Tune in: the five best music streaming services

Tidal

Signing up to Spotify and streaming your favourite songs might sound easy, but it isn’t quite as simple as it sounds. Most apps compress songs to make them easier to stream, but this can compromise the quality of the audio. This is where Tidal comes in. The app is designed to bring CD-quality music to audiophiles on the go. You can also stream music videos and save playlists for when your device is offline.

Tidal can be downloaded from the App Store and Play Store. Pay-monthly subscriptions start at £9.99. High-fidelity options start at £19.99 per month.

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Deezer

Much like Tidal, Deezer offers subscribers the chance to stream high-fidelity audio for a monthly fee of £19.99. But what sets Deezer apart from Tidal is that you can stream music for free – the only caveat is that adverts will appear at random intervals between songs. There’s a 30-day free trial for those wanting to give the app’s high-fidelity audio feature a test drive before committing to a subscription.

Deezer is available through the App Store and Play Store. Ad-free subscriptions start at £9.99.

8Tracks

Have you ever created a playlist that’s so good it puts most DJs to shame? Well, now you can share it with other music lovers. Streaming app 8Tracks is part user-generated radio, part social media platform. It allows users to create and share their song playlists with friends, which can be categorised by the type of music in the mix or by a certain mood. You can even listen to music ad-free if you subscribe to the premium service.

Download for free through the App Store and Play Store. Ad-free listening will cost £4.99 per month or £19.99 for an annual pass.

n7player

Audiophiles who like to fine-tune their music for the perfect sound need look no further than n7player. While the free version of the app is a conventional streaming service, the £3.99 per month premium version has a ten-band equaliser to help you fettle with your song’s frequency levels. Music lovers wanting a more streamlined equaliser can choose between different presets, including settings optimised for electronic or rock music.

The app is free to download through the App Store and Play Store. The equaliser is included in the ad-free £3.99 monthly subscription.

Musixmatch

Musixmatch is a streaming service with a twist. The app doesn’t have its own music library and requires you to pair it up with an existing audio service such as Spotify or Apple Music. But once you’re connected, Musixmatch will show you the lyrics to a song in real-time. The service can find lyrics for songs by listening to them, similar to the way Shazam identifies music using your device’s microphone.

Musixmatch is free to download from the App Store and Play Store, but you’ll need a music streaming service to make the most of it.