Hello everyone, as I just found myself online needing to choose a music streaming service, I thought it would've been nice to do a quick write up on here about what these services are currently offering and which ones can be trialled for free.
I tried most of those platforms at some point in my life (mostly using the free trial options), but the biggest way I consume music is definitely going on YouTube and listen to random songs and podcasts / watch random videos.
I don't really mind being on my data all the time because I have an unlimited plan, BUT as my current phone provider decided to go absolutely insane and send me a message about a 15% increase on my plan, I might have to downgrade or change something about my contract (I am not paying £45 monthly phone bill thank you very much ).
For this reason I thought it would be sensible for me to just grow up and choose a subscription (considering the amount of time I spend listening to music and podcasts every day), taking a good look to the current offers and free trials options.
Loads of Different Platforms Offer Free Trials and This Is a list on What Is Available Right Now On The Scene:
The Big 5 In The UK For Music Streaming Currently Are:
The Platform just released an update on their price increase and this is how it looks like (I also wrote a small piece about it that you can find HERE )
2. APPLE MUSIC
One thing we need to get out of the way quickly regarding this service is that it is possible to use Apple Music even if you don't own an Apple device as there is A.M. apps on Android and Windows.
The other thing is that from my experience Apple Music experienced less controversies comparing to Spotify, and having less artists removing their songs from there for one reason or the other it ended up having (IMO) a stronger library overall.
The third thing (and probably the most important one) is that Apple Music sadly doesn't offer a Free version of the streaming service which means you will have to pay to use it.
They currently offer a 1 Month Free Trial for All New Users, the usual Individual Subscription (£10.99/mo) and a Student Subscription ((£5.99/mo) which comes also with Free Access To Apple TV. (*All the info about the different plans HERE)
There is a couple of ways to get Six Months For Free:
- Becoming a new EE customer (* All info HERE)
- Buying and Paring An Eligible Apple Device (* All info HERE)
3. DEEZER
Deezer comes with a 90 million songs library and was the first streaming service to use 360 Reality Audio (specific surround sound for music streaming) and it has also a Free Tier which to be honest is not the greatest as there is loads of ADs and you don't have the offline listening option.
The Premium Version is £11.99 and there is a Student Subscription Plan for £5.99
All Plans Offer 1 Month Free Trial, which is not the best but at least you definitely have the chance to trial this out and see if it is the best streaming service for you.
There are a couple of cool features that come with the Deezer Premium Account like No Shuffle Play, Pick and Play Option, and the possibility of identifying tracks or singing along to your favourite songs with built-in features like SongCatcher and Lyrics.
4. AMAZON MUSIC
* UPDATE - 29TH SEPTEMBER 2023
According to an email sent to Prime Members, four new features are coming to Prime users related to Amazon Music as perks.
- First up, users will be able to create a playlist full of their favourite songs. They'll then have access to unlimited skips and offline listening.
- Next, users will now have access to a larger range of All-Access Playlists. These personalised playlists are based on your tastes, and are available on-demand and for offline use.
- Then, there's also a new feature called My Mix. The feature refreshes everyday based on your listening, to supply you with up-to-date content which is tailored to your taste.
- Finally, Amazon have also signalled an intention to bring more content to users. Every week, a selection of new release albums will be made available on-demand for a limited window of time.
These perks should be already available if you are an active user of the service
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Amazon Music is probably the easiest service to get if you already have Amazon Prime.
The service comes with four different plans, including a Student one for £5.99/mo.
There is a Free tier which only gives you access to specific playlists and songs with quite a few ADs in between and there is also a tier included in your Amazon Prime subscription (which means you could already have the service and not even knowing it). This tier removes the ads, enables offline listening and unlocks around two million songs.
The most expensive tier (which comes with 4 different plans) is Amazon Music Unlimited, which includes everything Music Prime has plus it offers 90 million songs library, (in HD or Ultra HD), plus a growing catalogue available in Spatial Audio.
The most important detail about Amazon Music Unlimited, is that you don't need a Prime membership to get an Unlimited one - you can just choose your plan and pay your subscription fee.
If you are a student (and you can obviously prove it), you can also get access to Prime Student that gives you a variety of perks, including 6 months free of Amazon Music Unlimited
5. TIDAL
Tidal I feel is the right subscription if you really are into music, want to have the highest quality audio possible and don't really mind spending a few more coins.
One really cool feature you can get with this service is the Direct Artist Payouts which is a scheme that gives the HiFi Plus member the chance to see up to 10% of their subscriptions go straight to the artists they listen to the most.
This streaming service does not offer a Free tier and it actually only comes with two plans (none of which is particularly cheap): Tidal HiFi (£9.99/mo) and Tidal HiFi Plus (£19.99/mo) Both Plans Offer 1 month Free Trial and considering how expensive is the HiFi Plus Plan, it really is needed to understand if the service is worth the plunge. (*All the Info HERE)
Unfortunately, Tidal doesn't offer a proper Student Tier, but students get 50% off both subscription tiers which is not too bad if you are into high quality audio and want to give this one a go.
I tried most of those platforms at some point in my life (mostly using the free trial options), but the biggest way I consume music is definitely going on YouTube and listen to random songs and podcasts / watch random videos.
I don't really mind being on my data all the time because I have an unlimited plan, BUT as my current phone provider decided to go absolutely insane and send me a message about a 15% increase on my plan, I might have to downgrade or change something about my contract (I am not paying £45 monthly phone bill thank you very much ).
For this reason I thought it would be sensible for me to just grow up and choose a subscription (considering the amount of time I spend listening to music and podcasts every day), taking a good look to the current offers and free trials options.
Loads of Different Platforms Offer Free Trials and This Is a list on What Is Available Right Now On The Scene:
The Big 5 In The UK For Music Streaming Currently Are:
- Spotify
- Apple Music
- Amazon Music
- Deezer
- Tidal
The aim for me is to obviously get a good streaming service, but also try and save a little bit of money considering I am adding another subscription to the mix (Send love to my bank account )
All of them have Cons and Pros and from all I can see, every one of those services offer some sort of Free Trial and Student Discounted Membership.
1. SPOTIFY
It is arguably the most famous music streaming service on the scene with hundreds of millions of users across the world.
Most users are subscribed to the Premium version, but some people still use the Free one.
The Platform just released an update on their price increase and this is how it looks like (I also wrote a small piece about it that you can find HERE )
There are a few different plans to choose from and obviously the Premium version comes with quite a few perks that you will lose using the Free one.
Free users can only listen to albums on shuffle and skip just six tracks per hour. This level also serves you with ads between songs, and there's no access to offline listening.
For Premium users the offer on top of just music streaming is quite substantial: The music discovery algorithms and custom-curated playlists are super cool, and the end-of-year Spotify Wrapped is arguably worth the subscription alone.
Until the 21st of November 2023 you will also be able to try Premium Spotify for Free For Four Months through a collaboration that the platform has with Argos (All the Info HERE)
EDIT: Apparently for many users the Argos deal shows only 1 month free so always double check as it says that the offer applies only to users that never tried Premium before
2. APPLE MUSIC
One thing we need to get out of the way quickly regarding this service is that it is possible to use Apple Music even if you don't own an Apple device as there is A.M. apps on Android and Windows.
The other thing is that from my experience Apple Music experienced less controversies comparing to Spotify, and having less artists removing their songs from there for one reason or the other it ended up having (IMO) a stronger library overall.
The third thing (and probably the most important one) is that Apple Music sadly doesn't offer a Free version of the streaming service which means you will have to pay to use it.
They currently offer a 1 Month Free Trial for All New Users, the usual Individual Subscription (£10.99/mo) and a Student Subscription ((£5.99/mo) which comes also with Free Access To Apple TV. (*All the info about the different plans HERE)
There is a couple of ways to get Six Months For Free:
- Becoming a new EE customer (* All info HERE)
- Buying and Paring An Eligible Apple Device (* All info HERE)
3. DEEZER
Deezer comes with a 90 million songs library and was the first streaming service to use 360 Reality Audio (specific surround sound for music streaming) and it has also a Free Tier which to be honest is not the greatest as there is loads of ADs and you don't have the offline listening option.
The Premium Version is £11.99 and there is a Student Subscription Plan for £5.99
All Plans Offer 1 Month Free Trial, which is not the best but at least you definitely have the chance to trial this out and see if it is the best streaming service for you.
There are a couple of cool features that come with the Deezer Premium Account like No Shuffle Play, Pick and Play Option, and the possibility of identifying tracks or singing along to your favourite songs with built-in features like SongCatcher and Lyrics.
4. AMAZON MUSIC
* UPDATE - 29TH SEPTEMBER 2023
According to an email sent to Prime Members, four new features are coming to Prime users related to Amazon Music as perks.
- First up, users will be able to create a playlist full of their favourite songs. They'll then have access to unlimited skips and offline listening.
- Next, users will now have access to a larger range of All-Access Playlists. These personalised playlists are based on your tastes, and are available on-demand and for offline use.
- Then, there's also a new feature called My Mix. The feature refreshes everyday based on your listening, to supply you with up-to-date content which is tailored to your taste.
- Finally, Amazon have also signalled an intention to bring more content to users. Every week, a selection of new release albums will be made available on-demand for a limited window of time.
These perks should be already available if you are an active user of the service
--------------------
Amazon Music is probably the easiest service to get if you already have Amazon Prime.
The service comes with four different plans, including a Student one for £5.99/mo.
There is a Free tier which only gives you access to specific playlists and songs with quite a few ADs in between and there is also a tier included in your Amazon Prime subscription (which means you could already have the service and not even knowing it). This tier removes the ads, enables offline listening and unlocks around two million songs.
The most expensive tier (which comes with 4 different plans) is Amazon Music Unlimited, which includes everything Music Prime has plus it offers 90 million songs library, (in HD or Ultra HD), plus a growing catalogue available in Spatial Audio.
The most important detail about Amazon Music Unlimited, is that you don't need a Prime membership to get an Unlimited one - you can just choose your plan and pay your subscription fee.
If you are a student (and you can obviously prove it), you can also get access to Prime Student that gives you a variety of perks, including 6 months free of Amazon Music Unlimited
5. TIDAL
Tidal I feel is the right subscription if you really are into music, want to have the highest quality audio possible and don't really mind spending a few more coins.
One really cool feature you can get with this service is the Direct Artist Payouts which is a scheme that gives the HiFi Plus member the chance to see up to 10% of their subscriptions go straight to the artists they listen to the most.
This streaming service does not offer a Free tier and it actually only comes with two plans (none of which is particularly cheap): Tidal HiFi (£9.99/mo) and Tidal HiFi Plus (£19.99/mo) Both Plans Offer 1 month Free Trial and considering how expensive is the HiFi Plus Plan, it really is needed to understand if the service is worth the plunge. (*All the Info HERE)
Unfortunately, Tidal doesn't offer a proper Student Tier, but students get 50% off both subscription tiers which is not too bad if you are into high quality audio and want to give this one a go.
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125 Comments
sorted byI previously had an Argentinian Tidal account, but unfortunately they put a stop to it(for me, anyway). If there's still a loophole to get it with a UK card then it's definitely my favourite choice of the major streaming platforms - I found the sound quality brilliant, and I was paying somewhere between 50p-£1 per month.
I'm currently using a Turkish Deezer subscription created with the Google Play trick that was posted recently, costing roughly £10 for a year. This is great and definitely has all the music I need, but unfortunately it can be a pain to set up compared to just using a VPN, as I had to make an entirely new Google Account just for it. Worth it though (edited)
It’s got one of the best algorithms on the market and it’s automatic playlist selection is first rate.
My “Discover Weekly” playlist often knows my musical tastes better than I do
I pay around £3 a month (It varies by a few pennies each month, due to FX rates), and the only time I needed a VPN was during the sign up process and they have the sign up pages in English.
I use my Starling bank card and don't pay any foreign processing fees.
Once you've signed up it will suggest all the popular Polish Music to listen too, and might have you thinking, what I have signed up for?! But just by using the search you'll be able to find all the albums and artists you want, and over time the algorithm will show the music you like and not Polish music.
Tidal might not get the exposure of Spotify or Apple Music, but never had an issue finding the music I like.
I'm currently on a free 3 month trial (offer long gone) and it's good on quality if you are into hifi. My local hifi dealer also uses Qobuz in his demos. (edited)
Or, even loseless? (edited)
Tidal bro, sweet as 🔥
If you're such a heavy user it can be assumed you might already be subscribed to YouTube Premium, which bundles in YouTube Music. Therefore zero extra cost.
Apple Music - 3 Months Free via Shazam - shazam.com/gb/…sic
YouTube Premium (Google One Account) - 3 Months Free - youtube.com/int…ne/
Subs are obviously expensive so people will always be looking for workarounds to save a few quid.
At this moment in time, my Netflix, Disney+, YouTube Premium and Deezer subscriptions are as cheap as I can find but may not last forever. (edited)
I don't think there has been a bad response, actually people are debating on their journey with streaming while being polite and constructive so that is a good thing
I obv draw the line at illegal downloading as it is not what we should do to support artists and the industry.
The top 5 I mentioned were purposely mainstream because these (and apparently there should be a sixth added with YouTube (ninja)) are the ones with more users and usually the biggest quality x offer.
But when I am on a long journey I can't listen to the radio - hate ads - Spotify is my go to now, try it for free and see if it converts you!
I also managed to get YouTube premium India working which makes my family account on that £2 a month
Also, you might want to add which services work with which smart speaker, that'd be handy info for some.
Thanks!
But, as mentioned above, my new car allows me to stream so I have got used to it now.