Since the birth of recorded music media, we’ve been looking for new and thrilling ways to make it portable. And we’ve succeeded at every turn, from pioneering picnic-friendly phonographs to iconic cassette tape players, MP3 players, portable CD players and beyond. If today’s portable media landscape were also to be summarised in a word, it would be this one: convenient.
That’s because ours is a word of supercomputers in our pockets and high-speed wireless internet everywhere; a world in which something called a ‘streaming service’ is possible. Of course, streaming platforms are barely a ‘new’ normal anymore for the likes of you and me – but that doesn’t stop them feeling like alien technology every now and then.
It is truly a convenient world in which we can access practically the sum of recorded musical history on our devices, at any time of our choosing. But not all streaming services are made equal. Competing services, despite ostensibly offering the same core convenience, are wildly different in a wide variety of ways, from audio quality to library size to user experience. So, which one is the best music streaming service for you?
Well, you can find the answer to exactly that question right here; I’ve compiled the top performers in the music streaming space and pitted them against one another with respect to various criteria.
Whether you value hi-res streaming over anything, or simply want an easy way to discover new music, you’ll find your next streaming subscription here. If you want to know a bit more about the things that differentiate streaming services, you’ll find a nifty little FAQ section beneath the reviews.
The quick list
Qobuz might still be flying a bit under the radar, but it's edged ahead of the competition to take my top spot. There are approximately 100 million songs, two subscription plans offering FLAC 24-Bit up to 192 kHz - and you can buy albums too. The top tier sub also offers discounts on purchases.
Apple Music has been getting better and better in recent times and if you're rocking an Apple device and pair of AirPods, you should look no further. There are now plenty of albums in Spatial Audio, the wide selection of playlists are constantly updated and Apple Music Classical is also worth checking.
It’s not the most consistent of performers, but Amazon Music Unlimited is nonetheless a great prospect for Amazon Prime subscribers. Between industry-leading spatial audio, with thousands of tracks in Dolby Atmos and 360-degree audio, and a huge library of Ultra-HD songs, it’s high fidelity at a not-so-high price.
If you're after a some of the best audio options when it comes to streaming music, then Tidal is hard to ignore. It’s a cornucopia of hi-res audio, with a ‘Max’ fidelity of 24-bit/192kHz HiRes FLACs, and Dolby Atmos for high-quality spatial listening. There’s also a DJ add-on subscription, that synergises with DJ software like rekordbox and gives you select access to stems. Thrilling stuff!
Perhaps the most popular music streaming service out there, Spotify has become a household name. It's jam packed with music and podcasts and has an amazing number of fan-curated playlists. The only let down is its, audio quality, which only reaches CD-quality at best.
Another music streaming site worth a closer look is Deezer. Sound quality and choice of sounds may not be quite on par with some on our list, but its easy to use and there's also the option to transfer your music library from another streaming service to Deezer. There's also a free tier.
Best overall
✅ Buy if you want premium audio at a great price: Qobuz offers excellent audio options at a very competitive price and shouldn't be overlooked if you're looking to change your current sub.
❌ Avoid if you're after 3D audio options: While Qobuz offers audio flexibility, there's no room for 3D audio - something other services offer.
Still my favourite high res audio service, Qobuz offers premium audio quality without a punishing price tag in the form of a single monthly hi-res streaming subscription plan using the Studio tier.
Music is streamed either in lossless CD-quality or High-Res (variable from 24-bit/44.1 kHz up to 192 kHz). A step-up plan, dubbed Sublime, available for $14.99/£14.99 a month, includes a 60 per cent discount on hi-res downloads you might want to purchase and keep. Each plan is also available in Duo (two accounts) or Family (six accounts), which come with escalating premiums.
The catalogue currently exceeds 100 million titles, so you can be confident your metal, rock, prog, punk and alt needs will be well catered for.
I should also note that comparable high res audio quality is available from Amazon Music HD, Tidal and Apple Music, however they can't match Qobuz for usability and value.
Best for variety
✅ Buy if you want top of the range audio and playlists: Apple Music has been climbing the ranks for a while thanks to its Spacial Audio features, choice of lossless music and excellent playlists.
❌ Avoid if don't rock Apple hardware: Apple Music is a solid choice, but it really comes into its own when paired with Apple headphones.
With the addition of Spatial Audio with dynamic head-tracking and lossless audio, Apple Music has become a top audiophile choice when it comes to streaming music - especially if you’re rocking a set of AirPods (3rd gen), AirPods Pro or AirPods Max.
Fed through a pair of Apple headphones can be an amazing experience and even if many albums don’t boast Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, there are a huge amount of older albums now with lossless audio which really brings a studio grade listening experience home.
Dynamic head-tracking basically locks the music you’re listening to front and centre, so if you twist your noggin, you get a realistic sense of positioning. It’s worth noting that you’ll miss some of this refinement if you use Apple Music through non-Apple products, but overall audio quality remains impressive.
Apple’s user-friendly interface, excellent music curation and a choice of more than 100 million songs, and 30,000 playlists, make this an attractive option for all - and you can, of course, create and share your own playlists.
An Apple Music subscription also includes Apple Classical - home to old favourites, contemporary classical albums, a selection of video game soundtracks and film scores. This recent streaming channel was made possible after classical service Primephonic joined forces with Apple Music in 2021.
Best for Prime subs
✅ Take a look if you're an Amazon Prime member: Amazon Music Unlimited is another music streaming service which has been improving over the years and is a perfect fit for Prime members.
❌ Avoid if you want streamlined content: The interface remains a wee bit clunky and artist curation can be off the mark.
Amazon Music Unlimited isn't the most elegant music streaming service to use, but when it comes to value it’s a prospect well worth investigating – and especially so for those who already have an Amazon Prime subscription, thanks to a not-insignificant $/£1 monthly discount for an individual subscription.
The main draw for Amazon Music Unlimited is the excellent audio quality, with HD and up to 2-bit/192kHz Ultra HD on tap; there’s also some industry-leading 3D and immersive audio availability here, with both Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio.
The user interface is a hot mess though, with both the PC and Android app giving pause for thought thanks to their respective buggy states. The content curation is less-than intelligent, too; for example, the platform offers up random content for me, including sports and true crime podcasts - even though I’ve expressed little interest in them.
UI and UX gripes aside, Amazon Music Unlimited is a treasure trove of hi-res and experiential audio. There’s also Amazon’s expansive classical library, held as a separate service, which you get free access to as an Unlimited subscriber. You can access Amazon Music Free with just an Amazon account, but this limits you to standard-quality audio and shuffle-based listening.
Best high quality
✅ Buy if you want hi-res audio: Tidal sounds amazing through headphones and its top tier offering is superb.
❌ Avoid if you want more than music: Well-priced as Tidal is for its offerings, it doesn’t offer much in the way of non-musical content like podcasts.
Tidal is the original premium quality streaming service, and still the best – thanks to a consistent library of high-fidelity audio, and a new commitment to Dolby Atmos (having parted ways with the 360 Reality Audio standard in 2024). There was one time where this hi-res listening cost a pretty penny, but, having done away with a premium tier in favour of simplicity, Tidal is once again an affordable alternative for high-quality listening.
Tidal’s audio-quality settings are Low, High and Max, referring to up-to 320kbps, up-to 16-bit/44.1kHz, and up-to 24-bit/192kHz HiRes FLACs respectively. A DJ Extension add-on gives you the opportunity to access the Tidal catalog via DJ software like rekordbox or Serato, and also to stems – a godsend for the budding selectors amongst us.
So, Tidal means great audio at a great price; what’s not to love? Well, there aren’t any podcasts on the platform, so casual commuters looking for a one-stop shop might not get the same out of Tidal’s offerings as an audiophile. Tidal can also play it a bit safe with song recommendations, for those that want more aggressive algos.
Best all-rounder
✅ Buy if you want no-fuss music delivery: Spotify is the go-to music streaming service for many due to its range of artists, ease of use and multitude of playlists.
❌ Avoid if you want to rock hi-res audio: Spotify may be popular, but it lacks the audio fidelity found in other streaming services.
It may be the world’s most popular music streaming service, but Spotify is beginning to show its age. Long overtaken by pretty much every competitor, Spotify’s streaming quality remains at 320kbps AAC as standard, with the highest resolution available a CD-quality 16-bit/44.1kHz Lossless.
Still, it’s easy to see why Spotify remains so popular a platform. It offers supreme catalogue depth with no shortage of rock, metal, prog and alternative artists, and great personalisation so you won't miss out on any new releases; playlisting and algorithmic recommendations remain its strong suit, and something other platforms have struggled to crack.
Add in that Spotify is also a heavyweight for non-musical content like podcasts, and that it’s well integrated UX-wise across platforms, and you’ve a strong contender for a “it just works” jack-of-all-trades streaming platform.
With so many hours invested in personal playlists, it’s easy to see why Spotify regulars are prepared to stick with the service, even if it’s not the best sound quality.
Most user-friendly
✅ Buy if you simply want CD quality audio: Deezer works beautifully if you're after a casual streaming service that replicates the sound of your CD collection.
❌ Avoid if you a more in-depth music streaming service: Deezer works well as an easy option streaming service, but if you'd like more audio flexibility, you'll find it elsewhere.
Deezer is a French platform that was also quite early to the streaming races. While not a huge competitor in the space, it’s still a compelling option as a decent platform with great UI and better selection. Its personalised playlists and mixes simply make things easy for its users – and its library is no less edificial than those of Spotify, Amazon or Apple.
The downside to this easy-to-use platform is its simplicity in other areas. For one thing, its streams are currently limited to 16-bit FLAC at highest fidelity – or CD-quality at best. Not the hi-res streaming experience certain consumers would hope for. Also, where there was once some additional support for 360 Reality Audio via a separate app, there is no more.
Couple this with a not-too-competitive price, and you have a perfectly adequate platform that maybe edges out its betters in terms of usability. Worth a punt if you’re tired of Spotify.
FAQ
What is audio fidelity?
Audio fidelity describes the level of detail in a given digital audio file. The higher the fidelity, the more detailed the capture of the track in question. ‘Hi-Res’ audio has become a pressure point for lots of streaming services, as more and more people want guaranteed high-quality audio for their expensive hi-fi or headphones; hi-res basically means a higher fidelity.
So how do we quantify audio fidelity? Typically, with two metrics: bit depth, and sample rate. Bit depth is how much dynamic range a track has, determined by how many ‘steps’ there are in digital amplitude between minimum and maximum. Higher bit depths mean less noise and more detailed transients, among other things. Sample rate looks at ‘slices’ of audio over time, with higher sample rates meaning more slices per second – hence, more definition.
CD-quality audio has a bit depth of 16 and a sample rate of 44.1kHz; Hi-Res audio starts at 24-bit/48kHz, the latter reaching as high as 192kHz. Of course, there are more variables than this when it comes to the experience of listening on a streaming service; some have built-in normalisation and EQ settings that can affect the sound of a file, and some can be a little less robust than others at the actual ‘streaming’ bit of the process.
What makes a good streaming service?
There are several criteria by which you might judge a given streaming service, the most important of which are: library; audio fidelity; and user experience.
For library: not all streaming services have licenses to offer the same music, so some artists may be absent on one platform but present on another. Whether this impacts your choice of platform depends on who your favourite artists are!
For audio fidelity: some care far more about this than others, but everyone cares about receiving a base standard of quality audio. Lossy audio can be obvious, and obviously bad at that, so a good streaming service commits to a standard fidelity that equals that of a 320kbps mp3 file.
Most platforms also offer CD-quality 16-bit/44.1kHz as a ‘high fidelity’ option, but some go much farther; if you have good headphones for music, or a killer contemporary hi-fi at home, you’ll want 24-bit/48kHz or more.
Finally, for user experience: some platforms are a little easier to navigate than others. Whether it’s the simplicity of the Android app, the speed of search functions or the way in which the platform handles playlists and mixes, ease of use matters a lot. Relatedly, discovery and curation tools are key when it comes to the practicality of a platform; unless you’re content living in a classic rock bubble, you’ll want to be able to find new music as easily as possible, whether actively or passively.
What’s the best streaming service for owning your music?
The streaming-service model is not one of ownership; for your monthly fee, you’re given access to a vast library of tracks to which you can listen, but which you can never keep. Some platforms offer integration of streaming with your digital library, so you can access everything – yours or not – via one simple UI.
That said, some platforms do make it easy for you to buy the music you’re listening to – the best of which is, arguably, Qobuz. Indeed, with Qobuz’s top-tier ‘Sublime’ subscription, you can get up to 60% off the price of the music you buy, making it the ideal platform for the obsessive collector.
Here, an honourable mention to Bandcamp – not strictly a music streaming service, but a music platform that does much more for artists, for genre curation, and for ownership of music than any other platform.
It is a bastion of independent music, with an artist-forward revenue model and an editorial arm that consistently uplifts lesser-heard musicians via mailing lists and genre breakdowns. Bandcamp is also one of vanishingly few platforms to take a stand against AI, with a blanket ban on AI-generated and AI-derived music on the site.
If you’re more interested in building a personal library than buying a streaming subscription, Bandcamp is absolutely the way to go. And, it's also worth noting that if you choose to buy a digital download, you can download it to your PC or Mac in a variety of file types - and you're also then free to stream your collection through the Bandcamp app.
How we choose
If you want to hear every riff, backbeat and guttural gargle of your favourite bands, then a music subscription plan offering some level of high-res audio (24-bit upwards) definitely warrants investigation.
A high-res audio plan also makes sense if you stream music at home through your hi-fi system or headphones, rather than just for use with headphones while commuting. High-res audio always rewards those with high spec home systems.
Of course, cutting edge streaming isn’t just about sonic clarity, it’s about usability. To test the various services we put each catalogue under the microscope. It’s a racing certainty that you’ll find the likes of Kiss and Nirvana pretty much everywhere, but how do these services fare when it comes to more esoteric choices?
To check their metal credentials we went looking for Norwegian metal outfit Kvelertak, and Greek symphonic metal band Septicflesh, certain we’d find some failings. But with one notable example, we didn’t. While there are some differences in catalogue depth, we couldn’t catch them out.
Far more significant, it turns out, were their discovery and curation tools.
Why you can trust us
⚡ Louder was established in 2017 and founded on long-running brands including Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Prog (launched in 1986, 1998 and 2009 respectively)
⚡ Over 80,000 products reviewed on site, from music listening tech to albums and box sets
⚡ Our reviewers are all passionate music fans who draw on decades of testing experience
Louder’s reviewing team consists of music fans, musicians and professional product testers, who between them have accumulated decades of product reviewing experience, writing thousands of words on music listening gear across thousands of reviews on Louder. Our tests also inform our buyer's guide - just like this one.
As lifelong music fans, we're serious about the tech we listen to our favourite artists on. We want them to sound incredible, giving us all the detail those bands intended us to hear, and deliver the perfect balance of bass, mids and highs through a selection of music streaming services.
We're looking for pure immersion in our chosen sounds, whether it's a classic '70s rock album, or a cutting-edge noise band.
And we tested the a range of streaming services with albums we know inside and out, and that we've listened to on a variety of systems already, so we know exactly what we should be hearing and when we're being short-changed by lacklustre audio.
Meet the experts
Steve is a home entertainment technology specialist who contributes to a variety of UK websites and mags, including Louder Sound, Yahoo UK, Trusted Reviews, T3, The Luxe Review and Home Cinema Choice. Steve began his career as a music journo, writing for legendary rock weekly Sounds, under the nom de plume Steve Keaton. His coverage of post punk music was cited in the 2015 British Library exhibition Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination, as a seminal influence on the Goth music scene.
James Grimshaw is a freelance writer and music obsessive with over a decade of experience in music and audio writing. He's lent his audio-tech opinions (amongst others) to the likes of Louder, Guitar World, MusicRadar and the London Evening Standard – before which, he covered everything music and Leeds through his section-editorship of national e-magazine The State Of The Arts. When he isn't blasting esoteric noise-rock around the house, he's playing out with esoteric noise-rock bands in DIY venues across the country.
Latest updates
04/03/26: The guide has been updated to reflect new price structures and features for each of the music streaming services featured. A brand new FAQ section is now in place which will hopefully answer some of your queries, while we've also included a "How we choose" and a "Why you can trust us" sections. Finally, a "Meet the experts" section has been added highlighting the authors of this guide.
Read more
You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.
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