Spotify (Online/Windows/Mac/Android/iOS)
One of the best solutions for listen to music on the Internet è Spotify. The most famous music streaming service in the world, allows you to listen to music from numerous devices, both for free with some limitations and for a fee. New users are entitled to a free 30-day trial with no renewal obligation.
Before explaining how to listen to music with Spotify, it will be useful to know what are the differences between using the service in free and subscription mode, so you can choose the solution that best suits your needs.
- Spotify Free (free): Listen to all songs with commercial breaks. Furthermore, listening on smartphones is limited to shuffle mode which allows you to listen to music with random playback based on a selected song or artist (except for some selected playlists, which can also be freely used on smartphones).
- Spotify Premium (9,99 euros / month or 119,88 euros / year): removes commercial breaks and limitations of the free version, as well as allows listening in offline mode. In addition, it offers high quality music streaming.
- Spotify Family (15,99 euro / month): the subscription dedicated to families that allows access to all the functions of a Premium plan, guaranteeing access for up to 5 users.
- Spotify Students (4,99 euro / month): is the plan dedicated to students who can thus take advantage of a 50% discount on the normal cost of the Premium subscription.
As mentioned above, new users can try Spotify for free for 30 days with no renewal obligation. To activate the free trial, connect to the Spotify website and click the button Choose Spotify Premium, then presses the button Start your free trial and log in to your account by entering your login details or by clicking on the button Accedi con Facebook. If you don't have one yet, click on the entry SUBSCRIBE and fill out the registration form, otherwise you can speed up the operation by pressing the button Sign up with Facebook.
Then choose a valid payment method between credit card e PayPal, enter the details and click on the button Start the trial period and pay after 30 days. You can learn more by reading my guides on how to activate Spotify Premium and how to get Spotify Premium for free.
Now you can start listening to music from your computer by downloading and installing the official Spotify client. Then connect to the website of the service and click on the button Download at the top right to start the download of the program, then proceed with the installation following the instructions I gave you in my guide on how to download Spotify Premium. Alternatively, you can use Spotify from a computer by relying on the Web version, usable by Chrome and other browsers.
Instead, to use Spotify on your smartphone or tablet, download and install the free application for Android, iOS and Windows 10 Mobile devices. However, you must know that through the app, you are only entitled to a 7-day free trial (without entering payment methods): to obtain the one-month trial, act through the browser of the device in use following the procedure described above for computer.
Regardless of the solution chosen, Spotify works the same on both computers and mobile devices. Then choose one of the available sections: You may also like... to listen to the latest news, discover the songs of the moment and view the charts; Radio to access the list of custom radios that can be created from any artist or song e The library with the list of recently played songs, albums added to favorites, followed artists etc.
To search for a song, however, you can take advantage of the function Search present at the top of the computer software and in the bottom menu in the smartphone / tablet app. Once you have identified the song you want to listen to, tap the button Play to start playback. To learn more about the functioning of the service, I leave you to my guide on how Spotify works.
Deezer (Online/Windows/Mac/Android/iOS)
Deezer is another music streaming service that gives you free access to a catalog of millions of songs. It can be used from Windows and Mac via browser or by downloading the desktop version, while for mobile devices it is available as an application for Android and iOS devices.
To start listening to music for free with Deezer, connect to the service's website and click the button Log in to connect to your account using your login data or your social account, otherwise press the button Subscribe, enter your details in the registration form and create your free account.
After logging into your profile, you can start listening to music for free by choosing one of the music channels or one of the playlists available on the main page, otherwise type the title of a song or the name of an artist in the field Search at the top left to find the content of your interest. Then press the ▶ ︎ button to start playback.
If, on the other hand, you prefer to listen to music from your smartphone or tablet, download Deezer from the store of your device, then start the music streaming service app by pressing its icon and tap the button Login to log into your account or on the button Subscribe to create one.
The use of Deezer on mobile devices is similar to that described previously for computers: choose a music channel or a playlist from those listed on the main screen, otherwise tap on the magnifying glass in the menu below and type the title of the song you are interested in. Once you have identified the song you want to listen to, tap the ▶ ︎ button to start playing it.
Alternatively, press the ▶ ︎ button in the bottom menu to activate the function Process from application to course commencement and listen to music in random mode according to your preferences. To learn more about how the service works, you can read my guide on how Deezer works.
You should know that the free version of Deezer allows you to listen to unlimited music with commercial breaks from your computer, while on a smartphone you can only listen in random mode. To listen to music without limitations and interruptions, take advantage of the listening function in offline mode and in high quality, you can subscribe to a subscription plan choosing between Premium + at a cost of 9,99 euros / month with a free 30-day trial e Deezer Family, which at a cost of 14,99 euros / month allows access to up to six users at the same time.
In addition, subscribers can also listen to music by downloading Deezer on Windows and macOS PCs. To do this, connect to the Devices page on the Deezer website and press the button Download.
TuneIn (Online/Android/iOS/Windows)
Among the applications useful for listening to music on the Internet there is also TuneIn, the famous platform that gathers thousands of radio stations from all over the world. In addition to the Web version that can be used from a browser, it is also available as an application for Android, iOS and Windows 10 Mobile devices.
After downloading the TuneIn app from your device's store, start it by tapping its icon (the TuneIn lettering on a blue background). To listen to music, then tap on the item You may also like... present in the menu below and presses on the option Music, then choose one of the available musical genres and press on the radio station of your interest. Then press the ▶ ︎ button to start playback.
Alternatively, you can search for a radio station by pressing the button Research at the bottom right and typing its name in the field Research up. Once you have identified the radio station of your interest, press on his name and tap the ▶ ︎ button to start playing it. You must know that TuneIn is also available in the version TuneIn Pro for Android devices (11,07 euros) and iOS (10,99 euros), allowing you to remove advertising banners and register radio stations.
If, on the other hand, you want to listen to music on TuneIn from your computer, connect to the service website and click on the item Ascolta now, then presses on the voice Music in the sidebar on the left and choose the music genre to listen to. To search for a radio station, click on the entry Search, enter the name of the station you want to listen to in the appropriate field and press the button Submit of your computer keyboard. Then press on the station of your interest and start playback by pressing the ▶ ︎ button.
YouTube (Online/Android/iOS)
YouTube is another solution for listening to music online. The famous Google video sharing platform also offers a section completely dedicated to music videos and allows you to listen to music for free, without limitations and without registration.
To listen to your favorite songs on YouTube, connect to the main page of the service and type the title of the song or the name of the artist to listen to in the field Search up. Then click on the icon of magnifying glass to start the search, locate the song you are interested in and click on its preview image to start playing it. If you want to turn on auto-play of related songs, move the toggle next to the item Automatic playback da OFF a ON.
Alternatively, you can access the Music section of YouTube to view the list of the most played songs of the moment, the most recent video clips and listen to playlists by music genre. To learn more, you can read my guide on how to listen to music on YouTube.
YouTube is also available as an application for Android and iOS, but I don't recommend using it if your intent is to listen to music frequently. In fact, in addition to draining your device's battery much more, video streaming requires more data traffic than other music streaming services.
Apple Music (Windows/Mac/Android/iOS)
Apple Music is Apple's music streaming service. Unlike other popular services, it is not available in a free version and you need to subscribe to listen to music. The service can be used on Windows PCs and Macs via iTunes and on Android devices by downloading the appropriate app. On the iPhone / iPad, however, it is available by default with the app Music, which can be used both to listen to songs locally and to log into your Apple Music account.
As mentioned above, to access the Apple Music catalog you need to subscribe to a subscription of your choice between Individual (9,99 euros / month), Family (14,99 euros / month) e Students (€ 4,99 / month), with a 3-month free trial that you can activate without any obligation to renew.
To listen to Apple Music on computer, launch iTunes, select the item Music via the drop-down menu at the top left and click on the item Try now and get 3 months for free. Then choose a subscription plan and press the button Subscribe to Apple Music, then enter your Apple ID details and follow the wizard. If you don't have an Apple ID yet, you can read my in-depth guide to create one.
After activating the free trial and setting your listening preferences, click on one of the items above to start using Apple Music: For you to view the songs and albums chosen for you based on your preferences and previous listenings; Discover with the songs of the moment; Radio with the personalized radio stations of the service divided by musical genres e library with the list of your songs, playlists and music obtained through Apple Music. To find a song, album or singer of your interest, you can use the field Research top right.
The use of Apple Music on smartphones and tablets is the same as described for computers. Then start the app Music su iPhone/iPad o l’app Apple Music on Android, select the item For you to activate your free trial or choose a subscription plan. Once the activation via your Apple ID is complete, tap on the items For you, Discover e Radio to play the music of the moment and selected for you by Apple Music, otherwise presses on the voice Search to find the songs of your interest. To learn more about how the service works, I leave you to my guide on how Apple Music works.
Other solutions for listening to music on the Internet
You have to know that they also exist other solutions for listening to music on the Internet that you can take into consideration. If the services mentioned above have not satisfied your craving for music or you just want to learn about other services to use on your computer, smartphone and tablet, take a look at the list below.
- Soundcloud (Online/Android/iOS): is a platform that collects famous songs, remixes and that allows artists, DJs and music lovers to share their creations online. You can listen to music for free and without registering. Also, some songs are available for free download, but you need to create an account to download.
- Jamendo (Online/Android/iOS): the ideal solution for those looking for independent music and emerging artists. Jamendo allows you to listen without limits and without registration, while for the free download of the songs and albums available you need to create your own account.
- JustHearIt (Online): it is a completely free website that looks like a real music search engine. It allows you to listen to music without limits and without registering.
- Amazon Music Unlimited (Online/Android/iOS): is Amazon's music streaming service. A trial period of 30 days is available, after which it costs 9,99 euros / month or a cost of 99 euros / year reserved for Amazon Prime customers. Its catalog has over 50 million songs and allows listening even in offline mode. Without a subscription, it allows you to listen to the songs and albums purchased on the Jeff Bezos giant, both in physical and digital format. To learn more, you can read my guide on how Amazon Music Unlimited works.
- Tidal (Online/Windows/Mac/Android/iOS): is a subscription music streaming service that allows you to access a rich catalog of songs and music videos. It offers two types of subscription: Tidal Premium (9,99 euros / month) e Tidal hifi (€ 19,99 / month) with higher audio quality (CD quality) and video. In both cases, a 30-day free trial is available, while without subscribing, listening is limited to 30 seconds.
