Best Websites to Listen to Music

In today’s age and age, you often look for online music streaming services when you need something to uplift you or calm you down. This is a great thing since you no longer need to both pay for and collect physical media such as CDs or DVDs. Additionally, you get to discover underground artists who might have released a single song only, and on the same website. The best thing? You won’t suffer quality loss, as these music streaming websites offer sufficient bitrate, typically around 320 Kbps. Sounds appealing? If so, here’s a list of the best websites to listen to music.

1. SoundCloud

Have you heard of the term “SoundCloud rapper”? You should know that this community-driven website is not limited to hip-hop/rap. Many artists of all genres have launched their multi-million careers by posting songs recorded in their bedrooms or closets, and of poor quality, to SoundCloud. This music platform is well-known as a mix of both worlds, supporting both music superstars and aspiring artists. With that in mind, your listening experience is not obstructed by commercials, there’s no access fee, and streaming is unlimited. And, if you desire that, you are one song away from becoming a famous singer, DJ, or musician yourself.

2. Spotify

It wouldn’t be fair to continue to talk about music-listening websites without mentioning Spotify. Although they are better known for their Android, Windows, and iOS apps, their website offers the same benefits. It is a premium sound streaming service and offers an incredibly large collection of songs for free. Granted, you might have to listen to ads in-between songs. Luckily, if you fall in love with it, you can pay $9.99 per month to get premium access to the entire collection ad-free. Additionally, you get notified of the latest releases, some of which are Spotify-exclusive or podcasts.

3. Pandora

We’ve mentioned Pandora as our top choice for free radio station websites. Although not technically a free radio music station by the well-known definition, think of it as a personal radio station. You can curate the large online collection of newest releases, renowned albums, unknown artists’ music, podcasts, and streams from actual radio stations, for example, SiriusXM. Pandora’s best feature is certainly its algorithm. It analyzes the music you listened to and liked, then automatically suggests music of the same genre/theme/type you have a strong chance to fall in love with.

4. Last.fm

Last.fm might look like a great way to listen to free radio. But, there are no actual radio station streams on it. Instead, it is a massive online music collection, carefully sorted in form of songs, albums, EPs, and LPs. It can be considered a musical social media network, even. You can cherry-pick the songs you love to create playlists, browse and comment on other people’s playlists, and join online communities built around artists, new and old. Furthermore, Last.fm uses a feature they named ‘scrobbling’ to keep a history of every song you ever listened to across devices you used. Then, it somehow manages to recommend new songs that always become your new favorites.

5. Deezer

Right in the middle of our list of top 10 websites to listen to music is Deezer. Although it is packed to the brim with music, new and old, largely unknown and crowd favorite, it is not available in a lot of countries. Luckily, the popularity of VPN services allows you to change your location virtually, and unlock the blocked content. Just like Last.fm, the platform allows you to connect your social media accounts, and see what others are listening to. But unlike Lasat.fm, Deezer is a paid sound service, and typically runs around $9.99 per month. However, they also offer a 1-month free trial.

6. Bandcamp

Bandcamp is similar to SoundCloud but on a smaller scale. And, although it is also intended for underdogs and unknown artists and bands, it also has payment integration. This allows you, as the listener, to stream their music, get a good sense, then purchase the songs or entire albums to directly support the artist(s) financially. That way, everyone benefits. Artists get backing to create more of the music you like so much. You get a chance to listen to things that aren’t mainstream, so you’ll never get tired of the same old songs.

7. SiriusXM

SiriusXM is a music streaming platform that combines live radio, in-studio artist sessions, traditional record music, and the ability to rewind streaming sessions into a single digital outlet. As such, its road to success isn’t something easily replicable. Furthermore, the platform also offers a grace period of three months before having to purchase a subscription. SiriusXM isn’t only for music, as its radio segment covers everything from sports, lifestyle, news, and finance to politics and musical showdowns. Moreover, the platform sells nostalgia that only comes from surfing the channels on an old-school radio. Other features include a buffer system to support pause and rewinds, TuneStart, and an alert system. But it is pretty expensive at $10.99 per month.

8. Jango

We bet you’ve never heard about some of Jango’s features. Yes, the service spits out spot-on music suggestions, and allows you to explore and subscribe to “radio” stations for particular artists. Nothing new, right? Well, how about being able to ban or upvote certain songs? What do you think about curated playlists such as High Tide Surfing, Fat White Family, Fall Feels, Throwback Thursday, Night Owl Chill, Heartaches & Breakups, or Spring Cleaning? Plus, they have no ads or commercials and allow you to customize a song variety percentage in a playlist. Innovative, right?

9. Musicovery

We all need something colorful to brighten up our day. So why not a website with a minimalistic but eye-pleasing user interface and music for different moods and activities, sorted by artists, genres, subgenres, themes roles, geographical locations, and eras? Better yet, their API is able to provide supremely accurate recommendations and sort them into playlists. And it doesn’t stop at studio songs or albums. Musicovery also suggests live concerts, playlists by their experts or other listeners, and even YouTube channels.

10. MixCloud

Not all of us are fans of singing, or short, 3-minute songs. Sometimes you just need to go wild, dance your heart out, or listen to something that can last for hours. If hiring a DJ is outside of your budget, try MixCloud. The platform is dedicated to DJs. podcasters, and radio show hosts, although every creator, regardless of genre, is welcome to start their own music show. The entire music experience is available on the website itself, or via Android/iOS apps. Furthermore, you can choose to support your favorite artists with a monthly subscription to their MixCloud channel.

11. Tidal

Tidal claims to be the first-ever music streaming service that supports Hi-Fi or High Fidelity music. Besides more than 60 million tracks and over 250,000 videos, the platform also supports podcasts. Obviously, the thing that binds them together is the lossless audio quality, which leads to impeccable sound reproduction on high-quality speakers or headphones. It landed the last place because of its high subscription prices, which vary. However, the company claims the reason is not greed. Tidal stated they pay the largest percentage of royalties to artists and songwriters in the music industry.

12. LiveOne

LiveOne is a music streaming website that rose from the ashes of the famous Slacker Radio. As such it offers the best of both worlds. The platform has curated radio segments that complement live shows and performances. Thus, listeners can find their favorite artists, informative podcasts, stand-up comedy, and live stage shows all in one place. The service isn’t really for music amateurs. Since its predecessor had a hardcore following, it’s assumed that similar fans would love it. The streaming platform doesn’t have any direct rivals as the platform offers a live music experience. On the downside, the website doesn’t offer a decent UI. Furthermore, there is no lyrics support or Hi-res audio.