For many people in India and around the world, music streaming apps are a guarantee on their smartphones.
Listening to music on the go has always been popular.
From the Walkman to the iPod, people love to listen to music on the go.
Back then, the majority of people downloaded music to their devices. However, it gradually took over the phone’s storage and in many cases people were downloading them illegally.
But over time, we have seen the rise of music streaming platforms.
They have millions of songs in their libraries and it only takes a few seconds to put them together in your own playlist.
All you need to do is pay a small subscription and you have access to a huge library of songs from multiple genres.
As more and more music streaming apps go mainstream, here are nine that are popular in India.
Gaana
When it comes to music streaming apps in India, Gaana is the most popular.
It is India’s largest commercial streaming service and has over 150 million monthly users.
It was launched in April 2010 by Times Internet and offers Indian and international music content.
The entire catalog is accessible to users around the world.
Gaana offers music in 21 languages, including English, Hindi, Gujarati, and other regional Indian languages.
It doesn’t stop there. Users have a wide range of genres.
From catchy pop tracks to a classic act, Gaana will leave users spoiled for choice.
Users can also make their playlists public so that they can be seen by other users. They can view and bookmark the playlists they like.
Wynk Music
Another popular option is Wynk Music.
Users can listen to over six million songs of various genres.
From Bollywood hits to popular international hip-hop, dance, and pop artists, among others, users are spoiled for choice.
In addition to HD music streaming, users can sync lyrics so that they can sing along to their favorite songs, which makes this app perfect for karaoke.
There are thousands of curated playlists, but users can create their own to share with friends and family.
Users can also follow their favorite music stars and playlists if they have a particular taste in music.
Spotify
Internationally, Spotify is the leading music streaming service. It was launched in India in February 2019 and quickly gained popularity among the citizens.
The app has a user-friendly algorithm and the musical suggestions are based on the interest of the users.
Spotify has a huge catalog of international music, ranging from hip-hop to rock.
It also contains a lot of Desi music, from artists like Badshah.
In addition to music, there are a variety of podcasts to listen to.
The music streaming app is available for free, but a subscription plan means ad-free music, offline playback, and cross-device access.
Although Spotify has only been in India for two years, it is fast becoming one of the best music streaming apps in the country.
JioSaavn
JioSaavn started as Saavn in 2007, but in 2018 it merged with Mukesh Ambani’s JioMusic to become JioSaavn.
The app offers over 45 million songs in English, Hindi and other Indian languages.
Reliance Jio users can also use the app to set their ringtones, choosing from a large music library.
Although the interface is not as good as that of Spotify, it is quite simple and has other features for its users.
Users can download music offline so that they can listen without using mobile data.
JioSaavn’s app also offers live music with lyrics, which means you can use the app for karaoke.
Like other music streaming apps, JioSaavn also offers a freemium service.
Users can enjoy the app for free, but for additional features like offline reading, they can pay a subscription fee.
An annual subscription costs Rs. 399 (£ 3.80) while paying a monthly fee of Rs. 99 (£ 1).
Youtube music
YouTube Music entered India in March 2019 and recorded three million downloads in three weeks.
It may sound identical to its competition, but YouTube Music has a niche feature.
The app has video and music playback only. All the videos uploaded to YouTube by the artists are available in music on the app.
This means that the users can stream music as well as watch music videos.
This is a huge plus for those who enjoy watching music videos.
Besides having its own music collection, the app contains all the songs from the Google Play Music library.
The music is matched to the user’s music streaming history, making it easy to find the songs you like.
Following the freemium model, YouTube Music’s subscription plan starts at Rs. 99 per month (£ 1) and includes ad-free streaming, offline and background playback.
There is the free version, however, like YouTube, users have to keep the screen on, otherwise the music will stop.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music was launched in India in 2018 exclusively for Amazon Prime members as part of their monthly or annual subscriptions.
Originally launched as Amazon MP3, the service quickly gained popularity with Amazon Prime members who had access to another feature at no additional cost.
There is a wide variety of songs on the app, with over 60 million songs of different genres.
The app is integrated with Amazon Alexa to enable a better user experience and better search results.
Amazon Music is a subscription-only service, which users join by subscribing to Amazon Prime or Amazon Music Unlimited.
It costs Rs. 999 per year (£ 9.70) and with the subscription offline streaming and a huge library of songs are provided.
Hungama music
Hungama Music is one of India’s oldest services within the music streaming industry.
Nonetheless, it remains one of India’s most popular streaming apps.
The app offers a huge library of songs, ranging from Bollywood hits to regional tracks.
The songs are also available in different languages, ranging from Hindi, English, Punjabi, Gujarati and more.
In addition to the song library, the app also supports lyrics, which means users can sing along to their favorite songs.
Song recommendations are based on your musical taste.
Premium account holders receive ad-free streaming as well as a loyalty feature.
With the loyalty feature, users are rewarded for their activity on the app and earn coins. These can be used to subscribe to the service for a month.
Not only is the app popular in India, it is also available in over 40 countries.
It’s a versatile music streaming app that’s great on the go.
Apple Music
Like Spotify, Apple Music is also popular internationally.
In India, it was released in 2015 and was initially aimed at iOS users. The app is now available on the Google Play Store.
Apple Music’s library contains over 50 million songs, ranging from traditional artists to the more obscure ones.
It originally started out as a music-only streaming service. It then expanded to a video streaming service.
In India, users get a three month free trial before it costs Rs. 49 per month (50p) for students and Rs. 99 per month (£ 1) for ordinary people.
Apple is gaining popularity in India with the release of the iPhone 12 and subsequently so is Apple Music.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a popular app in India, especially for those who like to listen to emerging artists.
The platform allows users to upload their own tracks for the purpose of being recognized.
This inclusion means that users will always find something new to listen to.
But if you’d rather listen to established artists, SoundCloud also has a large collection of mainstream songs, including Desi tracks.
Like Spotify, SoundCloud also learns your music preferences and bases your music stream on them.
It’s completely free, but offline streaming requires a subscription.
Currently, the app does not offer premium services in India, but users in the country still like to use this music streaming app to listen to emerging musicians.
These nine music streaming apps all have millions of users in India, enabling them to meet their music needs.
All of them have a huge library of songs that can be downloaded in seconds so you can listen to them offline.
With similar characteristics, it depends on your personal preferences.
Nevertheless, all of them have immense popularity in India.
