Six of the best music streaming services

Hundreds of millions of us have ditched CDs and downloads for subscription services like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music – and it’s not hard to see why.

To anyone bar the most casual music listener, it seems like a no-brainer to take out a monthly subscription and have access to millions of songs rather than forking out for the price of a new CD or a dozen or so songs on iTunes.

Spotify is currently the world’s largest music streaming service, with about 70 million subscribers. But Apple is catching up and many experts predict it will take the top spot by the time the year is out.

There are, of course, plenty of other streaming services around. Here we look at some of the best.

Spotify has more than 40 million subscribers worldwide and a 44 per cent share of the market.

You can listen for free if you can live with the occasional advert. Spotify’s premium service is £9.99 a month and also lets you listen offline. A family package (maximum six) is £14.99 a month, while students get a discount rate of £4.99 a month.

Apple music launched in 2015, but it’s already the second biggest music streaming service in the world. Individual membership costs £9.99 a month, family membership for up to six people is £14.99, and student membership is £4.99 a month.

Provided by the biggest internet search engine, this streaming service gives access to millions of songs and costs £9.99 a month. £3.99 a month for one Amazon music device such as an Echo. For £9.99 a month – discounted to £7.99 a month for Prime members. For a family of six, it’s £14.99.

The first music service with High Fidelity sound quality. Offers a basic service for £9.99 and a top quality streaming at £19.99.

The French streaming company offers a premium service where you choose the tracks yourself costs £9.99 a month. Unlimited music for a family of six is £14.99.