The 5 Best YouTube Music Alternatives You Can Find

If you already subscribe to YouTube Premium and also use YouTube Music, you know that the convenience of accessing this service usually comes at a price. That is because Google's music service usually locks lyrics behind a paywall, and the recommendations also tend to have flaws. In addition, there are also other disadvantages of YouTube Music that make you question whether it is worth continuing to use it.

The problem with switching is that YouTube Music comes included in your YouTube Premium subscription, so if you want to keep ad-free YouTube videos, you still need to pay for Premium. Services like Spotify and Apple Music are good services to migrate to, but they usually have more expensive plans, while several other lesser-known options are worth your money.

For that reason, we selected the best YouTube Music alternatives for anyone looking for new options, taking into account different priorities users have when choosing them, whether it is low price, audio quality, or even the possibility of finding some tracks that would be impossible to play on more popular music services.

Besides being one of the oldest music streaming services on the market, Deezer also offers one of the most social experiences compared to the competition. That is because it has offered a real-time music queue service for years, along with features that let you guess songs from snippets, earn points, and compete with others. Deezer also offers Flow, an algorithm that learns your tastes and can work better than YouTube Music recommendations.

Besides the improved algorithm, Deezer also offers better audio quality than YouTube Music. While Google's service reaches 256 kbps in AAC or Opus, and there's little you can do to boost YouTube Music's audio quality beyond that, Deezer has Hi-Fi in FLAC Lossless, which reaches CD quality. Although it is better than YouTube, it still falls a little behind options like Tidal, but it still delivers a big jump in quality, all included in its $24 monthly subscription.

Another option for anyone looking for better audio quality than YouTube Music is Tidal. Like Deezer, it goes beyond the 256 kbps found in Google's service, letting users listen to music in lossless FLAC and HiRes FLAC up to 24-bit/192 kHz. If you have the equipment, you can enjoy Tidal music in the best quality available.

TIDAL costs $12 for the individual plan, the same as YouTube Premium, but family or student subscriptions are usually a little more expensive. The family plan costs US$ 19,99 for up to six accounts, compared to US$ 18,99 from the competitor. Students pay US$ 6,99 on TIDAL, while the equivalent YouTube Music plan costs US$ 5,99 per month.

However, even paying a little more, users who understand the difference between Hi-Res and lossless audio can take better advantage of the sound fidelity that comes with TIDAL. Although its catalog is also extensive, with more than 180 million songs, YouTube Music is still superior because it integrates with YouTube itself.

If you already subscribe to Amazon Prime, Amazon Music is a compelling alternative to YouTube Music. However, you also need to know that the service has two tiers. First, you have Amazon Music Prime, which is included at no extra cost in the subscription, and it already offers access to a music catalog without ads, but with some limitations, mainly when moving from one track to another.

Amazon Music Unlimited is a separate service that gives full control over each song, including offline downloads and lossless playback. The price is $13 per month for regular users, but Prime members pay $12, making this discount one of the several hidden perks included in the Amazon ecosystem.

Another difference is audio quality, since Unlimited includes tracks in HD and Ultra HD, including lossless, without charging an extra amount in the subscription. So, for anyone who wants to enjoy music in the best quality possible and has the equipment to match, the service can offer a better experience than YouTube Music.

If you mainly use YouTube Music to discover smaller artists or find songs not yet available on major streaming services, SoundCloud is a good alternative. The platform has always had a very strong relationship with independent artists, DJs, and other producers who like to publish their work directly there. So, it is easy to find tracks from artists who are still starting out and only have their work published to a few platforms.

SoundCloud's free plan is also strong, since it lets you listen to a large part of the catalog without a subscription, but you have to live with ads. On the other hand, you can pay for a truly clean experience. In addition, SoundCloud's algorithm is based largely on what each user actually listens to, which can help anyone having trouble finding similar new songs. However, even with its strengths, the service doesn't have a strong presence of artists from major labels.

Qobuz is a YouTube Music alternative for people who value audio quality and want more control over their collection. The Studio plan costs $12.99 per month in the United States, with a yearly option of $129.99, and lets you listen to more than 100 million tracks in lossless quality, including songs in Hi-Res up to 24-bit/192 kHz. So it sits above the 256 kbps limit offered by Google's service, although it doesn't offer the same integration with videos, remixes, and YouTube uploads.

However, the most interesting difference sits outside streaming. Qobuz also has a store where you can buy albums and tracks individually, with DRM-free downloads that you can store locally. This helps address one of streaming's main disadvantages: you pay for access to streams of music but don't own the songs and lose access if they're removed or you cancel your subscription. Qobuz's unique approach lets you combine a streaming subscription with your own digital collection.