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Google killed Play Music in October 2020, a service many people loved for i feature in particular: its online music file locker with uploaded songs that seamlessly integrated with Play Music's streaming catalog. Y'all could also just add titles y'all own and listen to them without ever having to pay a dime. Luckily, there are a few alternatives that replicate some of Play Music's capabilities, including its successor YouTube Music.

Real online digital lockers

The kickoff category is a collection of services that replicate Play Music's feature set virtually 1:1 — y'all can upload your files to these platforms and heed to them via the respective apps, only equally though you would stream music regularly. However, these services have slightly dissimilar approaches than Play Music, so here's what you lot need to watch out for.

YouTube Music

If you lot don't mind the YouTube Music interface, it's the almost straightforward solution you could hope for. You don't need to create a new account, you lot can just keep using your Google login. For a express time, you could even directly move your files from Play Music to the newer platform. Once you've uploaded your files to YouTube Music, you'll find that in that location are some significant differences when it comes to library management and calculation new songs, though.

YouTube Music strictly separates uploaded music from music available on the streaming platform. When you search for your uploaded songs, yous always accept to switch from the YT Music tab to the Uploadsdepartment, a separation that also divides the library when you manually roll through your songs. When yous sort your library by artist and desire to see someone'south albums, you're out of luck: You can only see an overview of all songs when y'all get this route.

You also lose the dedicated desktop uploading tool that Play Music had. When yous want to add new files to YouTube Music, y'all accept to drag and drop it on the service's website or rely on an unofficial 3rd-political party service.

YouTube Music is a month if you want to access the streaming service portion of the service without ads, but the online locker is gratis and doesn't have ads if yous merely want access to your ain files.

Nosotros explored the differences between Play Music and YouTube Music uploads in bang-up detail in this commodity.

Apple Music

If you can't stand YouTube Music at all, yous might want to give Apple Music a try. Information technology allows you to upload 100,000 songs just like YouTube Music using iTunes on your computer. And much like Google's new service, your uploaded library is separated from the music available on the service itself when you search, so that's a limitation you'll have to live with.

To access your music on an Android device, yous'll take to pay $ten a calendar month for Apple Music, but the digital locker portion of the service called iTunes Match is also bachelor standalone for $25 a year if you only apply Apple products.

iBroadcast

iBroadcast may not have the prettiest interface, but if you only want access to your uploaded songs wherever you are, it might exist the best solution. The gratis service lets you store an unlimited corporeality of files, comes with Android and iOS apps on top of the spider web app, supports Chromecast, and has some intelligent Spotify-like playlists. The privately funded Seattle visitor behind it promises that information technology doesn't sell your data (we'll have to take its word on that) and is currently working on a $iii.99/month premium service with extra features to stay afloat in the long term.

iBroadcast fifty-fifty has desktopand Android apps that monitor your folders for new music. If your files don't come up with the correct metadata, you tin adjust it after the fact — a Play Music characteristic YouTube Music never got. At that place'south also Chromecast support.

You lot tin can sign up for the service here.

Media Leap

Media Jump is a recently launched Canadian service that allows yous to upload upwardly to 1TB of your own songs on its servers for gratuitous. It so lets you stream that music to upwards to five devices via a web interface and mobile apps, and you tin can download songs to your phone for offline listening. In contrast to the other services presented hither, Media Jump nevertheless feels pretty crude around the edges when it comes to the interface, simply streaming itself worked without issues for me. Be aware that a lot of features you usually accept for granted are only slated for after, as a spokesperson told us. The squad is working on a proper queue, Chromecast support, an equalizer, additional file formats such every bit m4a and aac (but mp3, ogg, and flac are supported right at present), one-click album and artist downloads, mass metadata editing, duplicate song checking, and a light mode.

When yous sign up, the service volition ask you to add your abode accost and phone number, but you lot don't have to fill out these details — you lot only need to enter your name, email, and password and continue setup. If you need more than 1TB of storage, you tin sign up for a $5 monthly plan — that's when you do demand to enter more of your personal data. In the time to come, the visitor volition "most probable" add together ads for costless users, then yous might have to pay the subscription fee in the long term if you want to avoid that.

Deezer

Deezer isn't our become-to solution as it just lets yous upload a maximum of 2,000 MP3 files. That limit means it's but suitable for people who want to augment the service's catalog with a select few titles. Like in YouTube Music, your ain files are subconscious away and aren't seamlessly integrated with Deezer's library. They only evidence up in an extra section in the desktop app, subconscious abroad under Favorites in the sidebar -> More -> My MP3s(which is too where yous upload files). In the Android app, you'll only find your uploaded titles under Favoritesin the bottom bar ->Playlists -> My MP3s.Deezer can be set as the default audio provider on Google Home and Nest devices, the merely service in this list to support it other than YouTube Music — which is our master reason for including information technology in this roundup.

Yous need to pay for the /month premium subscription to access the online locker, which will also give you access to millions of songs without ad interruptions.

Cloud-hosted digital lockers

Some people might not exist comfortable with uploading their music to an unknown online location and might just want a meliorate feel when they heed to music added to their existing cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or their own server. That'due south where the post-obit services come in.

Astiga

Astiga is a spider web service that offers a convenient interface for listening to music you've saved to your cloud storage. It'll automatically organize your titles into a streaming service-like fashion once you've synced your library.

The basic functionality is gratis, merely if you often add together music to your deject library, yous might want to pay for the $iv/calendar month or $24/yr premium subscription. It allows you to sync automatically or as oft equally you desire to instead of only once all three days. Astiga is officially available on Android and the web, but there are 3rd-party and experimental apps for other platforms. You can read more than about it and sign up here.

CloudBeats

Like Astiga, CloudBeats is an app that connects to a cloud storage service or your own server and lets y'all stream your music files to your phone. The basic functionality is free, but if y'all want to download files to your phone through the app or send music to a Chromecast target, y'all need to pay a one-time fee of $6.99.

In contrast to the other options listed here, CloudBeats is just available on Android and iOS. You'll need to apply another thespian on your desktop to listen to your songs there, and so you might run into roadblocks when you want to sync playlists.

CloudPlayer

CloudPlayer'south approach is almost identical to CloudBeats'. The Android app connects to your OneDrive, Dropbox, and/or Google Drive storage and organizes recognized audio files in a library. Yous can comb through the library by album, creative person, playlists, genres, songs, or playlists. You also go admission to online radios. If y'all don't like the default light theme, you can change it, and there are quite a few more options in settings if you don't like some design decisions or the default playback behavior.

A $7.99 in-app purchase gives you more features like a 10-band equalizer, loudness normalization, gapless playback, Chromecast and AirPlay support, and an ad-free radio experience. There's no iOS app — the CloudPlayer Android app is the just way to go.

Muzecast

Muzecast is another solution when yous want to access your ain files in the deject, and information technology'southward very much like to the others listed here. You tin can stream content from your calculator, Dropbox, or OneDrive. The role player supports the usual DRM-free file types. Lossless streaming of upwards to 24/192 KHz is bachelor, songs are cached on your Android device, information technology has a built-in blaster, and playlists can exist synchronized across Android phones and even other apps that back up M3U and WPL. Muzecast is also available on Android Motorcar, Wear Os, and Android TV. It works with Chromecast.

I personally dislike the pattern, but some people might savor its out-of-the-box retro look. There's a costless, advertizement-supported version of Muzecast and a $7.99 advert-complimentary variant. The Android TV app costs $four.77.

Self-hosted digital lockers

Here are a few solutions that only piece of work with servers or computers situated in your home or your webspace.

Plex

You've probably already heard of the home entertainment manager Plex that organizes media stored on your computer or server — cloud services aren't supported (anymore). Information technology wants to be a one-stop solution for all of your media files similar music, films, Goggle box shows, pictures, and then on. It offers cute clients for most all of your devices.

Plex recently launched a standalone music player called Plexamp. Information technology'south amid the prettier solutions with a design that takes cues from Soundcloud and Spotify, written in responsive and modernistic React Native code. Yous need to pay a month to use information technology, but you tin can also test the regular gratis Plex app before committing.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a completely complimentary and open-source alternative to Plex, congenital on the at present proprietary Emby media server. Its Android app isn't as pretty as Plexamp, merely information technology admittedly doesn't accept to hibernate its face, either. You can install the host software on your figurer or a server, and once yous've got everything indexed, you're ready to go. Jellyfin lets you download offline copies of your media when yous're out and almost, there's Chromecast support, an Android TV app, and, almost recently, an Android Motorcar interface.

Jellyfin doesn't accept native back up for cloud storage services, but at that place are solutions if you really want to. To become started, y'all need to install the server application and the Android app.

Personally, I don't think whatsoever of these services nails music storage as well as Play Music did — Google'southward service just had the best integration between your uploaded files and the streaming catalog. The solutions listed here are either only really good every bit streaming services or as storage solutions for music you already own. Unfortunately, there's no turning dorsum now that Play Music is discontinued, so you'll accept to settle for 1 of these. Of course, you can also manually move your music to your telephone and use a histrion similar Phonograph.

UPDATE: 2021/01/09 8:59am PST By MANUEL VONAU

Added more services

Added Media Leap.

Thanks: DonPorazzo, ikeofkc, Oleg Vorkunov

Well-nigh The Author

Manuel Vonau (1637 Articles Published)

Manuel is a tech enthusiast and Android fan based in Berlin. When he's not writing manufactures for Android Police, he's probably out and about as a videographer.

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