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Google killed Play Music in October 2020, a service many people loved for ane feature in detail: its online music file locker with uploaded songs that seamlessly integrated with Play Music'due south streaming itemize. You could also only add titles y'all own and listen to them without e'er having to pay a dime. Luckily, there are a few alternatives that replicate some of Play Music's capabilities, including its successor YouTube Music.

Existent online digital lockers

The first category is a collection of services that replicate Play Music's feature set almost i:1 — you can upload your files to these platforms and listen to them via the respective apps, only every bit though yous would stream music regularly. However, these services have slightly different approaches than Play Music, so here's what you need to lookout out for.

YouTube Music

If you don't mind the YouTube Music interface, information technology's the nigh straightforward solution you could hope for. You don't demand to create a new account, you tin but keep using your Google login. For a limited time, yous could even directly movement your files from Play Music to the newer platform. Once yous've uploaded your files to YouTube Music, you'll find that there are some significant differences when it comes to library management and calculation new songs, though.

YouTube Music strictly separates uploaded music from music bachelor on the streaming platform. When yous search for your uploaded songs, you lot always have to switch from the YT Music tab to the Uploadssection, a separation that also divides the library when you manually scroll through your songs. When you lot sort your library past artist and desire to run into someone's albums, you're out of luck: Yous can only see an overview of all songs when you go this road.

You besides lose the dedicated desktop uploading tool that Play Music had. When you lot want to add new files to YouTube Music, you lot have to elevate and drib it on the service's website or rely on an unofficial third-party service.

YouTube Music is a month if you desire to access the streaming service portion of the service without ads, simply the online locker is free and doesn't have ads if you but want admission to your own files.

Nosotros explored the differences between Play Music and YouTube Music uploads in great item in this article.

Apple tree Music

If yous can't stand up YouTube Music at all, you lot might want to give Apple Music a try. It allows you to upload 100,000 songs just like YouTube Music using iTunes on your reckoner. And much similar 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, y'all'll accept to pay $10 a calendar month for Apple Music, just the digital locker portion of the service called iTunes Match is too available standalone for $25 a year if you simply apply Apple products.

iBroadcast

iBroadcast may non accept the prettiest interface, but if you just want access to your uploaded songs wherever yous are, information technology might be the best solution. The free service lets y'all store an unlimited corporeality of files, comes with Android and iOS apps on top of the web app, supports Chromecast, and has some intelligent Spotify-like playlists. The privately funded Seattle company behind it promises that it doesn't sell your data (nosotros'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 even has desktopand Android apps that monitor your folders for new music. If your files don't come up with the correct metadata, you can adjust it after the fact — a Play Music characteristic YouTube Music never got. There'due south also Chromecast support.

You tin can sign upwards for the service here.

Media Leap

Media Leap is a recently launched Canadian service that allows you to upload up to 1TB of your own songs on its servers for complimentary. It then lets yous stream that music to upward to five devices via a web interface and mobile apps, and you tin download songs to your phone for offline listening. In contrast to the other services presented here, Media Jump however feels pretty rough around the edges when it comes to the interface, just streaming itself worked without problems for me. Exist aware that a lot of features you usually take for granted are simply slated for later, equally a spokesperson told us. The team is working on a proper queue, Chromecast support, an equalizer, boosted file formats such as m4a and aac (merely mp3, ogg, and flac are supported right now), one-click album and creative person downloads, mass metadata editing, duplicate song checking, and a lite mode.

When you sign up, the service will ask you to add your dwelling house address and phone number, but you don't have to make full out these details — yous just need to enter your proper name, electronic mail, and password and continue setup. If you demand more than 1TB of storage, you lot can sign upwards for a $five monthly programme — that's when you practice need to enter more of your personal data. In the future, the company will "nearly likely" add ads for free users, and so you might have to pay the subscription fee in the long term if you want to avert that.

Deezer

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

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

Deject-hosted digital lockers

Some people might not be comfortable with uploading their music to an unknown online location and might just desire a better feel when they listen to music added to their existing cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or their own server. That'southward where the following services come in.

Astiga

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

The basic functionality is free, but if you often add music to your cloud library, you lot might want to pay for the $iv/month or $24/year premium subscription. It allows you to sync automatically or as often as yous want to instead of only once all three days. Astiga is officially available on Android and the web, but there are third-party and experimental apps for other platforms. You can read more near it and sign up hither.

CloudBeats

Like Astiga, CloudBeats is an app that connects to a deject storage service or your own server and lets you stream your music files to your phone. The bones functionality is costless, just if you want to download files to your phone through the app or send music to a Chromecast target, y'all need to pay a former fee of $6.99.

In contrast to the other options listed here, CloudBeats is only available on Android and iOS. You'll need to employ some other thespian on your desktop to mind to your songs there, so y'all might run into roadblocks when you lot desire to sync playlists.

CloudPlayer

CloudPlayer'southward approach is nigh identical to CloudBeats'. The Android app connects to your OneDrive, Dropbox, and/or Google Drive storage and organizes recognized audio files in a library. You tin comb through the library past album, artist, playlists, genres, songs, or playlists. You too get access to online radios. If y'all don't like the default light theme, you tin change information technology, and there are quite a few more options in settings if you don't like some design decisions or the default playback behavior.

A $vii.99 in-app buy gives you more features like a x-ring equalizer, loudness normalization, gapless playback, Chromecast and AirPlay back up, and an ad-free radio experience. There'south no iOS app — the CloudPlayer Android app is the only fashion to go.

Muzecast

Muzecast is another solution when you lot desire to access your own files in the deject, and it's very much similar to the others listed here. You can stream content from your calculator, Dropbox, or OneDrive. The role player supports the usual DRM-free file types. Lossless streaming of upwardly to 24/192 KHz is available, songs are buried on your Android device, information technology has a built-in equalizer, and playlists tin be synchronized across Android phones and even other apps that support M3U and WPL. Muzecast is as well available on Android Auto, Habiliment OS, and Android TV. It works with Chromecast.

I personally dislike the design, merely some people might enjoy its out-of-the-box retro wait. There's a gratuitous, advertising-supported version of Muzecast and a $7.99 advert-free variant. The Android TV app costs $four.77.

Self-hosted digital lockers

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

Plex

Yous've probably already heard of the domicile entertainment director Plex that organizes media stored on your reckoner or server — cloud services aren't supported (anymore). It wants to exist a one-stop solution for all of your media files like music, films, TV shows, pictures, and then on. It offers cute clients for almost all of your devices.

Plex recently launched a standalone music player called Plexamp. It'south amid the prettier solutions with a pattern that takes cues from Soundcloud and Spotify, written in responsive and modern React Native code. You lot need to pay a month to use it, but you can also test the regular gratis Plex app earlier committing.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a completely free and open-source alternative to Plex, congenital on the now proprietary Emby media server. Its Android app isn't as pretty as Plexamp, but it absolutely doesn't accept to hide its face, either. You tin can install the host software on your computer or a server, and in one case you lot've got everything indexed, you're set up to go. Jellyfin lets y'all download offline copies of your media when you're out and about, there's Chromecast support, an Android TV app, and, most recently, an Android Auto interface.

Jellyfin doesn't have native support for cloud storage services, simply 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 call up any of these services nails music storage besides equally Play Music did — Google's service just had the best integration between your uploaded files and the streaming itemize. The solutions listed hither are either just really good as streaming services or every bit storage solutions for music you already ain. Unfortunately, there's no turning back now that Play Music is discontinued, so you'll have to settle for 1 of these. Of course, you lot tin also manually move your music to your phone and use a player like Phonograph.

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

Added more services

Added Media Spring.

Thanks: DonPorazzo, ikeofkc, Oleg Vorkunov

About The Writer

Manuel Vonau (1632 Manufactures Published)

Manuel is a tech enthusiast and Android fan based in Berlin. When he's not writing articles for Android Police, he'due south probably out and about every bit a videographer.

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