Consumer Reports compares the best streaming music services for your listening pleasure

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Thursday, January 16, 2020
Comparing the best streaming music services for your listening pleasure
Music lovers, this one is for you! Streaming music is now 80 percent of the U.S. music market, but which service is worth the cost?

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Music lovers, this one's for you! Streaming services are the most popular way for people to listen to their favorite tunes. But with so many choices, which ones should you use?

Streaming music is now 80 percent of the U.S. music market, so Consumer Reports took a look at - or a listen to - some of the options out there.

"In recent years, a lot of companies have entered the music streaming space, so it can be hard for consumers to pick which one is the best for them," says Consumer Reports Tech Editor, Thomas Germain.

Most offer a wide selection of music for around $10 a month for a single account, and more for a family account. These services can be used on most devices, including your smart speaker.

Some of the most popular are Apple Music and Spotify.

"Apple Music is nice if you have a lot of Apple products because it plays with the ecosystem really well. Spotify has really been investing in podcasts a lot over the past couple of years and one of the nice features that they have now is you can listen to podcasts and other kinds of audio directly within the same app, which can be really convenient," said Germain.

If you're an audiophile who wants higher quality audio, options include Tidal and Amazon Music HD, but expect to pay a little more.

Tidal's high-resolution audio tier is $20 a month and Amazon Music HD is $15 a month or $13 if you're a Prime member. But keep in mind - higher quality audio uses more data.

What about if you're into classical music?

"There are a couple of options for you as well like Idagio and Primephonic, which are two services that are tailored for classical music and let you do things like sort by composer or performer," said Germain.

If you're still not sure which service is right for you, Consumer Reports offers a little advice.

"The good news is almost every option has a free trial period that you can sign up for before you commit to monthly payments," said Germain.

But be sure to check the fine print before signing up.

And you don't want to pay anything for your streaming services, many like YouTube Music, Spotify, and Pandora offer free versions with ads.