Music on Android: the complete guide
GET AN ANDROID DJ.
ANDROID PHONES AND tablets make great music machines, but what are the best options?
There are three main ways you are likely to play music on your Android device: Streaming Streaming with offline playback Music loaded on your device In most cases there are free and paid options, so let’s start with free and easy music streaming.
SPOTIFY
Spotify started the music streaming revolution as a tiny Swedish company ten years ago, and now delivers over 40 million music tracks in more than 70 countries. The free version plays most music in shuffle mode only, but you can create your own playlists, plus have access to a range of playlists curated by genre, mood and your selections. You can even seek out playlists put together by people you know and add them to your library. Spotify is easy to use and has a huge range of features, and it is still the number one pick for most people.
You need to create a Spotify account via their website, or download the Spotify for Android app from the Google Play Store, then start exploring the music on offer. Your account can be used on all your devices, but only one at a time.
Spotify Free is supported by ads between music tracks, but in recent years we have found the ads have gone from quiet promotions of Spotify’s paid version to being much more intrusive - like a commercial radio station. For many it is worth $11.99 per month to have virtually unlimited ad-free music anywhere, anytime. There is also a family membership for $17.99 that allows up to six users, and a student membership at $5.99 per month for the first year.
GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC
Google Play Music is already installed on your Android device, but does not provide a free streaming service. Except that you can stream your own uploaded music – and create a cloud backup in the process. See the Offline backup and playback section of this article.
Note that the Google Play Music paid subscription includes the largest library of songs, plus YouTube Red, so could be worth checking out.
YOUTUBE MUSIC, AMAZON MUSIC UNLIMITED, APPLE MUSIC STREAMING SERVICES
YouTube Music streaming service is the new kid on the block, and in theory there’s a lot to like, including that all music clips on YouTube are available to stream. In the free version the video must be playing on screen, but the premium version has an “audio only” mode that lets you switch the screen off. The service needs more development to be a serious competitor to Spotify, but the free ad-supported option is super easy to set up, plus you can get a one month free trial of Premium if you sign up – look for YouTube Music at the Google Play Store.
Streaming music from Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music requires paid subscriptions, although some tempting trial offers are available. And yes, the Apple Music app is available for Android at the Play Store – but it has mixed reviews so may be in need of further development.
RADIO STATION APPS
Also free are the multitude of streaming services provided by radio stations, some of which have minimal or display-only ads. We currently like Dash Radio, which does not require creating an account to use it – search for Dash Radio in the Google Play Store.
DATA DANGER
When streaming music to your smartphone via your phone’s data plan, be aware of data usage. Expect to use about 43MB per hour at
the lowest quality setting, which can mean using a gigabyte within three days or so. If you have a large data plan that may not be a problem, unless you are traveling - data roaming can get very expensive. So set your app to use Wi-Fi whenever it is available. Offline playback – paid subscription You can avoid data bills with the paid version of Spotify, and most other services, which let you download playlists to your device memory for offline playback. Do this overnight via Wi-Fi (Spotify uses Wi-Fi for this by default, but the downloads can still take hours) and you will have uninterrupted access to your favourite music in the car, on the bus or train, and in any country, without using data. You can set your phone app to “Offline Mode” to be sure you only play the downloaded music, but go online at least once every 30 days (this verifies that you still have a paid subscription) or your downloaded playlists will disappear. You can have downloaded playlists on up to three devices.
OFFLINE BACKUP AND PLAYBACK ON GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC – FOR FREE
It’s all too easy to lose your digital music if a hard drive crashes, so having a copy on your Android device is a good move. But device memory tends to be limited, and wouldn’t it be great to back all your music up to the cloud, able to be streamed or downloaded from any device? Well, Google Play Music can do that for free.
Go to https://music.google.com on your computer and sign in if required. You may need to create a Google Play Music account in your Google apps - this is free but requires a credit card number to activate (to confirm country of residence).
On the Google Play Music page, click on the hamburger menu at top left, then choose “Upload music” from the drop down menu. If you are using the Chrome browser you may be prompted to add an extension.
You can then drag and drop music folders and files from your computer, or choose to browse and select them for upload, and when finished you will have your own music library in the cloud.
Your uploaded music can now be accessed at https://music.google.com, as well as through Google Play Music on your phone or other devices - and you can download copies to a maximum of ten devices. The Download option is in the three dot menu next to the details of each playlist or album.
SIMPLY PLAY MUSIC STORED ON YOUR DEVICE
So you just want to use your phone like an MP3 player? Google Play Music upload/download is one way of doing that, or you can go direct.
Assuming your music collection is already on your computer in MP3 or other compatible format, the most direct way to transfer it is with your phone’s USB cable. Connect your Android device to your computer (you may need to tap ok for permissions), open a File Explorer window, and navigate to your device which will be shown by name along with your disk drives etc. Double click on your Android device until it displays a screen of folders, and open the Music folder.
Open another File Explorer window and navigate to your computer’s Music folder. You can then drag and drop music files and folders across.
You now have music files on your device, and the simplest option for listening to them is Google Play Music, which is already installed. It’s basic, and will keep trying to get you to upgrade to a paid subscription, but it works.
MUSICOLET MUSIC PLAYER
If you prefer a better dedicated music player our current favourite is Musicolet, which is free, has no ads, and includes features such as a graphic equaliser and a sleep timer. Search for Musicolet in the Google Play Store and give it a try.