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Google killed Play Music in October 2020, a service many people loved for one feature in particular: its online music file locker with uploaded songs that seamlessly integrated with Play Music's streaming catalog. You could also just add titles you 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 first category is a collection of services that replicate Play Music'southward characteristic ready nearly i:1 — yous can upload your files to these platforms and listen to them via the respective apps, just as though you would stream music regularly. All the same, these services take slightly different approaches than Play Music, so hither's what you need to sentry out for.

YouTube Music

If yous don't mind the YouTube Music interface, it's the most straightforward solution y'all could promise for. Y'all don't demand to create a new account, you can only proceed using your Google login. For a limited fourth dimension, you could even straight motility your files from Play Music to the newer platform. Once you've uploaded your files to YouTube Music, y'all'll find that there are some pregnant differences when it comes to library management and adding new songs, though.

YouTube Music strictly separates uploaded music from music available on the streaming platform. When you lot search for your uploaded songs, you always have to switch from the YT Music tab to the Uploadsdepartment, a separation that also divides the library when you manually scroll through your songs. When y'all sort your library by artist and desire to meet someone'southward albums, you're out of luck: Y'all can simply see an overview of all songs when you go this route.

You lot also lose the dedicated desktop uploading tool that Play Music had. When you want to add new files to YouTube Music, you accept to drag and driblet information technology on the service'southward website or rely on an unofficial 3rd-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 free and doesn't take ads if you lot just desire admission to your own files.

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

Apple Music

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

To admission your music on an Android device, you'll have to pay $ten a calendar month for Apple Music, only the digital locker portion of the service called iTunes Match is also available standalone for $25 a yr if you only use Apple tree products.

iBroadcast

iBroadcast may not have the prettiest interface, but if you only want access to your uploaded songs wherever you are, it might be the best solution. The costless service lets y'all store an unlimited amount of files, comes with Android and iOS apps on meridian of the spider web app, supports Chromecast, and has some intelligent Spotify-like playlists. The privately funded Seattle company behind it promises that information technology doesn't sell your data (we'll accept to have its word on that) and is currently working on a $three.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 with the correct metadata, yous can conform it after the fact — a Play Music characteristic YouTube Music never got. There's likewise Chromecast support.

You can sign up for the service here.

Media Leap

Media Bound is a recently launched Canadian service that allows you to upload upwards to 1TB of your own songs on its servers for free. It then lets you stream that music to up to 5 devices via a web interface and mobile apps, and you can download songs to your phone for offline listening. In contrast to the other services presented hither, Media Leap still feels pretty rough effectually the edges when it comes to the interface, but streaming itself worked without issues for me. Be enlightened that a lot of features you usually accept for granted are only slated for later, as a spokesperson told usa. The team is working on a proper queue, Chromecast back up, an equalizer, boosted file formats such as m4a and aac (just mp3, ogg, and flac are supported right now), 1-click album and creative person downloads, mass metadata editing, indistinguishable song checking, and a low-cal mode.

When yous sign upwardly, the service will ask y'all to add your home address and phone number, just yous don't take to fill out these details — you just need to enter your proper name, email, and password and continue setup. If you need more than 1TB of storage, you lot tin can sign up for a $five monthly plan — that'southward when you do need to enter more of your personal data. In the future, the company will "well-nigh likely" add ads for free users, and so y'all 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 only lets you upload a maximum of 2,000 MP3 files. That limit means it's but suitable for people who desire to augment the service's catalog with a select few titles. Like in YouTube Music, your own files are hidden away and aren't seamlessly integrated with Deezer's library. They merely show up in an extra department in the desktop app, hidden away nether Favorites in the sidebar -> More -> My MP3s(which is besides where you upload files). In the Android app, yous'll only find your uploaded titles under Favoritesin the bottom bar ->Playlists -> My MP3s.Deezer can be prepare as the default audio provider on Google Home and Nest devices, the only service in this list to back up it other than YouTube Music — which is our main 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 requite you lot admission to millions of songs without advertising interruptions.

Cloud-hosted digital lockers

Some people might not be comfortable with uploading their music to an unknown online location and might only desire a amend experience when they listen to music added to their existing cloud services like Dropbox, Google Bulldoze, OneDrive, Box, or their ain server. That'south where the following services come up in.

Astiga

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

The basic functionality is free, but if y'all ofttimes add music to your cloud library, you might desire to pay for the $four/month or $24/yr premium subscription. It allows y'all to sync automatically or every bit often as you desire to instead of only once all three days. Astiga is officially available on Android and the web, merely there are third-party and experimental apps for other platforms. You can read more than about information technology and sign up hither.

CloudBeats

Similar Astiga, CloudBeats is an app that connects to a cloud storage service or your own server and lets you lot stream your music files to your phone. The basic functionality is free, but if yous want to download files to your phone through the app or send music to a Chromecast target, you need to pay a erstwhile fee of $six.99.

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

CloudPlayer

CloudPlayer'south 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 can comb through the library by album, creative person, playlists, genres, songs, or playlists. Yous also get access to online radios. If you don't like the default light theme, you can change information technology, and at that place 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 similar a 10-band equalizer, loudness normalization, gapless playback, Chromecast and AirPlay support, and an ad-free radio experience. There'due south no iOS app — the CloudPlayer Android app is the only way to become.

Muzecast

Muzecast is some other solution when you want 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 figurer, Dropbox, or OneDrive. The histrion supports the usual DRM-free file types. Lossless streaming of up to 24/192 KHz is available, songs are cached on your Android device, it has a born equalizer, and playlists tin can exist synchronized across Android phones and even other apps that support M3U and WPL. Muzecast is also bachelor on Android Auto, Wear Os, and Android Goggle box. It works with Chromecast.

I personally dislike the design, but some people might enjoy its out-of-the-box retro look. There's a complimentary, advertizement-supported version of Muzecast and a $7.99 ad-free variant. The Android TV app costs $4.77.

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

Y'all've probably already heard of the home entertainment manager Plex that organizes media stored on your estimator or server — deject services aren't supported (anymore). It wants to be a one-cease solution for all of your media files similar music, films, TV shows, pictures, and and then on. Information technology offers beautiful clients for almost all of your devices.

Plex recently launched a standalone music player called Plexamp. It'due south amidst the prettier solutions with a blueprint that takes cues from Soundcloud and Spotify, written in responsive and mod React Native lawmaking. You demand to pay a month to use it, only y'all can also test the regular gratuitous Plex app before committing.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a completely gratuitous and open up-source culling to Plex, built on the now proprietary Emby media server. Its Android app isn't every bit pretty as Plexamp, just it absolutely doesn't accept to hibernate its face, either. You can install the host software on your computer or a server, and in one case you lot've got everything indexed, yous're gear 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 Idiot box app, and, most recently, an Android Auto interface.

Jellyfin doesn't have native support for cloud storage services, only there are solutions if you actually want to. To become started, you need to install the server application and the Android app.

Personally, I don't think any of these services nails music storage as well as Play Music did — Google's service just had the best integration betwixt your uploaded files and the streaming catalog. The solutions listed here are either merely really good as streaming services or every bit storage solutions for music you already own. Unfortunately, there's no turning back at present that Play Music is discontinued, so you'll accept to settle for ane of these. Of course, you can also manually move your music to your phone and apply a player similar Phonograph.

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

Added more services

Added Media Leap.

Thanks: DonPorazzo, ikeofkc, Oleg Vorkunov

About The Author

Manuel Vonau (1669 Manufactures Published)

Manuel is Android Law'south Europe Editor, based in Berlin, Germany. He first started writing for the publication in 2019, but has been an Android enthusiast e'er since he picked upwards the HTC One S and later the Nexus four.

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