Apps Better Than Spotify Reddit
Last.fm is more about music discovery than listening to what you already know: its famous 'scrobbling' analyses the songs you listen to (not just on the site, but in desktop and mobile music apps. The bass sound deeper on the web, although everything else sound better on the desktop app HQ. Perhaps it's that, I'm not sure. I can't describe it. Although one thing I'm sure of is the HQ sound on my android's spotify sound a lot better compared to desktop. I do feel its the desktop app bug/problem. Whether its true or not I don't know.
Modern technology hasn't always mixed well with music. For every danceable Daft Punk hit, there's an equally grating auto-tuned hook off somewhere, ruining a rap song.
But music technology has actually done more for listeners than producers. All fears of piracy aside, the Internet has brought around a brilliant era of innovation in how we listen, create and view. Everybody knows about Spotify and Pandora, but there are a host of incredibly inventive apps and sites that help us explore, engage with and share the music we love like never before.
Here are the best new music apps for casual music fans, certified music geeks and aspiring musicians and producers alike:
1. Who Sampled
Hip-hop heads take note: Who Sampled will go through your iTunes library and identify the origins of each and every sample from your favorite records.
A lot of hip-hop producers delight in finding the most obscure snippets from old records to use on contemporary tracks (Chaka Khan's 'Through the Fire' on Kanye West's 'Through the Wire,' anyone?). Who Sampled helps bring those original recordings to the general public.
It's also good fodder for dinner party conversation. Example: Did you know that Jay Z's 'Big Pimpin' samples an Egyptian pop tune from the 1950s? Now you do.
2. Rdio
Ever wonder what music Snoop Lion (formerly Dogg) is listening to right now? Rdio has you covered.
Although on the surface it seems like just another music streaming service, what's really cool about Rdio is its celebrity fan base: Artists from Snoop to My Morning Jacket's Jim James to Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears all use the service, so you can see what they're listening to in real time. (For the record, Snoop listens to a lot of reggae. No shock there.)
3. Soundhound
Soundhound is for anyone who's ever had an unidentifiable song stuck in their head. It's a little like Shazam on steroids; the application lets you sing, mumble or hum whatever you remember of the elusive track. It will then look up the name of the song you had in mind.
This is especially useful for people like this Reddit user who has been trying to find a song he heard on the radio for the last 10 years.
4. iHeartRadio
Radio, the 'original' music streaming service, will never die. iHeartRadio proves that's a good thing by compiling thousands of radio stations from all over the world and making them available for streaming. News, talk, music, sports — everything that makes radio great is right on the app.
What's more, you can find stations organized by theme to listen to wherever you are. In a world where we're always our own personal DJ, sometimes it's really nice to be lazy and let someone else do the driving.
5. CrowdSurge
Most music fans have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with Ticketmaster. It is so bad, in fact, that Ticketmaster started a public relations blog on which their CEO posted 'We get it — you don't like service fees.'
They haven't done much about that, and the site really does have outrageous service charges. Enter Crowdsurge, a ticket vendor that provides a more direct connection between performers and the people who want to see them. The company is basically a friendlier, cheaper and less greedy middle man than Ticketmaster. Artists from Arcade Fire to the Postal Service are jumping on board, and you should too.
6. Gigfunder
Gigfunder acts like a Kickstarter campaign for independent, up-and-coming musicians to reach fans who are farther out. Want to see some obscure Belgian DJ come to your city? Gigfunder will help you make it happen.
Currently, Gigfunder is small enough — it's less than two years old — that most tours don't get enough funding. But it's a powerful platform, and with a bit of time and some clever marketing, Gigfunder could become an essential bridge between indie artists and their fans.
7. Tomahawk
Artists typically have different records streaming on Spotify, Soundcloud, Rdio or Grooveshark. Tomahawk bridges across them to streamline all your favorite music into one centralized player. Tomahawk users can compile and organize them with friends. If you use multiple streaming services on a regular basis, you need Tomahawk.
Artists typically have different records streaming on Spotify, Soundcloud, Rdio or Grooveshark.
8. Soundcloud
There are a lot of great, free music on Soundcloud — artists often release album previews and singles on the streaming service — but the app is most valuable for fans of electronica.
A lot of DJs post mixtapes and remixes on the site for free, and if you're looking for 'work music' to play while doing even the dullest job, it's hard to beat Soundcloud.
It's a fun and inventive community — check out this Justin Bieber song slowed down by 800%. Trust me.
9. Figure
Fancy yourself the next Pitchfork darling? You'd probably like Figure. The app lets you create impressively danceable electronic music using your iPhone. It boasts a number of impressive drum machines, beats, synthesizers and an intuitive creation tool.
Among the many music creation tools for iPhone, Figure is the best. It's optimized for Facebook, too. So you can drive all your friends nuts and share your electro Nickelback covers. Just to upset and confuse people.
10. Sound Cells
This is an app for anybody who could never read music. Relying on visual patterns, grids and various sounds, Sound Cells lets you create 'musical pictures' using your iPhone. In essence, you can mess around with different images, visual themes, etc., and create sound patterns based on them.
Full disclosure: It's reportedly especially enjoyable under the influence of certain illicit substances.
11. Discovr
Discovr is one of the most powerful discovery engines out there. It helps you find artists and entire genres you'd like based on your current musical tastes, making great use of visuals and skeleton charts to draw connections and highlight similarities between artists. It's easy to get lost in the app for hours.
More often than not, their recommendations hit the spot, too. Remember that guy at your local record shop who ALWAYS recommends really good stuff? Discovr is that guy — on speed.
12. Bloom
Bloom is the brainchild of ambient pioneer Brian Eno, and the musician's fingerprints are all over the application right down to the description: 'Part instrument, part composition and part artwork.' Users control Bloom through tapping and dragging the innovative visualizations, each of which has corresponding sounds. It's also capable of creating an infinite variety of pieces by itself.
Eno describes Bloom as a 'music box for the 21st century.' It's mystifying that it hasn't really taken off yet. It's like being able to make your own Music for Airports.
13. Songkick
Songkick is for serious live music junkies. The app lets you keep a close eye on the concert calendar of your favorite bands and plan your own personal 'concert calendar' around them.
To clarify: my Sd-card is still correctly inserted into the phone and recognized (is fully operable) by the phone and all other apps except for Spotify. I do not have much internal storage space on my phome and really need spotify to download my playlists to the Sd-card. Spotify free users can also download Spotify music to external SD card. All you need is Ondesoft Spotify Converter. Ondesoft Spotify Converter is a professional Spotify music downloader that allows you to download Spotify songs and albums to mp3, m4a, wav and flac. It converts Spotify. Spotify android download sd card. 1) Follow the other procedure(s) to delete Spotify data from the phone and SD card. 2) Fill up the phone's internal memory to about 95% full. I used audio tracks, but video would be even easier.This step is 100% necessary on my phone. I've tested it with a newly formatted phone and SD card 3 times now. 3) Install Spotify.
To put it in perspective, if you like The National and would enjoy catching them live if they come to your town, you can leave it up to fate whether you check their tour site or see a friend's Facebook post in time.
However, if you live for The National and would throw yourself off a bridge if you missed them when they came to your town, you need Songkick.
The Android world is brimming with music streaming services. While a handful of them provides free music, a few others have paid plans and the rest have a combination of paid+free services. So it’s a tad difficult to choose the right music service which will suit both the ears and the pocket.
Google Play Music (formerly known as Google Play Music All Access) and Spotify Music are among the top contenders for the best Android music app, so it seems only fair that we pit both the apps against each other and see which app's subscription service is worth the penny.
Also See: How to Set Up Your Apple Music Profile and Share Playlists in iOS 11Audio Quality
Both, Spotify and Google Play Music boasts of libraries having songs over 30 million. To be more precise, Google Play Music has 35 million songs while Spotify has just over 30 million songs.
That’s pretty huge, so it’s a tad tough or rather infeasible to find the difference in the quality of each song. However, if we talk numbers, both Spotify and Google Music stream at maximum 320 kb/s.
Music Apps Better Than Spotify
If we talk numbers, both the music apps stream at maximum 320 kb/s.
But when it comes to the data usage — both over Wi-Fi and Cellular network — Google Music has few more options. For instance, it lets you choose your streaming quality over Wi-Fi and Mobile network — Low, Normal, High or Always High. These music streaming qualities are also available in the free version.
If we compare the same in Spotify, it does have a toggle for cellular data. But when it comes to choosing the quality over both the networks, unfortunately, that is missing.
Though, it offers four different audio qualities — Automatic, Normal, High, Extreme high — the extreme quality is locked away for premium users.
In a nutshell, you get all the sound quality features for free in Google Play Music, however, in Spotify, you’ll have to upgrade to the premium version (for the extreme high-quality songs).
That said, human ears can’t exactly detect the difference between the high and extreme high, so unless you’re one who can, both the players seem to be at par with each other.
See More: Exploring Google Music, the Amazing Cloud-based Music PlayerInterface
On the very first glance, Google Play Music is bright and flashy while Spotify is mostly dark. But as you explore deeper into both the apps, you’ll find subtle differences along the way.
Play Music employs the in-house Google material design
Google Play Music employs the in-house Google material design which gives its colorful interface. When the app is first launched, you’ll be greeted with the home page containing the songs that have been picked up for you.
A left swipe reveals the panel which has tabs for New releases, Top charts, Settings, etc. There’s not much of swiping in Play music, as you’ll find what you are looking for in the designated pages.
On the other hand, Spotify has a dark interface — completely opposite of the colorful Play Music.
While it also follows Google’s Material design, it’s a mellowed down version. Launching the app initially, lands you in the home page containing playlists based on your music taste and a few more inspired by the recently played songs.
Settings, Library, and Radio can all be found in the lower panel of the app, which is quite easy to navigate around. But then, if you are looking for anything specific like your own playlists or playlists of your friends, it involves a lot of swiping. In both the apps, a truncated version of the music player is at the bottom of the app.
And if you are a new user, it’ll take quite some time to get the hang of Spotify, unlike Google Music, which is definitely easier to navigate.Recommendations
This is one place (apart from features) which truly decides whether a music streaming app will stay on your device or otherwise. Google Play Music does note down your choices when you sign-in initially, asking about your personal favorites. And it makes the recommendations based on them.
Plus, there’s an option in settings where you can wipe everything off and start afresh. However, that's only on pen and paper. As much as I cleaned and refreshed the app, Google Play Music didn’t seem to take note of my musical taste. It continues to ‘recommend’ songs which I have no interest to listen, in a thousand years.
This scenario is a completely opposite in Spotify. It takes note of your musical taste and displays songs accordingly. Plus there’s the Discover weekly playlist which lands on your app every Monday with the best 30 songs to match your taste.
Taking a look at the music genres, Spotify has the genres neatly laid out in the Browse section, which sadly (again) wasn’t there in Play Music, which is a tad disappointing for me.
All in all, if I have to pick a winner here, Spotify nails it when it comes to presenting the best songs out there.Features
Features are the second best thing to look for in a music app. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if I say that both the apps are feature rich. If Google Play Music allows you to choose the sound quality over both Wi-Fi and mobile network, Spotify goes ahead and lets you lower the gap between two songs (crossfade).
If Play Music lets you manage the device location, Spotify allows you to track your songs using Last.fm
Spotify Free Reddit
On the other hand, if Play Music lets you manage the device location, Spotify allows you to track your songs using Last.fm. Aforesaid, Spotify you can easily discover new music through the Discover Weekly playlist feature and what makes it even better is that these songs are based on your listening habits .
Is Pandora Better Than Spotify
If you ask me, Spotify is the main reason which lessens my Monday morning blues. But when it comes to the main differences, there are a few that should help you decide.For instance, Google Music has the Google advantage and lets you watch YouTube videos of most of the songs. All you need to do is tap on the three dot menu and select Watch video. Spotify doesn’t have this feature, though it contains a handful of videos under the Videos Genre.
Another notable difference is Playlist — rather the creation of playlists. Spotify has a boatload of features when it comes to playlist — collaborative playlist, secret playlist, organize and arrange them or import playlist even in the free version.
On the contrary, Play Music doesn’t let you create playlists on the free version, but it does let you save an already built playlist to the library.
So, here I think, it’s a better option to side with Spotify, for it allows you to handpick the songs that you would listen.
Also See: 21 Spotify Tips and Tricks for Power UsersOffline Listening
When it comes to enjoying music when you're off the grid, Spotify will let you enjoy that luxury only when you upgrade to the Spotify Premium version. It lets you download upto 3000+ songs per device on 3 different devices.
Similarly, Google Music will let you enjoy the benefits of offline listening only when you have subscribed to the music streaming app.
Desktop App
Yes, I understand that our smartphones have become our outboard brains these days. But then, let's not forget the dependence on desktop/laptops. So, if you'd rather spend your time listening to music while workin, the good news is that Spotify has a desktop app both for Mac OS and Windows.
Other than that, Google Music doesn't have an app of its own — it's browser-based for desktop users. However, there are a couple of third-party apps which support Google Play Music. One such example is the Google Play Music Desktop Player.
At the end of day, it's the ease of use which matters
Both these desktop apps rescues you from the fringes of the web player. At the end of day, it's the ease of use which matters. You wouldn't want to hunt for the right tab on your browser to stop/play a song, right?
Syncing Local Music Collection
If you have a huge collection of local songs, worry not, Play Music has you covered. It allows adding up to a whopping 50,000 songs to your account. That’s pretty impressive, right? But the catch is, it has to be done through the web version.
Similarly, Spotify lets you only sync your personal music files only through the web version.
Pricing
Price is an important factor when it comes to making the leap for the Premium version. Spotify Premium version is priced at $9.99, with a family account costing as much as $14.99. The family plan can have as many as six members. What’s more, there is even a student discount amounting to 50%.
On the other hand, Google Play Music lets you have a free 30 days free trial after which you can upgrade to the premium version at $9.99 and the family plan (six members) is also same at $14.99. Plus, Presently, Google Play Music is running a deal where the music streaming app is available for a free trial of up to 90 days.On the free trial, you can still listen to songs on Google Music, but it'll be limited to the radio stations and the locally saved music. Please note that radio station music come with ads. On the bright side, radio stations aid in music discovery, as it plays similar songs from a particular playlist or artist.
So, as you can see there’s not much difference in the price, but in Google Play Music you get YouTube Red bundled with the music app.
Also See: Netflix vs YouTube Red: Should You Subscribe to One or Both?That’s a Wrap!
So, that was pretty much the difference between the top music streaming services— Google Play Music and Spotify. If you ask me, considering that both the app prices are same, I would rather side with Spotify for its features and songs recommendations. Because at the end of the day, searching manually through a huge database of songs isn’t really my cup of tea.
See Next: 13 Google Play Music Tips and Tricks for Best Music ExperienceThe above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also See#Android apps #Lists
Soundcloud Is Better Than Spotify
Did You Know
Play Music lets you upload around 50,000 tracks into the app.