Listen to Music on Android with YouTube Music, Spotify & More

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A comprehensive guide to music listening options on Android
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Do you have music on your Android that you want to listen to? Even though your Android doesn't come with a built-in music player (R.I.P. Google Play Music), there are many ways to listen to music on your Android. Whether you're looking for a free music player to listen to your own music files or a music app that lets you stream thousands of songs on demand, read on to learn the best ways to play music on an Android phone or tablet.

Easy Ways to Play Music on Android

  • You can use the YouTube Music app and Spotify apps to listen to music files on your Android, as well as stream music over the internet.
  • Try apps like Pulsar, Poweramp, Musicolet, VLC Media Player, and Pi Music Player to listen to music, create playlists, and more.
  • If you don’t have music files on your Android, stream music using apps like Pandora, Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, and more.
Section 1 of 5:

Using the YouTube Music App

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  1. 1
    Use the YouTube Music app to listen to your music files. If you want to listen to music files saved on your Android, you can use YouTube Music as a music player. [1] You'll need to enable "Show device files" so your local audio files will appear in your library.
    • Open the YouTube Music app.
    • Tap your profile photo and select Settings .
    • Tap Library & downloads' .
    • Toggle "Show device files" to the On position.
    • Find your music files in your library. Now that you've enabled the feature, you can listen to music on your Android on the Library tab of the YouTube Music app—just select a song, album, or playlist, then tap Device files to listen.
  2. 2
    Use YouTube Music to listen to music from your computer. If you keep your music files on your computer, you can upload music files so you can listen to them on your Android.
    • On a computer, go to https://music.youtube.com and sign in.
    • Click your profile picture. It's in the upper right corner of the browser.
    • Click Upload music . Alternatively, you can drag and drop music files anywhere on the music.youtube.com screen.
      • You can upload FLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, and WMA file formats.
    • You're capped at uploading 100,000 songs to your YouTube Music library. [2]
    • Find your music files in your library. After uploading music, you can find the music files in your Library under Albums > Uploads or Songs > Uploads . [3]
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  3. 3
    Stream with YouTube Music. You can stream music for free on YouTube Music or subscribe to YouTube Music Premium to listen to music without ads.
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Section 2 of 5:

Using Spotify

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  1. 1
    Enable Local Audio Files in Spotify to use it as a media player. If you want to listen to music that's already on your phone or tablet, you can use Spotify as a music player, even if you don't want to stream music over the internet. To enable local files:
    • Tap your profile picture on Spotify. It's in the upper left corner.
    • Tap Settings and privacy .
    • Tap Apps and devices .
    • Tap the switch next to "Local audio files" to turn it on. This allows you to add music from your Android to Your Library.
  2. 2
    Add music to your library. Now that the feature is enabled, just tap Your Library at the bottom of Spotify, select Local Files , and tap Add audio to add music files to the app.
  3. 3
    Listen to your audio. Tap the "Play" icon to start listening; tap the "Shuffle" icon to play your music randomly. If you want to add the music to another playlist, tap â‹® > Add to playlist . [4]
  4. 4
    Stream music on Spotify. If you want to listen to streaming music, Spotify has both free and paid tiers. You can listen to curated playlists, or search for the songs or artists you want to listen to.
    • If you pay for Spotify Premium, you can listen to any songs you want in order. If you're using Spotify for free, you can search for and listen to songs, but you can't play playlists or albums in order. [5]
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Section 3 of 5:

More Standalone Music Players

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  1. 1
    Pulsar is a free offline music player that makes a great replacement for Google Play Music. There are free and paid versions, but you'll only need to pay if you want access to more themes and an equalizer.
  2. 2
    Poweramp Music Player has a full-featured trial version that can play just about any music file on your Android, but it costs $7.99 for the full version. [6]
  3. 3
    Musicolet is a customizable offline music player that's great for listening to music on your Android. You can use it to organize your music files on your Android's internal storage and SD card. You can even create your own playlists and start multiple queues.
  4. 4
    Pi Music Player is yet another free offline music player that's well-loved for Android. If you're looking for an Android music player with EQ that can also create ringtones from your music files, Pi is a great option.
  5. 5
    VLC Media Player is known for its great desktop apps, but you can also download this free, open-source music and video player on your Android. VLC supports tons of music file formats, and also plays your local videos.
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Section 4 of 5:

Streaming Music Apps

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  1. 1
    Pandora is great if you don't have music files on your Android but want to hear music. Pandora is free (with a paid option) and offers radio-style listening with "stations" you create and customize. If you don't have Pandora, you can download it from the Play Store.
  2. 2
    Amazon Music comes with your Amazon Prime subscription. If you have one, make sure to download the Amazon Music app to stream 100 million free songs from their catalog. You can only shuffle music with your Prime subscription—if you want to play playlists and albums in order, you will need to upgrade. [7]
  3. 3
    Apple Music Subscribe to Apple Music to listen to high-quality streaming music on your Android. While there is no free tier , a subscription tends to be cheaper than most other streaming plans, and there are always deals and free trials available.
  4. 4
    SiriusXM lets you listen to the radio on your Android! You'll find many different radio stations, including comedy, sports, and Yacht Rock Radio, with plenty of original podcasts.
  5. 5
    Tidal Download the Tidal app to stream extremely high-quality music (lossless FLAC format) on your Android. You'll need a subscription, but free trials are often available.
  6. 6
    SoundCloud If it's underground music and new artists you're after, check out Soundcloud. The app is free, and you can create playlists and share songs with friends.
  7. 7
    Trebel is a free Android music app that lets you download music from your favorite artists to listen to offline. They also claim to pay artists fairly, which some other platforms don't do. [8]
  8. 8
    Bandcamp is best for fans of independent music. The app, which doubles as a music community, lets you follow and connect with your favorite artists, buy digital and physical versions of their releases, and even download free songs.
  9. 9
    Deezer This music streaming app uses algorithms to help you find your next favorite artist or genre. You can also use this streaming service to listen to music files from your computer.
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Section 5 of 5:

Listening with Your File Manager

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  1. If you have music files on your Android, you can listen to them with your file manager app. If you just want to hear a song or two, just tap the music file in your file manager app (such as My Files on Samsung Galaxy or Files by Google on most other Androids), and the music will play in the file manager's music player.
    • Only the file you selected will play, so this isn't the best option for listening to albums or multiple songs.

Community Q&A

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  • Question
    Why don't some songs appear in Play Music?
    Dakota Doty
    Community Answer
    This can depend on your file formats or the location of your files. Some music cannot be recognized by Google Play Music and must be played through external music players.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://support.google.com/youtubemusic/answer/9231765?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&sjid=5490384267857393212-NC#zippy=%2Cdevice-files
      2. ↑ https://support.google.com/youtubemusic/answer/9716522?hl=en
      3. ↑ https://support.google.com/youtubemusic/answer/6313542?hl=en&ref_topic=14737394&sjid=568320076923359694-NC
      4. ↑ https://support.spotify.com/uk/article/local-files/
      5. ↑ https://www.spotify.com/us/premium/
      6. ↑ https://powerampapp.com/
      7. ↑ https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GKL9M88FFWYHY7T9
      8. ↑ https://home.trebel.io/

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