Amazon, Apple, Pandora, Spotify and Tidal have free trials for their music streaming services. Some plans are also free. Here are the latest deals for music streaming.
What is the Best Music Streaming Service?
CNET rates the best music streaming services as follows in their August 2022 review:
- Best Overall: Spotify
- Best Alternative to Spotify: Apple Music
- Best for Prime Members: Amazon Music Unlimited
- Best for Audiophiles: Qobuz
- Best for compensating artists: Tidal
- Best for Prime members: Amazon Music
Below are details on how to get a free version or a free trial for all the major music streaming plans, in alphabetical order.
Amazon Music Free
Amazon offers three streaming music plans – Music Free, Music Prime, and Music Unlimited.
Amazon Music Free requires no Amazon subscription, no credit card, and is totally free but is ad-supported. It provides access to thousands of free music stations, songs and playlists. To start, visit:
Amazon Music Prime
If you’re an Amazon Prime Member you have access to Amazon Music Prime, which is free with your Amazon Prime Membership. Music Prime provides ad-free access to 90 million songs that you can listen to on your smartphone, tablet, PC, or Alexa device. For details see:
Amazon Music Unlimited
If you want more selections and High Definition sound, you can upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited. Amazon Music Unlimited provides gives ad-free access to songs in High Definition. Music Unlimited is $9.99 a month, or $8.99 for Amazon Prime members.
Currently Amazon is offering new subscribers a 4-month free trial to Music Unlimited. For more details or to sign up visit:
Apple Music
Apple has a 30-day free trial of their unlimited Apple Music plan. To sign up or get more details visit:
You’ll need to enter credit card information and after your free trial, you’ll be charged unless you cancel.
Apple Music gives you ad-free access to the 90 million songs in the Apple Music library. You can stream online or download and play on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Android or Alexa device. You can also listen via your car radio if it supports CarPlay. You can also start and stop songs with Siri voice input.
Apple offers four plans with these monthly prices: Voice Plan $4.99, College Student Plan $5.99, Individual $9.99 and Family $14.99 per month. For more details visit
Also, get 6 months free if you buy an eligible Apple device.
Pandora Free or Paid
Pandora has a free version and two paid plans that come with free trials. You can sign up for any of the Pandora plans at:
Pandora’s free plan offers ad-supported music streaming. To sign up or get more details visit:
Pandora’s paid plans are Pandora Plus and Premium. Both plans give you ad-free access to the millions of songs in the Pandora Music library. You can stream online or download and play on your phone or other device. You can also listen via your car radio if it supports CarPlay. You can also start and stop songs with Siri voice input.
Pandora Plus is $4.99 a month. Pandora Premium is $9.99. There are also Premium plans for College Students ($4.99), the Military ($7.99) and Families (up to 6 accounts for $14.99 per month). For more details visit
Qobiz – 90 Days Free
Qobiz is known for high-quality audio and was picked as Best for Audiophiles by CNET. Qobiz is $12.99 a month after a 90-day free trial. To sign up or get more details visit:
You’ll need to enter credit card information and after your free trial, you’ll be charged at the regular rate. Qobiz offers:
- The highest sound quality, for streaming & download.
- Over 80 million tracks available and the best Hi-Res catalog in the world.
- Over 500 000 album reviews and artist bios.
Spotify Free and Paid
Spotify is rated the best overall paid music service by CNET. Spotify has a free version and a paid version, which currently has a 3-month free trial. The free version is ad supported. To sign up for either plan or get more details visit:
Spotify Premium gives you ad-free access to the 30 million plus songs in the Spotify Music library. You can stream online or download and play on your iPhone, iPad, Android or Alexa device. You can also listen via your car radio if it supports CarPlay or Android Auto. You can also start and stop songs with Siri voice input.
Spotify offers three premium plans: College Student Plan $4.99, Individual $9.99 , Duo $12.99 and Family $15.99 per month. Every plan starts with a 1-month free trial. For more details visit
Walmart+ members can get 6 months of Spotify free. For more details visit:
Free Spotify for Walmart+ Members
Tidal Free and Premium
Another service, Tidal, offers free and paid plans with differing sound quality. Tidal gives you access to 80 million songs plus hundreds of exclusive interviews and videos. You can stream online or download and play on your phone or other device. You can also listen via your car radio if it supports CarPlay or Android Auto.
Tidal offers three plan types:
Free, with 80 million songs, good sound quality, and limited ads.
HiFi with no ads, Hifi sound quality (up to 1411 kbps), 80 million songs plus 350k videos, and offline listening. $9.99 / month. 30 days free.
HiFi Plus with the best sound quality (up to 9216 kbs) and all the features of the HiFi plan. $19.99 / month. 30 days free.
Family HiFi Plus with subscriptions for 5 additional family members. $29.99 / month. 30 days free.
Tidal offers 50% off to high school and college students, and 40% to current or veterans of the US Military. For all the details visit:
Picking A Music Service
Here’s a short video from the Wall Street Journal on how to pick the music streaming service that’s best for you.
