Rock Out in Your Ride: Six of the Best Music Apps for Your Car
Driving is more fun with great music, right?
The preinstalled radio/CD player isn’t your only option when it comes to music in your car. Actually, it might even be the last option given there are 20+ apps for listening to music. How do you narrow the field? We put together this list of the best music apps for listening to music in the car. We can’t decide which one you’ll think is the best, but here’s a good start.
Google Play Music – Best App for Listening to Music in the Car?
Google Play Music is a strong contender as one of the best apps for listening to music in the car. With more than 35 million songs, Google Play Music creates customized stations based on your choices. The ad-supported free version allows users to access Google Play radio stations, podcasts from several different sources and your own library for streaming.
On the other hand, you can pay for a subscription plan. The paid subscription provides users with on-demand access and an included membership to YouTube Red. Additionally, you can download songs for offline listening if you subscribe.
Worth noting: Google Play Music comes as a pre-installed app on most Samsung android devices. Therefore, Samsung device users get some special benefits. Starting with the S8 and all future devices, Samsung/Google Play users can add up to 100,000 songs to their cloud locker for free.
How to Access It: Available via computers on the Google Play website or the Google Play Music mobile app for Android and iOS operating systems.
Price (monthly): Free for ad-supported version; $9.99 for a single account and $14.99 for a family account with up to 6 users and 10 devices.
Read More: 10 FREE APPS FOR YOUR HOLIDAY TRAVEL
Spotify – Best App for Listening to Music, Podcasts and Video Streaming
Obviously, Spotify is a stand out candidate. It is a music, podcast AND video streaming service. The service shines by editing and creating playlists that can be shared via social media with access to over 30 million songs. A drawback of the free version: users can only listen to playlists in shuffle mode. Moreover, the premium version does allow users to select the exact songs they want to play. Plus, it has upgraded sound quality.
Worth noting: Spotify offers a student account with both Spotify Premium and Hulu Limited Commercials for $4.99 a month. The student account is limited to one account only.
How to Access It: Available via computers on the website or the Spotify mobile app for Windows Phone, Android smartphones/tablets and iOS operating systems.
Price: Free for ad-supported version; $9.99 for a single account and $14.99 for a family account with up to 6 users.
Pandora – The First App for Personalized Content
Pandora is the originator of personalized media with a database powered by the Music Genome Project. Users can create literally hundreds of stations based on genre, mood, artist, song or by following other users. Unfortunately, Pandora has the most limited library of only 1.5 million songs. It has three levels of service; the free ad-supported streaming, Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium. Pandora Plus is the ad-free streaming service that allows you to replay tracks and listen to 3 stations offline. Additionally, Plus provides higher audio quality. Pandora Premium allows users the same benefits and more. These include the ability to play songs on demand and create fully customizable playlists.
Worth noting: Pandora doesn’t offer any shared or family accounts. It also doesn’t allow for the downloading or purchase of any music; it is a standalone music streaming service.
How to Access It: Available via computers on the Pandora website or the mobile app for Windows Phone, Android smartphones/tablets and iOS operating systems.
Price: Free for ad-supported version; $4.99/monthly & $54.89/annually for Pandora Plus and $9.99/monthly & $109.89/yearly for Pandora Premium.
READ MORE: FIVE TRAVEL APPS THAT SHOULD RIDE SHOTGUN ON YOUR PHONE
iHeartRadio – The FREE App for Listening to Radio Around the World
With its ability to connect to local radio stations and improved FREE service options, iHeartRadio is easily one of the best apps for listening to music. iHeartRadio carries more than 1,000 different radio stations including local broadcasts as well as artist-owned stations. iHeartRadio Plus allows users to play any song on demand and save songs from the radio to a personal playlist. iHeartRadio All Access upgrades the experience for listening offline. Also, it allows you to create unlimited playlists from a catalog of millions of songs.
Worth noting: iHeartRadio allows users to hear their local radio stations and any ads are based on the local broadcasts.
How to Access It: In addition to the iHeartRadio for Auto app (Android and iOS), iHeartRadio is available on more than 70 different platforms, including iOS, Android and Windows.
Price: Free for standard service; $4.99 for iHeartRadio Plus and $9.99-12.99 for iHeartRadio All Access.
AppleMusic – The Best App for Your Content
AppleMusic offers users the option of streaming their selections, listening to existing playlists or the Beats 1 radio station. One of the best things is that it easily connects with the iOS operating system to bring any of your music to any device. However, there is no free version. Still, you can try out a three-month free trial before converting to a subscription-only model.
Worth noting: AppleMusic is the replacement for iTunes radio.
How to Access It: On desktop with the iTunes application and on the Android and iOS mobile apps.
Price : $9.99 for a single user; $14.99 for a family membership for up to 6 users.
Tidal – The App for Exclusive Content and Highest Quality of Sound
Tidal is a subscription-based streaming service for audio and HD music videos. With more than 48.5 million songs, it has one of the largest music databases. Tidal allows users to stream music on demand. Also, it has exclusive video content and feature-length articles with artist background information. Most importantly, Tidal HiFi subscription is the best quality of sound over MPS or audio streaming for any app.
Worth noting: Tidal offers a 30-day free trial, or you can get Tidal HiFi for two months for $2. Unfortunately, Tidal doesn’t allow for any offline listening.
How to Access It: Web-based and the Android and iOS mobile apps.
Price: $9.99 for Tidal Hifi; $19.99 for Tidal HiFi Plus, $14.99/month for Tidal Hifi Family plan and $29.99/month for Tidal HiFi Plus Family plan.
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