The 5 Best YouTube Music Alternatives You Can Find

If you’re already a YouTube Premium subscriber and also use YouTube Music, you know that the convenience of accessing this service usually comes at a price. That’s because Google’s music service generally locks lyrics behind a paywall, and recommendations also tend to have flaws. Besides, YouTube Music also has other drawbacks that make you wonder if it is worth continuing to use it.

The problem with the change is that YouTube Music is included in your YouTube Premium subscription, so if you want to keep YouTube videos ad-free, you still have to pay for Premium. Services like Spotify and Apple Music are good services to migrate to, but they generally have more expensive plans, while several other lesser-known options are worth your money.

For this reason, we have selected the best alternatives to YouTube Music for anyone looking for new options, taking into account the different priorities of users when choosing them, whether it is low price, audio quality or even the possibility of finding certain tracks that would be impossible to play on more popular music services.

In addition to being one of the oldest music streaming services on the market, Deezer also offers one of the most social experiences compared to the competition. Indeed, it has offered a real-time music queue service for years, as well as features that let you guess songs from previews, earn points, and compete with others. Deezer also offers Flow, an algorithm that learns your tastes and may perform better than YouTube Music recommendations.

Besides the improved algorithm, Deezer also offers better audio quality than YouTube Music. While Google’s service reaches 256 kbps in AAC or Opus, and there’s not much you can do to improve the audio quality of YouTube Music beyond that, Deezer offers a Hi-Fi system in FLAC Lossless, which reaches CD quality. While it’s better than YouTube, it’s still a bit behind options like Tidal, but it still offers a big boost in quality, all included in its $24 monthly subscription.

Tidal is another option for anyone looking for better audio quality than YouTube Music. Like Deezer, it goes beyond the 256 kbps of Google’s service, allowing users to listen to music in lossless FLAC and HiRes FLAC at up to 24-bit/192 kHz. If you have the equipment, you can enjoy Tidal music in the best quality available.

TIDAL costs $12 for the individual plan, like YouTube Premium, but family or student subscriptions are usually a bit more expensive. The family plan costs US$19.99 for up to six accounts, compared to US$18.99 with the competitor. Students pay US$6.99 on TIDAL, while the equivalent YouTube Music plan costs US$5.99 per month.

However, even by paying a little more, users who understand the difference between high resolution and lossless audio can better enjoy the sound fidelity that comes with TIDAL. Even though its catalog is also vast, with over 180 million songs, YouTube Music remains superior because it integrates with YouTube itself.

If you already subscribe to Amazon Prime, Amazon Music is an interesting alternative to YouTube Music. However, you should also know that the service has two tiers. First of all, you have Amazon Music Prime, which is included at no additional cost in the subscription, and which already offers access to a music catalog without advertising, but with some limitations, mainly when switching from one track to another.

Amazon Music Unlimited is a separate service that gives full control over every song, including offline downloads and lossless playback. The price is $13 per month for regular users, but Prime members pay $12, making this discount one of the many hidden benefits included in the Amazon ecosystem.

Another difference is the audio quality, since Unlimited includes tracks in HD and Ultra HD, including lossless, without charging any additional amount in the subscription. So, for everyone who wants to enjoy music in the best possible quality and has the corresponding equipment, the service can provide a better experience than YouTube Music.

If you primarily use YouTube Music to discover smaller artists or find songs that aren’t yet available on major streaming services, SoundCloud is a good alternative. The platform has always maintained a very strong relationship with independent artists, DJs and other producers who like to publish their work directly there. This makes it easy to find tracks from artists who are just starting out and whose work is only published on a few platforms.

SoundCloud’s free plan is also strong, since it allows you to listen to a large part of the catalog without a subscription, but you have to live with advertisements. On the other hand, you can pay for a truly clean experience. Additionally, SoundCloud’s algorithm relies heavily on what each user is actually listening to, which can help anyone having trouble finding new, similar songs. However, even with its strengths, the service does not benefit from a strong presence of artists from major labels.

Qobuz is a YouTube Music alternative for people who value audio quality and want more control over their collection. The Studio plan costs $12.99 per month in the US, with an annual option of $129.99, and lets you listen to over 100 million tracks in lossless quality, including high-resolution songs up to 24-bit/192kHz. It is therefore above the 256 kbps limit offered by Google’s service, although it does not offer the same integration with YouTube videos, remixes and downloads.

However, the most interesting difference lies outside of streaming. Qobuz also has a store where you can buy albums and tracks individually, with DRM-free downloads that you can store locally. This addresses one of the main drawbacks of streaming: you pay for access to music streams, but you don’t own the songs, and you lose access if they are deleted or you cancel your subscription. Qobuz’s unique approach allows you to combine a streaming subscription with your own digital collection.