Is there a free music app without ads?

In the past decade, the music industry has shifted dramatically towards streaming. Music apps that offer on-demand playback of songs and albums have exploded in popularity. According to an article on Patently Apple, the global music streaming market grew 23% in Q1 2020 alone, with platforms like Spotify and Apple Music competing for the top spot. Streaming now accounts for nearly 80% of total music revenue, proving that fans love the convenience of accessing millions of songs through music apps.

With so many people flocking to streaming services, music apps need to figure out how to attract users. Some apps offer premium ad-free versions, while others rely solely on free tiers supported by advertising. This raises an important question – with the prevalence of music streaming apps today, is it possible to find a quality free music app without ads?

The Rise in Music Streaming

Music streaming has grown exponentially in popularity over the past decade. According to Statista, the global music streaming market is projected to reach $29.6 billion in revenue by 2024, with an expected annual growth rate of 14.7% from 2024-2027. This rapid growth contrasts sharply with the decline in revenues from music purchases and downloads.

In the US, streaming accounted for 83.6% of total music industry revenues in 2021, up from just 9.4% in 2011 according to the Musical Pursuits blog. Paid music streaming subscriptions globally surged 26.4% during the Covid-19 pandemic to 523.9 million subscribers. Spotify alone has 172 million premium subscribers as of Q3 2021.

This shift from music ownership to on-demand streaming access has been driven by the rise of smartphones, improved internet speeds, and the convenience of being able to listen to vast catalogs of music anytime, anywhere. Music fans no longer need to purchase full albums or MP3s. Instead, they can stream their favorite songs or discover new music through personalized playlists and stations.

Why Ads are Common in Free Music Apps

Free music apps need to make money in order to sustain their businesses, continue innovating, and provide users with a quality service. Ads have become one of the most common ways free music apps generate revenue.

By including advertisements in the app experience, the developers are able to earn money each time a user views or interacts with an ad. The revenue from the advertisements allows the company to offer the app free of charge to users. This freemium model creates a mutually beneficial relationship – users get to enjoy an app for free while the developers earn money from advertisers to support the product.

According to sources, free apps make the majority of their revenue from in-app mobile advertising. Display ads, video ads, and banner ads within the app provide an ongoing stream of income versus a one-time purchase or paid subscription fee. Mobile apps can earn $5-$10 per thousand ad impressions, quickly adding up with thousands of daily active users.

Without ads, companies would have to rely solely on user subscriptions or in-app purchases which can limit growth. Ads provide a scalable and steady business model for free music apps to monetize without charging the user.

Problems with Ads in Music Apps

One of the biggest annoyances with free music apps is the advertisements that interrupt the music listening experience. Ads often play loudly between songs, jarringly disrupting the flow of a playlist or album listen-through. As one Reddit user complained, “These ads with crappy music just keep popping up everytime I open up the app. I don’t want to disable the notifs just because of the music…” ^[1]. The unpredictable audio ads feel intrusive and make it hard to relax and enjoy the music.

In addition to audio ads, many free music apps also display banner and full-screen video ads that obstruct the interface. These visual distractions make navigation cumbersome as the user must constantly close out of ads to access their music library and playlists. The frequent advertising prompts to upgrade to premium also clutter the screen. As one Pandora user complained, “It’s infuriating just trying to use the app to either like or dislike a song…the problem isn’t ads between a bunch of songs, but I don’t. The problem is the constant badgering to upgrade to a paid subscription.”^[2] The barrage of promotions for paid memberships hinders the usability of the app.

Top Free Music Apps

Some of the most popular free music streaming apps include:

Spotify – Spotify provides access to over 82 million songs, thousands of playlists, radio stations, and podcasts, but users are limited to 6 skips per hour for free users. Ads are included on the free version.
Pandora – Pandora offers a large music library and music discovery features like customized stations based on favorite songs or artists. A free version is supported by audio and display ads.

Both Spotify and Pandora offer ad-supported free versions of their music apps with extensive libraries and playback features, but have limitations compared to their paid tiers. The free versions include intermittent audio and display advertisements.

Advertising in Top Free Music Apps

The two most popular free music streaming apps, Spotify and Pandora, both rely heavily on advertising revenue from their free tiers. Spotify’s free service includes audio ads that play between songs. Users get a limited number of skips per hour. Pandora also serves up audio ads on its free tier, with users hearing up to 3 ads per hour.

Both Spotify and Pandora offer premium paid subscriptions – Spotify Premium and Pandora Plus/Premium – that provide an ad-free listening experience, unlimited skips, and additional features. According to one report, only 7% of Pandora’s users pay for a subscription, compared to 45% paying Spotify users.

Ad-Free Music Apps

There are a few music streaming apps that provide ad-free listening without paying for a premium subscription:

Freefy: “With Freefy, you can access a wide variety of songs, artists and genres, and listen to music without limits. NO ADS BETWEEN SONGS.” Freefy offers an entirely free ad-free music streaming service.

Spotify Premium: Spotify’s premium subscription at $9.99 per month provides ad-free music listening. This removes the periodic ads that play in the free version of Spotify.

Pandora Premium: Similarly, Pandora’s $9.99 per month premium subscription removes ads. This allows unlimited ad-free listening.

While most popular music streaming services have free ad-supported tiers, Freefy, Spotify Premium, and Pandora Premium provide the ability to listen without any advertising interruptions.

Features of Ad-Free Music Apps

Ad-free music apps provide a fully-featured listening experience without any ads interrupting your music. Some key features of ad-free music apps include:

High-quality audio – Ad-free apps can stream music at higher bitrates since they’re not restricted by hosting costs, resulting in top-notch sound quality. High bitrate options like Lossless and HiFi audio are typically included.

Large music libraries – Since these services generate revenue from subscriptions rather than ads, they are able to license large catalogs covering both major and indie labels. Libraries can be tens of millions of songs or more.
Full feature access – You get full access to premium features like offline downloads, unlimited song skips, high quality audio, and comprehensive search. Features are not restricted behind paywalls or tiered memberships.
Dedicated apps for all platforms – Apps exist for all major platforms including iOS, Android, desktop and web. You can listen seamlessly between devices.

By focusing purely on the user experience without a need to monetize via ads, ad-free music apps deliver everything you’d want from a music service. The monthly subscription fee provides access to a premium listening experience across all devices.

Downsides of Ad-Free Apps

There are some drawbacks and limitations of the most popular free, ad-free music apps to keep in mind compared to paid services like Spotify Premium and Apple Music. Most ad-free options have smaller music libraries – while paid services offer access to over 60 million songs, the free options scale down to a few million at most.

Audio quality is another limitation of free, ad-free music apps. Paid services can stream songs in high quality FLAC or lossless formats up to 24 bit / 192 kHz, while free services typically max out at 320kbps MP3 quality. So you’ll get decent quality, but audiophiles will notice the difference.

Additionally, most free music apps have restrictions like not allowing downloads for offline listening or limiting how many tracks can be skipped per hour. So while the core streaming experience is ad-free, other premium features will be locked behind a paywall.

Overall the free, ad-free music apps provide a solid music streaming option, but users will have to accept limitations on library size, audio quality, and features compared to paid services. However for casual listening the core free experience is quite usable.

Conclusion

In summary, while most free music streaming apps contain ads to generate revenue, there are some quality ad-free options available. Apps like Spotify Free provide a solid music streaming experience, though ads can be intrusive over time. For a completely ad-free option, YouTube Music, SoundCloud Go+, and Amazon Prime Music stand out as top choices.

YouTube Music provides access to a huge music catalog for free with ads or ad-free for $9.99/month. SoundCloud Go+ also removes ads for $9.99/month while offering unique content. Amazon Prime members can access Prime Music’s 2 million song catalog ad-free. Of these, YouTube Music likely provides the best blend of value, song selection, and functionality without ads.

Going ad-free improves the listening experience by removing interruptions while providing full access to songs and features. However, most ad-free options require a paid subscription. For the best ad-free music app overall, YouTube Music makes a compelling choice with its massive catalog and reasonable pricing.