Cheap and free ways to listen to music online

Twitter has joined the online music streaming world, but can it fight off the competition?

Twitter is the latest company to launch an online music streaming service, which recommends new music based on what artists are talking about on Twitter.

The idea is to use the social network to find new music. The music suggestions are based on what your favourite bands are listening to and tweeting about.

But in a world stacked full of online music streaming services, is this feature enough to put it ahead of the crowd? Here I take a look at how it stacks up against the competition.

The Twitter app

The Twitter app analyses tweets to decide what music users will like. You can also see what kind of music your favourite artists are listening to and find out about emerging artists which are “hidden in the tweets”.

The Twitter app lets you listen to a preview of a song. To listen to the tracks in full you’ll have to go to Spotify, Rdio or iTunes.

However, when testing it out I found it a little confusing as what you Tweet may have no connection to the kind of music you might like.

For example the artists suggested to me included The Wanted, Kate Lawler and Janet Jackson. But this is not the kind of music I’d ever choose to listen to.

The idea behind it is to capitalise on musicians on Twitter with lots of followers. In theory it’s a good way to find out about new bands, but at the moment the suggestions do seem slightly random.

Spotify

The ringleader when it comes to online music streaming is Spotify. It’s free to listen to music online and there’s a huge range of artists on offer.

The downside is you’ll also have to listen to adverts every 30 minutes or so which can be pretty tedious. To skip this you can pay £4.99 a month for Spotify Premium, which gives you unlimited access with no adverts.

If you also want it on your smartphone it's £9.99 a month. This is a good option if you’ve not got much space for downloads on your smartphone and gives you access to a huge library of music on and offline.

Last.fm

One of Spotify’s main rivals is Last.fm which tracks what music you listen to and gives recommendations of new artists, a little like the new Twitter app.

It’s free to use and you can also tag tracks and get suggestions about live music events happening.  If you want to cut out the adverts there’s an option of paying £3 a month and this will also enable you to stream music via your phone.

Deezer

Another music streaming service to add to the list is France-based Deezer and it often offers free 12-month subscriptions through its Discovery Plan.

It’s a bit like Spotify and will play adverts to you occasionally. It has more than 20 million songs available to listen to.

The premium plans, without the annoying adverts, start at £4.99 a month for unlimited streaming.

We7

Yet more adverts in exchange for free online music here. And with around 11 million songs to choose from, there’s a good chance We7 will have what you’re searching for.

Some music is restricted for users who pay for the premium service, which is £4.99 or £9.99 for Premium +. In a similar way to Spotify, the latter lets you listen to music on your phone and when your computer is offline giving you a little more flexibility.

Jango

Jango is free to use and you don’t need to sign up. It works like Last FM and as soon as you type in an artist’s name it’ll immediately begin playing - a bit like an online radio.

However, although it’s free, you can’t stop, fast forward or rewind songs.

There’s also no option to cut out the adverts by paying more. But if you sign up through your Facebook account there will be fewer adverts played.

Rdio

With more than 18 million songs to choose from, Rdio is a good option and it doesn’t include any adverts. For the first six months you can take advantage of a free trial with Rdio which is available for listening to music through your computer.

If you want to subscribe after this initial trial it costs £4.99 for unlimited web streaming or £9.99 for web and mobile access on and offline.

In the same way as the Twitter app recommends new music, this one shows you what your friends are listening to - through Twitter and Facebook – and suggests new music based on the artists in your playlists.

Do you listen to music online? If so what site do you think is best and why? Let me know in the comment box below.

More from Lovemoney:

TopCashback launches new in-store cashback service

How to sell successfully on eBay

Flu Camp: make £3,750 by getting the flu

Money really does buy happiness, claim economists

How to give yourself a pay rise

How your smartphone can save you money!