Finding free music is a lot easier than it used to be. No longer is piracy the easiest way. These days, you can find pretty much any song you want using just a few apps. Streaming services pop up and go down every year, but there are a few that have managed to stand out above the rest. Let’s take a look at the best legal free music apps for Android! Yes, it is possible to listen to music for free legally. Usually all you have to deal with are a few ads. Those looking for apps that play locally stored music should check out our best music player apps list here.
The best free music apps for Android
Deezer
Price: Free / $9.99-$14.99 per month
Deezer has been around for a while and it’s one of the better free music apps. The free version of the service lets you use Deezer’s FLOW feature to discover new artists and you can listen to playlists and mixes based on your personal taste. It also has lyric fetching, unlimited playlist creation, and mixes based on individual artists. There is a premium version that gives you more features like higher quality audio, offline listening, and Android Auto support if you want that. The only caveat is that the application seems to be a little rough around the edges.
iHeartRadio
Price: Free / $9.99 per month
iHeartRadio is one of the most popular free music apps out there. It’s a radio app where you can listen to a variety of stations based on your individual tastes and it also comes with seasonal radio stations and things like podcasts, talk radio, and comedy shows. It also includes AM and FM radio stations that support data streaming and you can even listen to news and sports. It’s a versatile application with a modern, Material Design UI and it comes with the little stuff like Chromecast support, Android Wear support, and Android Auto support.
Jango Radio is kind of a wildcard in the free music apps space. It has a variety of music from both big names and independent artists alike. Unlike most, this service allows independent artists to pay for plays, meaning that you may hears a song that an artist paid to hear. This gives Jango its operating revenue which helps it stay free. There are some potential ethical issues. However, there aren’t any ads on the service and it’s a good way to discover some new stuff.
LiveOne
Price: Free (with ads) / $3.99-$9.99 per month
LiveOne replaced Slacker Radio in 2019 and has a lot of the same features. You can listen to free music with various stations that cover a wide variety of genres. It basically acts like a green and black Pandora in that sense. You can get the premium version to add more features if you want them, but the free version works good enough. This one also puts a focus on live music over a simple on-demand or station streaming service. It has potential, but it still needs work. We also strongly dislike that it uses only carrier billing or credit card through the app instead of Google Play subscription support.
Pandora Music
Price: Free / $4.99-$9.99 per month
Pandora Radio is another one of the most popular free music apps. It’s key feature is its simplicity and cross-platform support. You can easily jump right in and listen to music you enjoy on virtually any platform you can think of and your stations sync across all of them. Their content library has grown a lot over the last few years. The experience overall is extremely positive. They also have a full, on-demand streaming service for those who want a Spotify style experience without leaving Pandora. The free stuff still works fine, though.
SoundCloud
Price: Free / $9.99 per month
SoundCloud is one of the more unique free music apps because it doesn’t just focus on what’s popular right now. In fact, literally any artist can upload to SoundCloud and that content can be played back by anyone. The service currently boasts 125 million tracks which is more than anyone will ever listen to, ever. It also has a variety of shows, podcasts, and other content to enjoy. The free version is mostly independent artists with the paid version getting you the more popular music by bigger names. Most people who use this for free music are looking for those indie artists anyway so it’s a good option.
Spotify
Price: Free / $9.99-$14.99 per month
Spotify has been great for music streaming, and it’s among the most popular free music apps ever. It boasts a generous library, curated stations and playlists, and the ability to create your own stations and playlists if you so choose. The free version of the service isn’t as good on mobile as it is on computers, but you still get plenty of free music without much issue. The app also comes with some light Material Design, Chromecast support, and the tablet version actually has more features than the mobile version. Spotify also has a dedicated free music app, Spotify Stations, available on Google Play as well.
TuneIn
Price: Free / $9.99 per month
It’s true that TuneIn Radio is more known for its talk radio, podcast, and comedy radio offerings than it is for its music, but there are still plenty of ways to enjoy free music on TuneIn. It boasts over 100,000 stations in total that cover almost every genre that you can possibly think of, and that also includes AM and FM radio stations that can be streamed over data. There isn’t much of a reason to get the premium version for the music alone, but it does also offer audiobooks, live sports broadcasting, and more.
YouTube and YouTube Music
Price: Free / $12.99 per month
YouTube is the world’s most popular free music app. You can find virtually anything you’ve ever heard of. Every band ever has a presence on YouTube. You can also find official music videos, live shows, and even local bands from time to time. You can also make playlists, get recommendations, and a lot more. YouTube Premium is a little expensive, but you don’t need it. Tons of people use YouTube all the time for music that they like. YouTube Music is YouTube’s dedicated music streaming app, and it has a free version you can use as well.
Radio station apps
Price: Free (usually)
Radio stations are how people got free music for decades before the Internet. Many of them adapted to this new world we live in and are available for online streaming for free. The apps are never amazing, but usually fairly adequate. You open the app, hit the stream button, and listen to the radio station do its thing. It’s functionally no different than FM radio, except you need a data connection to make it work. We have 99.7 The Blitz linked up, a local Columbus, OH radio station. You’ll need to search for your favorites on Google Play, as there are too many to list here.