music streaming service

which do you use/like?

I used to subscribe to sirius xm for in the car and then on my phone to listen to Howard Stern. Their prices got to be astronomically high for just ok service.

I signed up for a 3-month spotify trial for I think $9.99 a few months back. their app is pretty good but their sound quality is subpar. Then I tried tidal and then finally qobuz. while I'm no audiophile, qobuz's sound quality is amazing........except their android app is seriously lacking. I'm back with Tidal for now..

what is everyone using?

Currently Qobuz because the audio quality is better than other offerings in my opinion and they have a decent selection. This matters more based on your speakers too. Some speakers are more revealing than others so for these garbage in = garbage out. I wish Qobuz had a radio type feature to play random songs of a particular genre/style. Maybe they will add one day.

Amazon Music

If you’re a Prime member you get the music and TV streaming service for free.

For $9 a month extra you get the unlimited music package

I turned on unlimited Sirius/XM in 2010 in my truck for $ 500~600.  No longer works in the truck due to hardware or software issue; but streams from any internet device without further payment.  One of the only problems I have had with the truck.  Unlimited is no longer a payment option.  X thought at the time I was foolish.  I enjoy listening to out of town sports broadcasts.

I did have Amazon Music Unlimited free for six months with a Kindle purchase.  I really enjoyed it but did not continue to pay. 

I also have six mounts free of Apple Music but have never started the trial.

 Local library has great electronic book/audiobook check out for free that can be downloaded to Kindle.  Large city gives free library electronic access to everyone with an address in state.  They have more books, audio books and great magazines to check out for free.  Magazines are best on an IPad.  I though it was cool to download stuff from bed during Covid - while the libraries were closed.  I have not checked out the music selection from the big city library online - some libraries have great music libraries - but I don’t know if it streams.

Truck Sirius/XM stereo does not work on Sirius/XM setting.  I just run it from phone thought Bluetooth stereo selection and that still works.

We have been using Rhapsody (now Napster as Rhapsody bought the name for its recognition!). My wife streams from home wifi and I downloaded to my phone (android) for work. Amazing selection and $15 a month for the family plan. I think the sound is great, but I have no experience with other services.

Spotify for me, Andrew. I'm not at all an audiophile but just want to listen to music through my Echos or Nests placed around the apartment or on my phone when out for a walk or in my car. It serves those purposes well.

I did the same as MountainBear but bought the lifetime subscription back in the early to mid 2000's (I easily got $500 worth as I would have it on either in the car or on my computer generally from 8 to 10 hours a day). I drifted away from Sirius/XM when they removed one of my favorite channels. Now I primarily listen to Amazon (free version w/ the prime membership), Pandora, and Spotify. Lately, podcasts have overtaken music in the car.

I used to love XM Radio until they got purchased by Sirius. Most of the money Sirius spent on content was for channels that did not interest me. I did not want to subsidize that content. I kept my Sirius/XM Radio service while I was still working as I drove across several states to service customers. Being able to listen to a channel without changing stations every 25 miles was useful. As soon as I retired, I dropped the service. Sirius/SM was factory installed in my two latest vehicle purchases, but I never listened to the channels, even during the period included in my purchase..

I currently have Qobuz and Amazon Music Unlimited. I have high quality DACs and good speakers and like the high-quality streaming capability. Unfortunately, my aging ears have lost a lot of frequency response above 10 kHz. The primary reason I have Amazon Music Unlimited is that I can easily stream music over the Amazon Echo devices with voice commands. The Echo Shows sound pretty decent. I prefer the music selection on Qobuz.

I can't comment really as I don't look for the highest quality output. I like to keep it in the medium range with data usage as a factor. That said, I used to use Napster because of the user friendly features in managing and adding tracks to playlists.

About a year ago I migrated to YouTube Music for a better selection. I still only play at Normal level, so I don't know how good the quality can get. I like it for the selection, including so many live YT concert videos you can play the audio of, straight through YTM. Luckily for me, they've since added some features akin to Napster. So it is getting better month by month.