Looking for fun things to do that won’t break the bank? Why not take advantage of some free music apps?
Do you like listening to music? My daughter listens to music most of the day. As an artist, she likes to have some tunes playing when she works on her art.
You can listen to music while you’re doing just about anything. There are dozens of music apps out there with large music selections. Some will charge you a monthly subscription fee.
However, there are several free music apps too. Yep, I said “free”. We like the word “free” attached to just about anything here at Money Peach.
But free music? Score! (Pun intended 🙂 ). Here are some free music apps that will keep you tuned up for hours on end.
Free Music Apps for You
Check out the music apps listed below. All of them are free and won’t cost you a dime. We’ll share a bit about what each one has to offer so you can see if it’s right for you.
Note: you don’t have to stop at one free music app – take advantage of as many as your storage space allows!
1. Spotify
Spotify is the app my daughter uses, and arguably one of the most popular music apps. They have millions of songs available.
It’s easy to set up your free account with Spotify. You can set it up using your email address or your Facebook account.
Once you join, you use the Browse and Search features to find songs you like. You can also build playlists based on your favorite songs.
Spotify has a “Your Library” feature too. This feature helps you create a library of your favorite songs. You can store up to 10,000 songs in your personal library.
Spotify helps you find great songs by sharing what friends, artists and celebrities are listening too. In addition, they have other features to help you find new music, such as Discover weekly and Daily Mix.
Bonus: The Spotify Connect feature helps you transition from one device to another. You can listen to Spotify on your phone, PC, tablet, TV, in your car and more.
P.S. Like a radio, Spotify shares ads on its free subscription. If you want to avoid the ads, you can sign up for Spotify Premium.
Spotify Premium is free for the first 30 days. After that it costs $9.99 per month plus tax. There is a discounted Premium plan for students, as well as a Premium Family plan too.
2. Pandora
Pandora is a free music app that works differently than Spotify. With Spotify, you choose your playlists and make your own music library.
Pandora, on the other hand, creates a radio station for you based on the genres, artists and music you like best.
Pandora is powered by what it calls The Music Genome Project. The Music Genome Project is an algorithm that helps the app create a radio station tailored specifically for you.
You can listen to your tailored radio station on mobile devices, your desktop computer, your TV or in the car.
Note: Pandora’s music selection isn’t as large as Spotify’s. Therefore you might not enjoy Pandora as much if you like listening to wider varieties of music.
Also, the free Pandora app comes with commercials like a regular radio station does. If you want commercial-free listening, you can choose one of Pandora’s two paid plans.
Pandora Plus
Pandora plus is free for the first 30 days and $4.99 per month after that. Its features include:
- Unlimited personalized stations
- Up to 4 stations for offline listening
- No ads
- Unlimited skips and replays
- High quality audio
If you’re looking for a bit more, consider trying out the Pandora Premium Plan.
Pandora Premium
Pandora Premium expands on the features that Pandora Plus offers. The first 30 days are free. After that you’ll play $9.99 per month.
In addition to the Pandora Plus features, you’ll get:
- Search and play any song
- The ability to create playlists
- Downloadable music
The Premium plan might be worth it if you’re interested in avoiding the ads and having these bonus features as well.
3. iHeartRadio
The iHeartRadio app allows you to stream thousands of radio stations and podcasts for free. You can listen to iHeartRadio in your car, on your mobile device, on your desktop and more.
iHeartRadio allows you to listen to radio stations around the world. You can listen to music stations, news stations, comedy stations and more.
In addition, you can create your own music station using the iHeartRadio library. Their library gives you millions of songs to choose from.
They have every type of music genre, including:
- Top 40
- Hip hop
- Jazz
- Country
- Rock
- Alternative
And many others as well. Another great feature of iHeartRadio is that it will suggest radio stations for you based on your listening history.
For instance, if you like Alternative music, iHeartRadio will suggest Alternative stations from around the globe.
They have access to both online radio stations and live radio stations worldwide. This means you’ll never run out of music options, no matter where you are.
This can be a great app for you if you’re traveling or if you move to a new town.
If you want additional features, iHeartRadio has a Plus plan and an All Access plan. Here are the details on the two plans.
iHeartRadio Plus
iHeartRadio Plus gives you the following features:
- You can play any song, anytime
- Unlimited skips
- You can save songs to your personal playlist
- You can instant replay songs from the radio
iHeartRadio Plus costs $4.99 per month.
iHeartRadio All Access
The iHeartRadio All Access plan comes with all of the features of the Plus plan, plus:
- You can listen offline
- Unlimited access to millions of songs
- You can create an unlimited number of playlists
The iHeartRadio All Access plan costs $9.99 per month as of this writing. The upgraded plans are great, but with the option to listen to radio stations around the world, the free iHeartRadio app is clearly a great plan.
4. Jango
Jango is a free online music streaming service that allows you to create custom radio stations. All you have to do is start by choosing your favorite band or singer.
Jango will play songs by that artist, and will play songs by other similar artists too. You can rate songs on the app so that you can hear them more frequently, or never again.
Jango has hundreds of pre-made radio stations based on certain genres too. You can listen based on the genre you’re interested in at any given time.
Some genres include:
- Hits from the 80’s
- Christmas Classics
- Hip hop
- Jazz
- Classical
- Country
And other genres. You’ll find lots to choose from here. And guess what: Jango works hard to minimize commercials.
As of this writing, you’ll only hear one commercial a day if you sign up using your Facebook account. And the mobile apps are currently commercial free!
Note that because Jango is an online music service, you can’t download songs from the site.
5. Deezer
Deezer is a free music app that allows you access to over 53 million songs. It works on most all devices, and you can listen online or offline. Note that Deezer’s free plan works only on mobile devices.
When you listen to songs on Deezer, you can rate the songs. This will help Deezer tailor your playlists to what you like to hear.
Deezer’s free plan comes with the following features:
- Occasional ads
- Shuffle play (meaning you can’t choose the order you hear songs)
- Mobile device listening only
If you want other features, you’ll have to pay for an upgraded plan. Deezer has a couple of different ones to choose from.
Deezer Premium
Deezer Premium costs users $9.99 per month. Note that students can get it for half price. The Deezer Premium plan features:
- Ad-free music playing
- Unlimited music
- Offline mode playing
- You can play on any device – not just mobile devices
With Premium and the other Deezer plans, you get the first month free too. Also with the Premium plan: get a $20 discount if you pay annually instead of monthly.
Deezer Family
The Deezer Family plan costs $14.99 per month. It includes all of the features of the Premium plan, but with the ability to have six user profiles instead of just one.
Another great app to choose from.
6. TuneIn
TuneIn lets you listen to over 120,000 radio stations for free. You can listen on mobile devices, home devices, in your car and more.
Along with music, TuneIn lets you listen to podcasts and sports games too. You can listen to talk radio, news radio; pretty much any radio station you can think of.
The TuneIn music selection has individual tracks in a wide selection of genres. TuneIn offers curated playlists as well. They have a variety of music genres including:
- Top 40
- Hip-hop
- Rock
- Latin
- Country
- Jazz
And others. They also have throwback hits spanning from the 1960’s and forward.
Note that if you want to listen to live sports, you’ll have to upgrade to the Premium plan. However, if your local radio station has the rights to stream a live sports game, you can listen to it with the free plan.
As with most sports listening venues, you’ll get more access to free sports if you want to listen to college games than you will for pro games.
The TuneIn Premium Plan
The TuneIn Premium plan costs $9.99 per month. When you get it, you can listen to most all live sports games for free. In addition, you’ll get commercial free music too.
With TuneIn’s free plan you’ll have commercials with your music selection.
7. SoundCloud
SoundCloud is one of the more seasoned free music apps, having launched in 2008. They have over 30 million premium song tracks, and a large selection of hit songs and indie artist songs as well.
SoundCloud lets unknown artists upload their music too. This can be a great way to hear new songs long before they hit the airwaves.
In addition to music, you can listen to podcasts and audiobooks on SoundCloud. If you’re looking for music, you can search by song, artist or album to find songs you want to hear.
Note that you have to have their Go+ plan to listen to premium song tracks. The SoundCloud Go+ plan is $.9.99 per month.
8. Google Play Music
The free Google Play Music app lets you listen to up to 50,000 songs of your choice. You can subscribe to podcasts as well with the free plan.
Other great features of the Google app is that it allows you to download your music and play it offline if you have their Unlimited plan.
The Unlimited plan costs $9.99 per month and in addition to the ability to download and play offline, it gives you:
- Access to 40 million on-demand songs
- Ad-free, uninterrupted listening
- Unlimited live radio
Note: if you upgrade to the Family Plan you can get up to six users for a total of $14.99 per month.
9. Slacker Radio
Slacker Radio has pre-programmed music stations in several genres. You can listen to:
- Alternative music
- “Chill” music
- Christian music
- Blues
- Classical
- Comedy
- Country
- Dance/Electropop
- Holiday
- Heavy metal
And others. In fact, they have over 100 stations available on Slacker Radio.
With the free version of Slacker Radio you can get handcrafted radio stations and custom stations.
If you want to get upgraded music choices, check out these Slacker Radio subscriptions.
Slacker Radio Plus
Slacker Radio Plus is $3.99 a month. In addition to the handcrafted and custom radio stations, you get:
- Ad-free music
- Maximum quality audio
- Unlimited skips
There’s a Premium plan available with Slacker Radio too.
Slacker Radio Premium
The Slacker Radio Premium plan is $9.99 per month. You get all of the features of Slacker Radio Plus, and these other features as well:
- Offline listening
- Play on demand features
Lots of choices with Slacker Radio. Bonus: they have news stations and weather updates as well.
10. Amazon Prime Music
Amazon Prime music has ad-free music access to Amazon Prime members. They have curated playlists and personalized stations.
In addition, they have over 2 million songs you can stream. You can create your own personalized playlists too.
Amazon Prime Music works on supported devices such as:
- Echo devices
- PC and Mac computers
- Android and iOS smartphones
- Fire phones, tablets, TVs and sticks
And more. But again, this is only free if you’re an Amazon Prime member. If you’re not, you can subscribe to Amazon Music.
Amazon Music has a much bigger selection of tunes than the free
An Amazon Music membership comes with several options, including:
- Amazon Music Unlimited
- Amazon Music Unlimited for Students
- Amazon Music Unlimited Family Plan
- Amazon Music Unlimited Single Device Plan
See the Amazon Music website for information on what each plan costs.
11. Playlist
Playlist is a free music app with a twist. You can use it to listen with others and comment while you listen. It’s music and social media together.
You can also follow friends on Playlist and see what songs they like too. Playlist has over 40 million songs in their music library.
They have thousands of playlists as well. You can find playlists made by your friends or by Playlist’s music experts.
Playlist is a great app for connecting with friends through music. The social media aspect of Playlist is a nice touch, don’t you think?
Note that Playlist only works for iOS phones as of this writing.
13. AccuRadio
AccuRadio is a free music app that’s been around since 2000. Although they do play ads, they offer unlimited skips.
AccuRadio has dozens of music genres available, including:
- Country
- Christian
- Alternative Rock
- Celtic music
- Music by the decade (50’s, 60’s, 70’s, etc.)
- Top 40
- New Age
- Opera
- Punk and Underground
- Heavy Metal
- Regae
- Jazz
- Blues
And lots more. They even have the Spa Channel – soothing music for you to relax with. You can search for a specific artist or keyword with the AccuRadio search bar too.
Bonus: AccuRadio has a “buy music” option. This option allows you to purchase songs to listen to offline.
14. 8tracks
8tracks is a fun way to get cool, free music playlists. Check out some of the playlist genres they have:
- Workout essentials (great for when you’re at the gym)
- Party essentials
- Chill essentials
- Most popular
- Sleep songs
- Indie essentials
- Hip hop & rap essentials
- Study songs
And more. Within each genre they have dozens of playlist options with catchy titles. The playlists on 8tracks are created by users. This means you’ll find lots of interesting and refreshing music playlists.
You will have ads with your music if you choose 8tracks’ free option. However, they have a paid option too.
You can get unlimited, ad-free listening for just $4.99 per month. Oh, and the first 14 days are free.
15. Shazam
Shazam is a different kind of free music app. It is an app that recognizes music and TV around you.
It can tell you the name and artist of any song playing around you. It doesn’t matter whether it’s on your phone, on the TV or playing overhead at a store.
Shazam calls itself “the best way to discover, explore and share the music and TV you love.” Bonus: When you listen to artists on Shazam, they’ll tell you what they’re listening to these days as well.
When you tag a song, you can replay a small portion of it. No, you can’t replay the whole song. However, Shazam does include a link to a video of the song so you can listen to the whole thing.
Every time you listen to a song, you’ll get to see a biography of the artist. In addition, you’ll get recommended music from similar artists.
Note that Shazam comes as an add-on if you use Spotify. However, you can get the app as a standalone app too.
16. YouTube
My kids listen to tons of YouTube music videos – for free. YouTube has music videos uploaded by artists and music companies, and by users as well.
An independent user might upload a certain song, a list of songs by an artist or a playlist of different songs.
YouTube is a nice option because you can watch the music videos along with listening to the song. Some videos include the lyrics as well.
Note that you may not get the video – or lyrics – with all YouTube music uploads. This is because some are uploaded by amateurs and not by the actual artist recording company.
P.S. YouTube has a paid music listening app too. Their paid music app subscriptions start at $9.99 per month. They allow you to listen offline and ad-free.
17. Musi
Musi is an app that helps you create YouTube playlists. It’s free, but it’s only compatible with iOS as of this writing.
Musi allows you to organize your playlists as you wish. It has a social media component too: you can share your Musi playlists with friends.
Another cool thing about Musi: it does have ads with in the app – however the music isn’t interrupted by ads.
Bonus: Musi has a sleep timer. This is a great feature for those who like to fall asleep listening to music. Just set the timer for when you want your Musi app to shut down.
18. Spinrilla
Spinrilla works a bit differently than most free music apps. Spinrilla will let you download free hip-hop mixtapes.
Yes, only hip-hop. But it’s free, and you can listen offline as well. You won’t find that with most other free music apps.
They have single songs as well, and you can create your own playlists. In addition, you can share your music with friends too.
And if you’re an artist, Spinrilla will let you upload your own music to the site. Spinrilla can be a great venue for finding new, up and coming hip-hop artists as well.
And sort of like YouTube, Spinrilla has a comments section for songs. It allows you to leave comments on songs or mixtapes so you can share your thoughts with others.
19. Slicethepie
Slicethepie not only lets you listen to music for free – they pay you to do it! Every time you listen to a song and leave a review, you’ll earn cash.
This isn’t a typical way to listen to free music. However, it is a great way to discover new artists and up and coming songs.
When you’re ready to cash out, Slicethepie will send your money to you via PayPal. Yes, it does take time to leave a review, but the site also pays you to do so.
Slicethepie plays the whole version of each song. However, you only need to listen to 90 seconds of each track in order to leave a review.
Note that the better the review you leave, the more you’ll get paid for it. A “better” review is one that’s detailed, somewhat lengthy and written with proper grammar and spelling rules in mind.
Reviews that are written poorly won’t get paid very much. However, well written reviews can qualify for bonus payments too.
You need to earn a minimum of $10 before you can cash out with PayPal.
As I mentioned before, this isn’t a traditional way to listen to music. However, if you’re listening anyway and want to get paid, consider Slicethepie.
20. MusicBee
MusicBee is another free music app that works differently than most. MusicBee doesn’t give you free music to listen to.
Instead, MusicBee helps you to organize the music you have on your devices. It’ll help you find, manage and play music on your computer.
MusicBee supports podcasts and web radio stations too. It’s simple to import your device’s music to MusicBee using the MusicBee wizard.
It has an automatic tagging system with templates for your files. However, you can manually edit your tags as well.
Bonus: MusicBee displays pictures and lyrics while you’re listening to your songs.
MusicBee is a one-man operation – a guy manages the site for free in his spare time. If you like the way MusicBee organizes and plays your music, consider donating to PayPal to help cover the owner’s website expenses.
What Do I Need to Know About Free Music Apps?
You might be wondering where the catch is. I mean, are these free music apps really free? No one really gives anything away for free nowadays, do they?
Yes, the music apps mentioned here really are free. Here are answers to some common questions about free music apps.
Read them to learn all you need to know about playing music for free.
Are Free Music Apps Legal?
YES. Really – they are! The reason these sites can let you listen to music for free is because you’re only streaming the music. You can’t listen offline.
Many of the sites that play free music do have an option for you to listen offline. However, they will typically charge you for it.
The money you pay to download and keep songs is paid out, in portion, to artists and music companies. Because of this, you’re not illegally pirating the music.
So don’t worry: you’re completely within the confines of the law when listening to the free music apps mentioned here.
What Devices Can I Play My Free Music Apps on?
Every site that allows you to play free music has a list of devices. Some sites, like Playlist, only work on your Apple iOS phone.
Other sites let you listen on a variety of devices. In addition, there are plans within each music site. Some plans let you listen on any applicable device.
Other plans may only let you listen on one device. Check each site’s terms and conditions for information on which devices apply to each site and each plan within a site.
What’s the Catch?
Free music apps don’t necessarily have a “catch”. However, they do have rules and regulations. Be sure to read over the terms and rules of a free music site before you sign up.
You don’t want to end up having to pay them each month when you were planning on getting free music.
Most of the apps here have one or more paid subscription options. Know what those options are and how they work before you sign up.
And if you find a paid option might work better for you, know what you’re getting in to. Check things like subscription time periods. Can you cancel anytime or do you need to complete a certain number of months?
Are there cancellation fees? What do you get with each subscription package? These are the things you’ll want to know before you choose a paid music subscription option.
Just know what you’re getting into before signing on the proverbial dotted line.
Summary
You probably know you should be saving more money each month. Why not save money on the music you listen to? No more buying CDs or paying for music subscriptions.
Listening to music on free apps like the ones mentioned here can be a great way to get a large music selection for free.
Although you can’t download the songs in most cases, you can listen for free to your heart’s content. And as mentioned, some apps will let you listen offline as well. Just choose the app or apps that fit your music listening preferences.
If you want to be able to own the download versions of songs, there are many ways to do that. You can buy them individually on Amazon or through the apps mentioned here.
However, if you’re only wanting online listening, a free music app can be a great way to go.
Have you used any of the free music apps listed here? If so, which ones do you like best? Which ones do you not care for?
We’d love to hear your opinion. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
