Author Topic: Your Favorite, Go-To Music Streaming/Downloading App/Device Just Died. What Now?  (Read 1105 times)

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Offline TioJorge

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I've got my own story and selfish questions below but to make things more interesting than just people recommending non-Apple streaming, what service would you use if your current one randomly died? (For realism purposes, lets say the owner spent all his and the company's money on hookers and had to declare bankruptcy)

I'm seriously contemplating making the move from being a long-term iPhone user to Android sometime within the next year. With minuscule advances in Apple's phones and price hikes that don't match up with that, I'm just about done with them. The only thing is...I've been an Apple mobile user since smartphones came out. Thus, my ENTIRE music collection outside of my absolute favorite bands whom I've bought CDs for (and no CD player, just for support and yay materialism) is on iTunes.

So if that's going away, what is my next best option? My knee-jerk reaction is to go with Spotify or Pandora but I don't know too much about how their plans work. I'm looking for something that I'd be able to download a decently heaping about of music onto whatever device (or Micro SD) I end up getting and have a streaming library of ten fold whatever I download. So like most people on the forum, a whole hell of a lot of music. For as much as Apple has gotten on my nerves lately, Apple Music has been really good to me. Great Radio, huge selection, unlimited downloads and storage (or as much as your device can handle), great playlist creation, and about the only band I can't find on there is Tool, which doesn't make me sad.

The good thing is that the only Apple loyalty I have is with mobile. I don't even own a Mac; never have and never will (not due to some ridiculous loyalty, but simply because they're workstations I won't make use of, and I love building PCs; hence Windows). So music, as far as I have researched and gone over things, is the only thing I'll need to reintegrate in a big way (oh, and losing iMessage, which seems to be a kind of forced loyalty thing, as far as I can tell and the more I think on it).

For my own purposes, what are non-Apple users using the most and how is the service? Have you run into any nasty restrictions regarding streaming itself, audio, or finding bands? I pay exactly $10.81 and get what I feel is a whole lot of leeway to download and stream a lot of music but I haven't ever tried any other services outside of Spotify years ago for about a week. I'm wondering if there's any streaming services out there that I haven't heard of that are awesome, but somehow feel that such an industry is, like a few others, heavily dominated by the big names simply because most labels/bands can't afford to shell out to a service that a whole lot of people aren't going to use on a daily basis.

It'd be so great if I could just download and use iTunes and Apple Music on other devices but...that's the other thing that really gets me angry is that Apple is so isolated and selfish that they (granted, can afford) to have all of their own apps and inner workings on Apple-only devices. It's pretty shitty. Not that I didn't know this for a long time but it's just now starting to affect me now that I, god forbid, decided to move to a non-Apple device. (Which, if anyone wants more discussion on, might be the Google Pixel 2; or the next iteration depending on how long I wait...my iPhone 7 Plus is still really new  :lol)
« Last Edit: December 22, 2017, 01:17:17 PM by TioJorge »

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Offline ariich

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I use Spotify and have Spotify Premium which is excellent. But I only partly stream, and mainly as a way of checking out newer albums, or at least new to me - mostly I listen to music I own, and I use the Poweramp android app which is solid.

In terms of streaming specifically, if Spotify was to suddenly vanish, I guess I'd probably switch to Amazon Music Unlimited. I tried it out but it's not nearly as good as Spotify - quite a lot of things weren't on there (but are on Spotify), there isn't really any attempt at gapless playback, and it's generally a bit clunky to use.

I'm not sure I'd switch to Apple Music unless it was literally the only one available. I generally avoid Apple everything now, apart from very occasionally buying mp3s from the iTunes store if I can't find them anywhere else at a similar price.

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Offline MinistroRaven

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If you are planning to throw your iPhone away, throw it my way  :tup

Google Play it’s great, I’ve been using their free service as I can stream my library anywhere I go. (If I have data or WiFi of course) you should give it a try if you haven’t.
« Last Edit: December 23, 2017, 07:49:37 AM by MinistroRaven »

Offline Nekov

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If you are planning to throw you iPhone away, throw it my way  :tup

Google Play it’s great, I’ve been using their free service as I can stream my library anywhere I go. (If I have data or WiFi of course) you should give it a try if you haven’t.

This. I scrapped my spotify premium account and went to google becuase they offer the posibility to upload your own music and stream it anywhere, even if those albums are not offered in their service. You don't have as much music as in Spotify, but again, whatever you can't find you can just upload.

That being said, if Google Play died I'd go back to Spotify.
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Offline JayOctavarium

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If you are planning to throw you iPhone away, throw it my way  :tup

Google Play it’s great, I’ve been using their free service as I can stream my library anywhere I go. (If I have data or WiFi of course) you should give it a try if you haven’t.

This. I scrapped my spotify premium account and went to google becuase they offer the posibility to upload your own music and stream it anywhere, even if those albums are not offered in their service. You don't have as much music as in Spotify, but again, whatever you can't find you can just upload.

That being said, if Google Play died I'd go back to Spotify.


I pay $10 / mo for a Google Play Music (Premium?) subscription and stream with my phone.  I have T-Mobile (unlimited music streaming Baby!). I Love Google Music. The things that I can't find, that I'd want to listen to, I just upload them to the cloud from my own library.  The ONLY negative thing about it is the UI can be frustrating at times... Like... Either I am stupid, or there's no back button that takes you straight to the main front page of the app. Sometimes I have to hit Back 5x just to start from the beginning.


I just don't understand what they were trying to achieve with any part of the song, either individually or as a whole. You know what? It's the Platypus of Dream Theater songs. That bill doesn't go with that tail, or that strange little furry body, or those webbed feet, and oh god why does it have venomous spurs!? And then you find out it lays eggs too. The difference is that the Platypus is somehow functional despite being a crazy mishmash or leftover animal pieces

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Offline Ben_Jamin

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This is why I still buy physical products. So I won't have to deal with that mess, and the emotional drama of realizing all your music you ever had is gone.

As you can see I don't really stream music. Although I've found Pandora my go to due to it suggesting music related to what artist or song station you choose.
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Offline The Walrus

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I still buy physical CDs but the convenience of Spotify is too great for me to go without. I've been a happy subscriber for almost 5 years I think. Maybe 6? Can't remember. It's worth every penny and then some imo. I can find almost anything I'm looking for on it. Some artists only have partial discographies on it which annoys the hell out of me (especially when they change it up and then songs I've saved disappear) but I've only had that happen for a couple of artists in particular. It's easy to use, fast, has a lot of really interesting customized playlists that auto-update for your own convenience, you really don't have to do anything tedious to find good music that's up your alley.
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Offline Ben_Jamin

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I still buy physical CDs but the convenience of Spotify is too great for me to go without. I've been a happy subscriber for almost 5 years I think. Maybe 6? Can't remember. It's worth every penny and then some imo. I can find almost anything I'm looking for on it. Some artists only have partial discographies on it which annoys the hell out of me (especially when they change it up and then songs I've saved disappear) but I've only had that happen for a couple of artists in particular. It's easy to use, fast, has a lot of really interesting customized playlists that auto-update for your own convenience, you really don't have to do anything tedious to find good music that's up your alley.

Yeah I enjoy Spotify too. If those two went under then id just go the route of Bandcamp or YouTube.
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Offline Cool Chris

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Definitely old-fogey listener here. I like having the tangible data, even if it is 1s and 0s on my desktop/mobile device. I don't get this Cloud thing. I do have Spotify which I listen to at home, but I don't have an unlimited mobile data plan so I don't use it 'on the go.'

I see Spotify has a $0.99/month free trial for Premium, so I just signed up for that. Edit: Answered my own question.
« Last Edit: December 22, 2017, 03:30:55 PM by Cool Chris »
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Offline TioJorge

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Thanks for the answers so far doods. I'll probably end up doing a trial of a couple different ones to see what's up, and I already have Amazon Prime and may look into Google Play, especially with that "upload your own" schtick, that sounds awesome. I might have to end up having two different ones for the more obscure stuff (or therein lies the Google Play benefit).

I would absolutely love to stick with physical media but it's just downright ridiculous as a day-to-day operation given how much I listen to music and how often I change artists I listen to. A part of me does pine for the days of carrying around a case full of CDs but today it'd be ten cases and they'd all be full and I still wouldn't have enough room. I don't know how you physical-only peeps do it, that sounds horrendous.  :lol Now for at home exclusively, sure, totally fine (though still totally annoying for my own purposes). But most of my music listening is on the go.

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Offline Setlist Scotty

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Add me to the list of those who insist on physical products. I think I can count on both hands the number of songs that I've purchased via iTunes - otherwise, I still have the CDs which I've ripped to my computer. Not interested in streaming whatsoever as I don't like the idea of relying on some cloud service to provide me with music to listen to.
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Offline Ben_Jamin

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Thanks for the answers so far doods. I'll probably end up doing a trial of a couple different ones to see what's up, and I already have Amazon Prime and may look into Google Play, especially with that "upload your own" schtick, that sounds awesome. I might have to end up having two different ones for the more obscure stuff (or therein lies the Google Play benefit).

I would absolutely love to stick with physical media but it's just downright ridiculous as a day-to-day operation given how much I listen to music and how often I change artists I listen to. A part of me does pine for the days of carrying around a case full of CDs but today it'd be ten cases and they'd all be full and I still wouldn't have enough room. I don't know how you physical-only peeps do it, that sounds horrendous.  :lol Now for at home exclusively, sure, totally fine (though still totally annoying for my own purposes). But most of my music listening is on the go.

You should've seen me in high school. I had nothing but mixed cds in my 10 CD case. Which I would switch with more mix cds.

I then bought a nice Mp3 player with eq. And all that. Then got an ipod for christmas which I used till it took a shit on me. Then bought a newer one, with less capacity. I ran out of capacity on the newer one and searched until I found the FIIO X3, 500GB with 2 250GB MicroSD card slots. I love it...
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Offline SoundscapeMN

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YouTube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud.

but I also don't have a Smartphone either (and I'm not an Apple person per I would likely never get an iPhone).

Offline ProfessorPeart

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I'm old school. No streaming at all. I like having the music in my possession with the ability to consume/convert it any way I like.

When my 160 GB iPod ran out of space I paid a guy to upgrade my old 80 GB iPod Video with a new battery and a 256 GB Flash Memory card. I love having my entire library at my fingertips. I also have 4 family members sharing 8 GB of cellular data and my 17 year daughter plows through that.

Thankfully, there is a niche group out there that feels like I do and gives options for doing what Apple won't, support larger non-phone media devices.

I have looked at the HD mobile players but they are too expensive and too clunky from a software/interface/functionality perspective. Don't really understand that in this day and age.
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Offline Elite

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I have a Spotify account, but I barely use it anymore. Ever since I bought a car about half a year ago, I play CDs in there. I like the idea of actually physically owning the music, which is the main reason that I still buy CDs. That came to somewhat of a halt when I started studying, since I didn't have a CD-player anymore, but now that I can actually play them again, it's rekindled my interest in owning the music I like to listen to.
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Offline The Walrus

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I love using cds in the car but CD players also go bad. I've gone through 3 in the last 7 years. Just got my first one with an aux port for my phone and I'm so happy, mainly because there's a lot of music on Spotify I can't or won't buy  (like certain electronic genres where I'd get a whole bunch of remixes from various artists, or songs I like in other genes where I maybe wouldn't buy an entire album).
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Offline Cool Chris

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Ever since I bought a car about half a year ago, I play CDs in there.

That's funny because I just bought a new car, and while I did a ton of research before deciding on a purchase, and even after a test drive, it wasn't until I had the car at home did I realize there was no freaking CD player! I couldn't believe how I overlooked that! I just took that to be another sign we are in a post-CD world. I just finished putting all my CDs on my tablet so I can listen to them in the car.
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