Which music streaming service is the cheapest?

(NEXSTAR) – Earlier this week, Apple announced that its music streaming service, Apple Music, would raise its monthly individual subscription price by $1 – becoming the latest of several services to raise prices recently.

In a statement to CNBC, Apple said the increase was a response to “increased licensing costs,” in addition to supporting “innovative features.”

While the most recent price increases have affected video streaming (Netflix raised package prices by $1-2 in January), could Apple Music’s increase signal more increases to come for video streaming? streaming music platforms? While it’s too early to tell what effect this will have on subscriptions, the news may have you wondering where the best value for money is when it comes to music streaming.

Here’s a breakdown of the current costs and plans for the major music streaming platforms.

Spotify

The green music giant currently offers four ad-free paid subscription plans: Individual at $9.99 per month, Duo (two accounts) at $12.99 per month, Family (five accounts) at $15.99 per month. month and Student (one account) at $4.99 per month. .

Spotify’s Family and Student plans come with a few extra bells and whistles, including the ability to block explicit music (Family) and bonus subscriptions to video streaming services Hulu and Showtime (Student).

Apple Music

There are currently four different Apple Music subscription plans. The recently increased individual plan costs $10.99 per month, while its family (six accounts) and student plans cost $16.99 and $5.99 per month, respectively.

The Apple Music Voice plan is a more recent addition and costs $4.99 per month. The limited capacity service is intended for streaming via Siri on Apple devices and does not include offline streaming.

The cost of the individual Music plan is the only one that has increased, although Apple has also increased the prices of its Apple TV+ video streaming service (now $6.99 per month) and its Apple One bundled storage/game service. (now $16.95 per month).

Amazon Music Unlimited

Amazon Music Unlimited currently offers four subscription plans: Individual at $8.99 per month, Family (six accounts) at $14.99 per month, Student at $0.99 per month, and Single Device (for use with products Amazon Voice/Fire TV) for $4.99 per month.

Unlimited is a separate service from Amazon Music Prime, which is a free music streaming service included as part of the Prime subscription. According to Amazon, Prime offers two million streamable songs compared to 90 million with Unlimited.

Tide

The audio-conscious Tidal currently only has two paid subscription plans, HiFi and HiFi Plus, which cost $9.99 per month and $19.99 per month respectively. Sound quality varies by plan, and the HiFi Plus plan includes what Tidal calls “direct artist payments,” which means up to 10% of a user’s subscription is directed to the artists they play. listens the most.

While there aren’t general cost tiers for users like other music streamers, Tidal does offer “discounts” instead, which include 50% student and 40% student plans. military and first responders. The family discount offers six accounts at $14.99 per month for HiFi and $29.99 per month for HiFi Plus.

youtube music

There are currently three paid subscriptions to YouTube Music: Individual at $9.99 per month (or $99.99 per year), Family (five accounts) at $14.99 per month, and Student at $4.99 per month.

YouTube Music gives users the ability to upload their own audio to their libraries, making it a good option for people who have files that aren’t already available for streaming.

Which music streaming service is the most affordable?

As for the cheapest streaming plan, Amazon Music Unlimited at $8.99 per month seems to be the cheapest of the main options. For family plans, Amazon’s and YouTube Music’s $14.99 per month plans are the cheapest, although Amazon’s Unlimited plan offers six accounts in total compared to five for YouTube Music.

Which music streaming service is right for me?

While cost is obviously a factor when choosing a streaming service, not all services are suitable for every user’s needs. Since all services will have pros and cons, it’s best to do a little research before deciding on your first one or making a switch.