Believe It Or Not, Streaming Music Is The Future
Remember the days music fans would wait in line for the latest CD release at department stores and music shops? Or the not-so-distant past when people opted illegal downloads or iTunes purchases? Believe it or not, streaming music is the future, and those days of downloading songs are long over — instead the ears of music lovers lean into the stream.
WHAT IS STREAMING MUSIC
Download no more; accessing streaming music can be done with a cloud-based service which waves goodbye to storage space issues on your devices. Instead, enjoy music that can be broadcasted live from a variety of apps and services. With the ability to make your own playlists and listen to nearly endless music possibilities, it’s no wonder the future of music is in the stream.
MUSIC STREAMING DEVICES
For those making the shift — one should confirm their music streaming devices are up to snuff and meet the requirements of the apps desired. There are many apps though which one can enjoy music (which is covered in the section below). However it’s important to note that not all apps are created equal, and neither are the devices that can play them.
Select a device that offers multiple app compatibility, so no matter the choice, music can be heard with ease, and without multiple hookups. HEOS by Denon offers a line of speaker models that can stream just about any source (though their downloadable app) that’s available, and offers good quality playback through the cloud.
So what music apps are available for streaming?
MUSIC STREAMING APPS
One sure sign music streaming is the future — everyone is doing it. From Amazon Music to Pandora and Spotify, streaming services are popping up all over offering a unique music experience. Here are a few of the top picks.
AMAZON MUSIC
Amazon Music offers over a million songs that can be played by genre, playlist, or album. Streaming is 100% ad-free — so listeners can enjoy the moment with no skips or breaks in rhythm.
The only cost — Amazon Music requires listeners to be Prime members in order to enjoy the benefits. Though the membership itself is just $99 a year, and offers additional perks including free two-day shipping, movie streaming, unlimited photo storage, and more.
SPOTIFY
For $9.99 a month, music enthusiasts can also enjoy Spotify, which plays seamlessly on most music streaming devices. With one of the largest selections of music — Spotify is the closest thing you can get to owning the world’s entire music library (without actually owning it) Here you can customize playlists by exact title and enjoying listening to music even while offline. There are no ads, and the high definition sound leaves none to be desired.
PANDORA
Born in year 2000, Pandora is one of the original music streaming services, and perhaps one of the catalysts into launching this future of music playback. Pandora allows users to listen by “stations” which may be unique or pre-selected by Pandora. From those, Pandora’s unique algorithm begins to sort songs and stations by your preferences, slowly learning the listener’s taste better than their best friend.
Ads are a downfall of the free service, as well as limited skipping for songs that just don’t match up. However these can be alleviated with the paid version.
TUNEIN
With a global audience of over 60 million users, TuneIn is a streaming service that includes one of the largest selections of free sports, music, news, and more. With 100,000 free radio stations and 5.7 million podcasts, its no wonder TuneIn is a listener’s favorite. Not a fan of ads? You can opt for the premium version for $7.99 a month and enjoy additional benefits including NFL play-by-play, audiobooks, and commercial-free music.
So what is the future of sound? It’s in the cloud. And one should expect more of the same in years to come. And with all of the choices in apps and music streaming devices available, there’s no excuse for mediocre. Enjoy music to the fullest; enjoy the future of sound.
