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Music streaming services

The way we listen to music continues to change. With music streaming services you can access music instantly on your PC or smartphone without the need to purchase or download tracks.

Music streaming services comparison chart for 2024

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6
Spotify
Last.fm
Pandora
Jango
Deezer
Napster
Excellent
Five stars means excellent
Very good
Four stars means very good
Good
Three stars means good
Average
Two stars means average /
Poor
One star means poor
Spotify has been awarded best buy Product image of spotify Product image of last.fm Product image of pandora Product image of jango Product image of deezer Product image of napster
 
 
 
Ratings
Overall
spotify has a rating of five  overall last.fm has a rating of five  overall pandora has a rating of four  overall jango has a rating of four  overall deezer has a rating of four  overall napster has a rating of three  overall
Sign up
spotify has a rating of five for sign up last.fm has a rating of five for sign up pandora has a rating of four for sign up jango has a rating of four for sign up deezer has a rating of four for sign up napster has a rating of three for sign up
Music selection
spotify has a rating of five for music selection last.fm has a rating of four for music selection pandora has a rating of four for music selection jango has a rating of three for music selection deezer has a rating of four for music selection napster has a rating of four for music selection
Features
spotify has a rating of five for features last.fm has a rating of four for features pandora has a rating of four for features jango has a rating of three for features deezer has a rating of four for features napster has a rating of three for features
Extras
spotify has a rating of five for extras last.fm has a rating of four for extras pandora has a rating of four for extras jango has a rating of four for extras deezer has a rating of three for extras napster has a rating of three for extras
Ease of use
spotify has a rating of five for ease of use last.fm has a rating of four for ease of use pandora has a rating of four for ease of use jango has a rating of three for ease of use deezer has a rating of four for ease of use napster has a rating of three for ease of use
Help & support
spotify has a rating of five for help & support last.fm has a rating of five for help & support pandora has a rating of four for help & support jango has a rating of three for help & support deezer has a rating of four for help & support napster has a rating of three for help & support
Pricing options
Free service
spotify offers a free service last.fm offers a free service pandora offers a free service jango offers a free service deezer offers a free service napster offers a free service
Paid subscription
$4.99 unlimited/$9.99 premium $3/mo $0.99 $12.95/mo
Music type
On-demand
spotify is on-demand last.fm is on-demand pandora is not on-demand jango is not on-demand deezer is on-demand napster is on-demand
Jukebox / radio mode
spotify offers jukebox / radio mode last.fm offers jukebox / radio mode pandora offers jukebox / radio mode jango offers jukebox / radio mode deezer offers jukebox / radio mode napster offers jukebox / radio mode
Features
Available regions
Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, the US, France, Spain and the Netherlands UK and US US Available in many countries where competitor Pandora is not. Deezer is available worldwide
Number of tracks
15 million 10 million 7 million
Playlists
spotify offers playlists last.fm offers playlists pandora offers playlists jango offers playlists deezer offers playlists napster offers playlists
Shuffle mode
spotify offers shuffle mode last.fm offers shuffle mode pandora offers shuffle mode jango offers shuffle mode deezer offers shuffle mode napster offers shuffle mode
Music recommendations
spotify offers music recommendations last.fm offers music recommendations pandora offers music recommendations jango offers music recommendations deezer offers music recommendations napster offers music recommendations
Sharing options
spotify offers sharing options last.fm offers sharing options pandora offers sharing options jango offers sharing options deezer offers sharing options napster offers sharing options
Mobile
spotify offers mobile last.fm offers mobile pandora offers mobile jango offers mobile deezer offers mobile napster offers mobile
Offline mode
spotify offers an offline mode last.fm offers an offline mode pandora offers an offline mode jango offers an offline mode deezer offers an offline mode napster offers an offline mode
Ratings system
spotify offers a ratings system last.fm offers a ratings system pandora offers a ratings system jango offers a ratings system deezer offers a ratings system napster offers a ratings system
MP3 integration
spotify offers mp3 integration last.fm offers mp3 integration pandora offers mp3 integration jango offers mp3 integration deezer offers mp3 integration napster offers mp3 integration
Interface
Online
spotify can be accessed online last.fm can be accessed online pandora can be accessed online jango can be accessed online deezer can be accessed online napster can be accessed online
Download software
spotify requires download software last.fm requires download software pandora requires download software jango does not require download software deezer requires download software napster requires download software
Supported platforms
Windows
spotify is supported on windows last.fm is supported on windows pandora is supported on windows jango is supported on windows deezer is supported on windows napster is supported on windows
Apple Mac
spotify is supported on apple mac last.fm is supported on apple mac pandora is supported on apple mac jango is supported on apple mac deezer is supported on apple mac napster is supported on apple mac
Help & support
Telephone support
spotify offers telephone support last.fm offers telephone support pandora offers telephone support jango does not offer telephone support deezer does not offer telephone support napster offers telephone support
Email support
spotify offers email support last.fm offers email support pandora offers email support jango offers email support deezer offers email support napster offers email support
Help files
spotify offers help files last.fm offers help files pandora offers help files jango offers help files deezer offers help files napster offers help files
Knowledge base
spotify offers knowledge base last.fm offers knowledge base pandora offers knowledge base jango offers knowledge base deezer offers knowledge base napster offers knowledge base
FAQs
spotify offers faqs last.fm offers faqs pandora offers faqs jango offers faqs deezer offers faqs napster offers faqs

Music streaming services explained

What are music streaming services?

Listening to music online is a very popular form of online entertainment. There are now thousands of websites that provide legal music streaming services. Music streaming offers a real alternative to music download services. You don't need to spend hours downloading tracks, you don’t need to carry your music collection with you and you won’t use up valuable hard drive space.

What does a music streaming website do?

You can choose between a jukebox-style or radio listening experience (where tracks are lined up based on your previous listening choices) or a pick-and-play model where you search for the artist or track you want and play it online. Many music streaming services allow you to download all your own tracks into the system so you can listen to an almost limitless amount of music.

With these websites you can listen to the whole track without cut-offs, but you can’t download it. Some services require a subscription for unlimited listening while others provide their catalogue for free. Some services let you listen to tracks on your mobile phone.

Features & benefits

The choice! There are literally thousands of tracks to listen to. The top music streaming services have almost all the major record labels signed up offering popular artists and albums as well as a selection of more obscure tracks for music junkies.

This method of listening is also a great way to discover new music. The radio or jukebox tool plays tracks based on your previous music choices – new artists and songs appear that you may never have considered before.


Information

Advice

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