How to Stream Music

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Last Updated: August 23, 2026 References

Music streaming is the cheapest and most convenient way to listen to music. There are various music streaming services that each have their own advantages and disadvantages. This wikiHow will show you various ways to stream music.

Section 1 of 4:

Popular Streaming Platforms

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Spotify is the most popular music streaming platform in the world, with listeners from all over. Spotify features seamless device integration, so you can start listening on PC and continue on your TV, or start listening on your phone and continue in your car. It also has several features intended to allow for communal listening and integration with several apps, including TikTok, Shazam, and Google's Clock.^{[1]
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- Spotify is also one of the most expensive streaming platforms, with Premium prices at US$11.99 a month for individuals and US$19.99 for families (up to 6 members). A Basic plan, which only includes listening, goes for US$10.99 a month for individuals, while only audiobooks goes for US$9.99 a month. A Duo plan for couples goes for US$14.99 a month. Their student plan, available for eligible college students, is US$5.99 a month.
- Spotify Free only allows for listening to individual songs on desktop, and has a limited number of skips on mobile.
- Spotify is available on many devices, including iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows, as well as online through their web player on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and Safari.^{[2]
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- Despite Spotify's many features, it does not include Hi-Fi audio, Dolby Atmos, or music videos.
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Apple Music is popular among iOS and macOS devices, especially because of built in integration with iOS, Mac, Apple TV, and other Apple devices. It has Hi-Fi audio, Dolby Atmos, music videos, and integration with TikTok (alongside Spotify and Amazon Music) and Shazam (alongside Spotify).^{[3]
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- Apple Music goes for US$10.99 a month for individuals and US$16.99 a month for families (up to 6 members with iCloud Family Sharing). It is available on PC, Mac, Apple TV, iOS, Android, PlayStation, Xbox, Roku, Samsung TVs, LG Smart TVs, Amazon Alexa, Sonos, Google Nest, and Microsoft. Apple Music can also be listened to online. There is a student plan that goes for US$5.99 a month.
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Tidal is a music streaming service that features Dolby Atmos and Hi-Fi audio tracks. It also features music videos and is integrated with many DJ-ing platforms.^{[4]
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- Tidal goes for US$10.99 a month for individuals and US$16.99 a month for families (up to 6 members). The student plan goes for US$5.49 a month. A DJ extension allows for remixing Tidal tracks in DJ environments for an additional US$9 a month.
- Tidal is available on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and a variety of other devices. It also has a web player.
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Amazon Music is a music streaming service by Amazon that has dozens of tracks, as well as Dolby Atmos on supported devices.^{[5]
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- Amazon Music Unlimited goes for US$9.99 a month for individuals and US$16.99 a month for families (up to 6 members). The plan for individual Alexa devices is US$5.99, as is the student plan. Amazon Music Prime is included with an Amazon Prime subscription.
- Amazon Music Free has limited plays and does not support spatial audio. However, Amazon Music Unlimited does.
- Amazon Music is available on supported Echo and Alexa devices, iOS, Android, and online.^{[6]
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SoundCloud is a community-oriented music streaming platform with a focus on independent artists. It features a lot of user-generated content and music from independent artists.^{[7]
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- SoundCloud has one of the cheapest plans, Go, going for US$4.99 a month, as well as a Go+ plan going for $10.99 a month. Students get a 50% discount on SoundCloud Go+.
- SoundCloud is supported Windows, Mac, iOS and Android; however, it can also be streamed online.
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Pandora is one of the first music streaming sites, that provides music recommendations. The site has various stations corresponding to specific genres of music.
- Pandora is free; however, it does not support unlimited skips or on-demand content without advertising. Pandora Plus (US$4.99 a month) adds offline listening as well as unlocks unlimited skips ad-free. Pandora Premium (US$10.99 a month) removes all ads and adds the ability to curate playlists.^{[8]
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- Pandora is available online, as well as on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and various TV services.
- It's playlists are learning-based, where as you like/dislike tracks, it'll learn from your likes and give you more tailored tracks that bring your opinions closer to their system. However, you input an artist name or station type/genre and begin playing.
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YouTube Music is a music streaming service powered by the video streaming site YouTube. YouTube Music has the entirety of YouTube's Content ID catalog and also features music videos from YouTube.^{[9]
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- YouTube Music is free with ads; however, background listening is not possible on mobile. YouTube Music Premium is US$10.99 a month for individuals or US$109.99 a year with an annual plan, and US$16.99 a month for families (up to 6 members, including the subscriber). The Student plan is US$5.49 a month.
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iHeartRadio is a radio-based service, along with ways to play playlists and even podcasts. While it is subscription-free to primarily listen, it can be upgraded at a per-month fee to remove ads and get more features.
- It is available on a variety of operating systems and even has a website player - including from Windows and Mac, and on apps on iPhone, and iPod Touch. Their iPad app is not native, and takes it's app information from the iPhone version if you've installed that app on your iPhone. It has an Apple Watch app, but that mostly controls what's playing on your device from the same account connected to your iPhone, and is no longer available to all WatchOS versions. It also has it's apps connected to Samsung TV, Apple TV and even FireTV devices.
- iHeart's radio stations not only begin with worldwide radio stations, along with various local stations you may have listened to on your FM/AM radio, but also iHeartRadio-created radio stations, and many other local-station-based spin-off radio stations, and artist radio stations containing both the named artist and artists like the named one curated into one gigantic radio station.
- iHeartRadio also has playlists, which are separate from their radio stations. However, there are various types of playlists they have available. These aren't learning-system playlists, and don't fine-tune for every like/dislike you can give each track.
  - "Curated by iHeart/iHeartRadio" features playlists that iHeartRadio has put together and may have some tracks suited to you.
  - Station Playlists features playlists devoted to songs currently in many of the stations featured on iHeart's Radio pages. These don't connect and send messages to and from the radio station, but are connected to the theme presented by songs they play. These are designated on the pages with the notification "Station Playlist" right on the playlist pages. However, most of these station playlists refresh/update every 7 days on Monday at midnight your local time.
  - Curated Playlists" feature playlists that certain artists set.
- Costs to upgrade from a free account to a paid-subscription account have varied, and currently changing on a month-to-month basis. However, they have tiers at $4.99 which includes a few more features than free, and $19.99 to access all their features and some most users had a long, long time ago.
- iHeart's radio stations also come on Amazon Echo with a shorter list of available features including not being able to like/dislike tracks, not being able to listen to playlists natively, and some radio stations only available to be listened to on your mobile devices (such as your Personal Favorites player).
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TuneIn is only a radio station. However, it has channels from around the globe in various places from both FM and AM stations from various genres. Once you place in a zip code to a station, you can save these stations and play them. However, there is no liking tracks or much track information.
- TuneIn is available on most devices including on iPhones, iPod Touches, Android, and there's even a web-based player, along with access to their full assortment of tracks on a Windows app (small selection know it exists) and the ability to listen on a Amazon Echo. However, it is not currently available on any Watch or other TV listening device.
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This list is not exhaustive. There are various other services including Deezer, Napster (formerly Rhapsody), Line Music, Melon, and Bandcamp.

Section 2 of 4:

Downloading an App

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Go to the streaming service's website. For example, to go to YouTube music, type music.youtube.com.
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Locate the streaming service's download link. This should be somewhere on the page. It may redirect to the Microsoft Store, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or some similar marketplace.
- If there is no download link, you may still be able to add this website to your desktop or mobile device through a supported browser.
  - On PC or Mac, click on the "Install app" button on the address bar. Or, go to "More tools" > "Apps" > "Install this site as an app". This works on Chromium based browsers, including Chrome and Edge.
  - On iOS, in Safari, click on "Share" then click "Add to home screen".
  - On Android, click on "More options" and click on "Add to phone".
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Complete the download. You may have to run an installer. This will unpack and install the streaming service on your device. After the installation, you may need to register an account.
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Sign in or create an account with the service. You will usually need to provide an email address and username in order to register. Some services allow "Sign in with Google", "Sign in with Microsoft", or "Sign in with Apple" which will use your existing Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc. account to sign up or login to that service.
- After signing in or signing up, you will be able to subscribe, add, and view existing songs.

Section 3 of 4:

Choosing and Adding Songs

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Use the search bar to find anything that may interest you. You can search for songs by many different quantities, depending on the music service, including but not limited to title, artist, song lyrics, album/EP, publisher, genre, and producer.
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Use the "Like" or "Favorite" button to add a song to your default playlist. This is "Liked Songs" on Spotify, "Favorite Songs" on Apple Music, etc. You can also add a song to your library uncategorized, depending on the service.
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Use the "Radio" or "DJ" function to find new music that you may like. For example, to find new K-pop songs, one can search "K-pop" in the search bar, and then choose the provider-curated K-pop playlist or radio station. Likewise, one can start a radio station or DJ session in their existing playlist to find more music they like.
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Migrate between services. There are apps and sites such as SongShift and Free Your Music which allow you to move your music catalog between music streaming services. However, many of them have a limit, and then the rest is done with a fee or in a separate session.

Section 4 of 4:

Getting a Subscription

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Some music services like YouTube Music or Spotify do not require a subscription. However, many do require a subscription.
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A subscription unlocks many features including downloading songs for offline listening, unlimited skips on certain platforms, background playing, etc. Some subscriptions also have a focus on Hi-Fi audio such as Dolby Atmos.
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Go to your account page in the app or online to get a music streaming subscription. This will allow you to stream the entire catalog wherever you go with added features. However, research different plans and providers as some cost more money than others. Subscriptions can range from US$9.99 for individual subscriptions to US$24.99 for family or household subscriptions.
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Not all subscriptions are created equal. Different services and subscriptions have different niches. For example:
- Spotify has more social aspects of listening to music. One can more easily create a group listening session on Spotify, as well as hand control of their music between different devices.
- YouTube Music and SoundCloud allows almost any song uploaded to their platform to be listened to. This can be great for independent creators who may only post to YouTube and SoundCloud.
- Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music are focused on high fidelity music. For example, many songs on these platforms are available in lossless and Dolby Atmos formats which can be streamed or downloaded.
- iHeartRadio and TuneIn focus more on improving the audio quality of radio stations. These can be great for people who want to listen to their hometown radio station away from home.