Not long ago, the main source of music was radio and television. You could legally buy music on cassette, vinyl and CD. Today, instead of regular radio, we have digital satellite broadcasting. With the development of high-speed Internet, music is being distributed through web services that offer higher and higher sound quality. They are all very different, so you can choose a service that suits your needs.
1 Spotify
Spotify is one of the top online services for streaming music. What makes this service unique is that you can use its Offline Mode to listen to thousands of music tracks without having to be connected to the Web. As well as subscription plans, this service also offers you the chance to try before you buy with its Spotify Free account. With facilities to stream music to mobile devices and home stereo systems, is this the ultimate digital music service?
A few years ago, Spotify HiFi, a lossless music streaming service, was announced. It was supposed to be a response to similar offerings from Qobuz and Tidal. Unfortunately, as of early 2024, the service has yet to launch.
In addition to the streaming service, Spotify provides API for obtaining a huge amount of information about music tracks, including genre, danceability, acousticness, energy.
2 Qobuz
Qobuz can claim to be the first service to offer 16- and 24-bit audio files for both streaming and download, and it currently has the largest high-resolution catalog, but it comes at a slight premium to some of its competitors.
The ecosystem is also stronger than you might think, especially if you're new to it. There's a web player, apps for Mac, iOS, and Android, and integration with hi-fi heavyweights like Roon software, Bowers & Wilkins, and Bang & Olufsen hi-fi products. Oh, and you can listen to Qobuz in your car with CarPlay or Android Auto.
3 Tidal
In my view, Tidal is the ideal choice for audiophiles with a good grasp of streaming music. Tidal is ditching MQA in favor of high-resolution streaming at up to 192 kHz via the FLAC format, which is compatible with a wide range of music streamers and hi-fi equipment. The second feature is support for Dolby Atmos Music.
Tidal's hi-res FLAC library can also be played via the service's desktop, web, Android, and iOS platforms, and is supported by several hi-fi components and software platforms like Roon.
4 Deezer
Deezer, the French company, used to be called Blogmusik. They ran into music licensing trouble, got reprimanded and now operate legally under the Deezer moniker. More or less they relaunched their internet radio initiatives with good intent. I notice that the buffering delays test the user's patience. The other sites do not have this issue. Once again, users can share music lists and the like. There's no sign-up necessary to browse through stations/songs and get a basic overview of the free content.
Despite support for MQA, the service still does not offer music in high-resolution formats. Therefore, it does not make it into the top three.
It is worth noting that it was Deezer who introduced the world to Spleeter, an AI-driven music separation service.
5 Grooveshark
Grooveshark boasts no small following either, having passed the 35 million user mark in May of 2011. It is also a very loyal following: one online poll rated this as the most popular of all streaming music services. The design could be part of the reason. Grooveshark gives you freer reign in creating the type of playlist you want, with a nicely done drag-and-drop interface. Grooveshark also lets you upload your own music to add to the communal library, which might be the largest of all sites with a massive 22 million songs (it's a great place for mash up seekers). You can use a free account, or you can register an upgraded account, which you can use to remove ads and listen to Grooveshark on your phone.