrade are not so known or independent. The bigger artists will commonly not put full albums on the website – only EPs.
8. Musopen – Best in Classical Music
- Free music downloads
- Online radio function
- Sheet music available
Musopen is a California-based site that targets to free music. This incredible site gives free classical music without imposing any copywriting charges. It is a warehouse of music that offers free music without involving any legal problems.
This site is committed to offering free downloads of classical music to anyone who likes them. These classical works of art are public domain. Hence, it is fully permissible to download any music that you will find.
There is a huge choice of classical music available and ready for download. You will see plenty of performers and composers utilizing every kind of musical instrument possible.
The available music offered may not be completely contemporary. However, it can suit you well if you like to emanate an educated or sophisticated impression. Furthermore, it can be greatly discernible, which can make your video remarkable to the viewer.
9. AccuRadio – Simplest Interface
- A huge combination of genres
- Customizable
- Straightforward
AccuRadio is a perfect venue not only for music streaming but also for learning new music. Different from certain websites, its interface is quite simple. You can easily click any of the suggested genres or artists on the homepage. You may also look for your desired music and begin listening instantly.
AccuRadio makes it simpler for you to customize, find, and enjoy the great music available on earth. Although this site is ad-supported, it offers users the unlimited option to skip songs. This is something that is not offered by many free musics streaming websites. If you prefer to listen to music while you are on mobile, you can use the mobile apps of AccuRadio, which are attainable for iOS, Android, and more.
10. SHOUTcast – Best Access on Radio Stations Worldwide
- Access to more than 89,000 radio stations
- No registration needed
- Offers entire free service
SHOUTcast is a fascinating music streaming service that offers users access to more than 89,000 radio stations all over the world. You can maneuver the stations through genre or look for the name of artists or stations. It does not require any registration, which means that you can begin music streaming in just a matter of seconds.
This site is not only a streaming service. It is also a broadcasting instrument that lets you initiate your radio station. It offers an entirely free service. You can even mint your radio station through the Targetspot Publisher Program.
Even better, the site displays the existing and maximum number of listeners for every station, and also the real-time song list. Station-specific chat areas are also available. And considering the commonly low MP3 bit scale broadcast here, the sound quality is still impressive, which is supported by the 10-band equalizer of Winamp player.
How to Choose the Best Sites for Listening to Music
You might feel bombarded with several websites available that offer music streaming services. However, not all of them provide the same features and quality of service. So if you are trying to figure out which one is best, you should know the common things that you should consider when finding the best one for you.
• Limitations of the Music Streaming Services
The physical sales of music have fallen hard and fast; however, that does not imply that people have chosen to stop listening to music. Because of streaming music, people get the chance to listen to their favorite music whenever and wherever they are as long as their gadgets can get access to the internet.
The services of music streaming are so essential to the industry. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) now determines music streaming into its album certifications for Gold and Platinum.
In particular, Kanye West’s ‘The Life of Pablo’ was the very first album to reach platinum according to online plays, streaming over 3 billion times all over the world. Thus, streaming music services are significant.
• Quality of Music and Other Features
The act of RIAA can be considered as a smart one since streaming music services have been a significant part of our daily living. A lot of music streaming services exhibit certain base-level commonality, such as allowing you to design customizable channels. However, only a small number outstand from the very congested pack because of their distinctive sets of attributes.
Some sites, when it comes to the quality of sound, delivers excellent High-Resolution Audio tunes that display unrestricted audio that outperforms your usual music stream. Knowing that many of the services of online music streaming are in the condensed, around the range of 128 kbps to 320 kbps, this fad is remarkable.
Some sites offer free options so that users can get the chance to try the services first before deciding to subscribe. Others are rigorously premium experiences.
A lot of sites have available lyrics, too, so users can sing along with their favorite songs. Moreover, family plans, a comparably new feature in the industry, allow 6 household members to register for a common premium account.
• Deals Offered
There is plenty of distinction between paid and free streaming music category in many services. Commonly, free accounts restrict one’s capability to skip songs to only 6 per hour. They also feed ads either in the form of video or audio. The free ones are typically for more random listeners or individuals who do not like shelling out the amount of money just to listen to music.
Premium accounts, on the other hand, provide boundless on-demand playback, song skips, and more. The for-pay statuses of service are meant for the customers who like to delve into the intensity of what the service for streaming music offers.
What are the Benefits of Listening to Music from Sites?
There are several reasons why it is recommended to find the best sites for listening to music. Primarily, streaming creates music more attainable to everyone regardless of their location. A lot of times, the quality of the sound of streaming music is quite better than the songs on CDs.
Streaming services give users a wide option of music. New genres of music and artists become more accessible, too. Subscribers will also have to access the out-of-print recordings. When you listen to music to the best site, you are not consuming space on your hard drive.
These sites are also beneficial to the new artists as it allows them to make their marketing campaigns. Hence, new artists will have a better opportunity of drawing profits from their music.
Music streaming sites are also a solution to music piracy. If people desire to have your music for free, then they will surely find an approach to do it. Streaming sites provide an immediate answer to music piracy, and it is an answer that profits the artists. If people lead to pirating music, artists can earn nothing.
The subscription approach and design are directing to artists earning from the customers. Many of the people are switching to subscribing to the best music streaming sites.
Conclusion
So, why need the best sites for listening to music in 2020? Well, music is a part of our life. The beautiful scales, high notes, loud voices, and in-depth melodies are just some combinations of stuff that impact music nice to our hearing. However, regardless of the situation we are currently in, it is necessary to clarify it – we should not conceive of illegal methods or ways to get our favorite songs. Hence, people should only patronize authorized and legit sites.
Bear in mind that not all existing music streaming sites provide excellent-quality music, especially if they are free. Hence, the best sites are those that are paid. And although we have specific sites that are highly recommended as the best service for your streaming requirements, you too can explore other choices.
After considering the available features as well as the restrictions of the reviewed sites above, we conclude that the best site for listening to music in 2020 is Spotify. The site has a wide music catalog and impressive sound quality. Next on the rank is Pandora. Everyone has a unique taste when it comes to music. We suggest that you explore all sites featured here to see for yourself, which among them can work for you best. Determine what you desire from the site and check whether your choice can provide you your needs.
