Whether you’re looking to build up a whopping digital catalogue, or simply want to whack on a quick track, there are plenty of options out there. But which music app should you be using and why?
1 – YouTube – For those seeking out a quick way to slap together a playlist.
This might seem strange, as it isn’t exclusively a music app, but YouTube can be a pretty useful tool for putting together a playlist. Browsing other people’s playlists is also a big time saver, so long as you can stand their taste.
The auto-play feature can also prove useful, but beware: falling asleep and letting it run over night can have some bizarre results. You may have fallen asleep listening to Metallica, but now you’re waking up in horror to the dreaded noise of Nickelback blasting through your poor headphones.
2 – Groove Music – For those looking to beef up their existing catalogue.
For the Microsoft fan boys out there, I’d recommend you make use of the free trial you should have available to you through your Xbox Live Gold subscription. I found Groove to be immediately accessible and easy to use, and there’s a surprisingly large library of music to stream. You can also store and access your existing library on Groove, which is pretty accommodating bearing in mind the usual headache of DRM these days. Give it a go, you might be surprised!
3 – Spotify – For those who want the iTunes experience free of cost.
Spotify reminds me a lot of using iTunes, and they do share many similar features. This alone makes many people feel welcome, and the fact that you can use it for free really seals the deal. The biggest issue I’ve found with this music app is the advertising. Having to put up with a few seconds of ads between songs may not seem like a massive headache, but when there are ad-free alternatives out there, why bother? Of course if you’re a Spotify enthusiast and the ads do bother you, you can always shell out a few quid per month to remove them.
4 – Amazon Music Unlimited – For those seeking out a unique listening experience.
Your enjoyment of this will greatly depend on a couple of factors; the big one being that you’ll need a Prime membership, costing you £79 a year. This could be an instant turn off if you don’t already use Prime, but those who do get access to some nifty little features, like playing music through your home speakers using voice control on an Amazon Echo Dot. This may not sound like much, but it’s great for making you feel like you’re in the future. That’s important to some of us techies.
5 – Deezer – For those who need help creating a catalogue from scratch.
For me, Deezer’s main point of interest is the Flow feature. As someone who often struggles to find music which appeals to me, this can be a total life saver. Basically, as you listen to more songs, Deezer will constantly be updating its profile of you and will be able to improve its recommendations. Depending on which genres you like, this can be an effortless way of discovering new artists.
-Written by Elliot Norman-
