10 Best Free Music Apps 2024

Music Apps - Overview

Music streaming services have witnessed dynamic and rapid advancement. Music Apps usually function on a subscription-based model, offering music lovers an ocean of music libraries and podcasts to choose from. Though loads of music streaming services are abundantly available, very less music streaming fields gain attention and popularity. Factors like music quality, user experience, advertisements, recommendation algorithms, exclusivity, and integration with other apps and services, help differentiate among different music apps.

We have assembled the best free music apps in 2024 keeping in mind the exclusive features and availability of these apps.

10 Best Free Music Apps of 2024

Spotify

Spotify is by far the most popular music streaming service that offers a vast range of music and podcasts from creators globally. Launched in 2008, by 2011 it reported a user base of 1M music fans with 100 M music tracks, and by 2015 Spotify got into the game by going viral for its freedom to be easily available on all devices and access to its users. 

There is a difference in the audio quality between the free and premium versions of Spotify as the maximum bitrate Spotify Free can play is 128 kbps and 160 kbps in mobile and web players respectively. The latest update on Spotify has made fans dissatisfied as basic features like skipping songs, repeating songs, or the unnecessary smart shuffle, and the inability to rewind the favorite part of any song are only available to premium users.

Pandora

Pandora is one of the oldest and most noticeable players in the free music streaming field. With many apps and rivals surpassing Pandora over the years it still has managed to stand strong on many devices. Pandora’s free music version emphasizes the recommendations and curation of song lists namely “stations” with a calming and simple user interface. For free listeners, the quality is 64Kbps AAC+ with no adjustments in mobile. Pandora is known for delivering an entertaining experience and being incredibly easy to explore with over 50 Million music libraries.

YouTube Music

YouTube Music launched its version of the Music streaming service and it hit the homes of many. YouTube music’s free tier version is ad-supported but that too can be skipped in 5 seconds (Much like YouTube videos), provides lyrics, has a very powerful algorithm for song recommendations, it also features a switch, to swap into the video of the music, provide google cast to youtube music, and an innovative feature would be you can find songs by looking up the lyrics (similar to Youtube). A library size of 100 million and the quality of audio in the free tier is 128 kbps in mobile and web players. 

Amazon Music

Amazon Music is a music streaming service that provides access to a vast library of over 100 million songs and an extensive collection of podcasts for both streaming and offline listening. Amazon Music offers a free tier with ads, providing basic access to songs and playlists, and has Alexa to voice assist. While ad-free listening and unlimited skips are reserved for premium subscribers, Amazon Music does not fail to satisfy the users of the apps.

Deezer

Deezer is often regarded as an alternative to the more mainstream services. While it may not currently match the popularity of its competitors,  Deezer has a unique position as one of the earliest music streaming platforms and an early adopter of 360 Reality Audio technology. Despite not being on par with its rivals at present, Deezer has a noteworthy history as a pioneer in the music streaming industry. Its early embrace of 360 Reality Audio showcases its role as an innovative player in the field.

Users on Deezer's free tier, listen to occasional ads during their listening experience, and the track quality is 128kbps. The mobile app for this free tier has some limitations, though these are in line with what is observed in similar offerings from its competitors.

TuneIn Radio

TuneIn Radio distinguishes itself from conventional music streaming services by focusing on radio stations, offering an alternative way to enjoy your favorite music while retaining the charm of traditional radio formats. TuneIn provides an array of stations, including well-known ones like BBC Radio, NPR, All India Radio, and C-SPAN, as well as news outlets such as CNN and Fox News. The platform also presents a variety of podcasts, and users have the option to explore local and genre-specific radio stations, ensuring there's something for everyone.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is renowned as the hub for emerging artists, making it the go-to platform for those exploring music and podcasts emerging from new talents and predicting the next big names in music. Notable artists like Post Malone and Lizzo kick-started their careers on SoundCloud, providing a testament to the platform's significance. The free tier boasts an extensive collection of over 120 million tracks, mixes, podcasts, and more. However, given the nature of featuring 'up-and-coming' artists, the quality of content may vary.

The positive aspect is the ability to connect with friends and artists directly on the platform, create playlists, and receive curated tracklists tailored to your taste. On the flip side, similar to many free services, users have to tolerate advertisements as a trade-off for the diverse and dynamic content available on SoundCloud.

Tidal

Tidal is a music streaming service for music fans from the United States. Users get to experience to access 'Tidal Free.' This plan provides users with streams from the entire Tidal library at a rate of 160kbps, with "limited interruptions." from ads. The major benefit is its commitment to delivering top-notch sound quality at 96 kbps, making it an ideal choice for those seeking a fully immersive musical experience. Tidal boasts of providing CD-quality sound and even high-resolution audio, surpassing offerings from other streaming services.

iHeartradio

iHeartradio supports loads of devices and has good features, that help users find commercial-free radio stations and can also listen to podcasts and make music stations according to their favorite collections, search for stations, users are even offered the feature to set a song as an alarm. Though upgrading to iHeartradio delivers more features, the basic free tier provides pretty good features with an audio quality of 128kbps.

Idagio

Idagio is a music streaming app exclusively for classical music fans, it delivers its service to the large fanbase of one single category, the classical genre, with over 2 million plus tracks being streamed it also offers live concerts, and interviews only to make the deal sweeter. Idagio performs exceptionally by delivering audio quality of a minimum of 160 Kbps and a maximum of 192 Kbps. In addition to the stand-out features of live concerts, the streaming service plays a fair pay model, where the artists get paid by the streaming duration and not by the count of the songs listened for a fairer remuneration system.

Summation

With loads of Music streaming services being available across devices, the above-mentioned top services have exhibited a highlighted feature that has captured a lot of fans. Keeping that in mind we have curated the best free music apps and best players in music streaming services of 2024. To get your mobile app developed reach out to Maticz, the leading mobile app development company. With exclusive technologies and industry experts, we assure 100% customer satisfaction and deliverance.