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Google killed Play Music in October 2020, a service many people loved for one characteristic in detail: its online music file locker with uploaded songs that seamlessly integrated with Play Music's streaming itemize. You could also only add titles you lot ain and listen to them without ever having to pay a dime. Luckily, in that location are a few alternatives that replicate some of Play Music'south capabilities, including its successor YouTube Music.

Real online digital lockers

The start category is a collection of services that replicate Play Music's characteristic set almost 1:1 — you can upload your files to these platforms and listen to them via the respective apps, but equally though yous would stream music regularly. Yet, these services accept slightly different approaches than Play Music, so here's what you demand to spotter out for.

YouTube Music

If y'all don't listen the YouTube Music interface, it'south the most straightforward solution you could hope for. Yous don't need to create a new account, yous can simply keep using your Google login. For a express time, you could fifty-fifty directly movement your files from Play Music to the newer platform. In one case you've uploaded your files to YouTube Music, you'll discover that there are some significant differences when it comes to library management and adding new songs, though.

YouTube Music strictly separates uploaded music from music bachelor on the streaming platform. When you search for your uploaded songs, you lot e'er take to switch from the YT Music tab to the Uploadssection, a separation that also divides the library when you lot manually scroll through your songs. When yous sort your library by creative person and want to run across someone's albums, you're out of luck: Y'all can only see an overview of all songs when you go this route.

You 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 it on the service's website or rely on an unofficial 3rd-political party service.

YouTube Music is a month if you want to access the streaming service portion of the service without ads, merely the online locker is free and doesn't have ads if yous just desire access to your ain files.

We explored the differences between Play Music and YouTube Music uploads in great detail in this commodity.

Apple Music

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

To access your music on an Android device, yous'll take to pay $10 a month for Apple Music, but the digital locker portion of the service chosen iTunes Match is also available standalone for $25 a year if y'all only use Apple products.

iBroadcast

iBroadcast may non have the prettiest interface, but if you only want access to your uploaded songs wherever you are, it might be the all-time solution. The free service lets you shop an unlimited amount of files, comes with Android and iOS apps on top of the web app, supports Chromecast, and has some intelligent Spotify-like playlists. The privately funded Seattle visitor behind it promises that it doesn't sell your data (nosotros'll have to take its word on that) and is currently working on a $3.99/month premium service with extra features to stay adrift 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, you tin can conform it after the fact — a Play Music characteristic YouTube Music never got. There'due south also Chromecast support.

You can sign up for the service here.

Media Bound

Media Leap is a recently launched Canadian service that allows you to upload up to 1TB of your ain songs on its servers for free. It then lets you stream that music to up to five devices via a web interface and mobile apps, and y'all can download songs to your phone for offline listening. In contrast to the other services presented hither, Media Leap still feels pretty rough around the edges when it comes to the interface, but streaming itself worked without problems for me. Exist aware that a lot of features you usually take for granted are but slated for later, every bit a spokesperson told united states of america. The team is working on a proper queue, Chromecast support, an equalizer, additional file formats such as m4a and aac (but mp3, ogg, and flac are supported correct now), one-click album and artist downloads, mass metadata editing, duplicate song checking, and a light mode.

When y'all sign upward, the service will ask you to add your home address and phone number, but you don't take to make full out these details — you lot just need to enter your name, electronic mail, and password and go along setup. If you need more than 1TB of storage, you lot can sign upwardly for a $5 monthly plan — that's when y'all do need to enter more of your personal data. In the future, the visitor will "most probable" add ads for free users, then you 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 equally it only lets you upload a maximum of 2,000 MP3 files. That limit means it's only suitable for people who desire to augment the service'southward catalog with a select few titles. Similar in YouTube Music, your own files are hidden abroad and aren't seamlessly integrated with Deezer's library. They only show up in an extra section in the desktop app, hidden abroad under Favorites in the sidebar -> More than -> My MP3s(which is also where you upload files). In the Android app, yous'll only find your uploaded titles under Favoritesin the lesser bar ->Playlists -> My MP3s.Deezer tin can be gear up as the default audio provider on Google Home and Nest devices, the only service in this list to support it other than YouTube Music — which is our primary reason for including it in this roundup.

Yous need to pay for the /calendar month premium subscription to access the online locker, which volition besides requite y'all access to millions of songs without ad interruptions.

Cloud-hosted digital lockers

Some people might not exist comfortable with uploading their music to an unknown online location and might just want a better experience when they listen to music added to their existing cloud services like Dropbox, Google Bulldoze, OneDrive, Box, or their own server. That's where the following services come in.

Astiga

Astiga is a spider web service that offers a convenient interface for listening to music you lot've saved to your cloud storage. Information technology'll automatically organize your titles into a streaming service-like style once you've synced your library.

The basic functionality is free, just if you often add music to your cloud library, you might want to pay for the $iv/month or $24/year premium subscription. It allows you to sync automatically or as often as you desire to instead of but once all 3 days. Astiga is officially available on Android and the spider web, but there are tertiary-party and experimental apps for other platforms. You tin read more than most information technology and sign up here.

CloudBeats

Like Astiga, CloudBeats is an app that connects to a cloud storage service or your own server and lets you stream your music files to your phone. The bones functionality is free, only if you want to download files to your phone through the app or send music to a Chromecast target, you need to pay a one-fourth dimension fee of $6.99.

In dissimilarity to the other options listed here, CloudBeats is only available on Android and iOS. You'll need to use another player on your desktop to listen to your songs there, then you might run into roadblocks when you want to sync playlists.

CloudPlayer

CloudPlayer's approach is most identical to CloudBeats'. The Android app connects to your OneDrive, Dropbox, and/or Google Drive storage and organizes recognized sound files in a library. You can comb through the library past anthology, artist, playlists, genres, songs, or playlists. Y'all likewise get access to online radios. If you don't like the default light theme, you tin can alter it, and in that location are quite a few more options in settings if you don't like some blueprint decisions or the default playback behavior.

A $7.99 in-app purchase gives you more features like a 10-ring equalizer, loudness normalization, gapless playback, Chromecast and AirPlay back up, and an advertising-free radio experience. In that location's no iOS app — the CloudPlayer Android app is the only style to go.

Muzecast

Muzecast is another solution when you want to access your own files in the cloud, and it's very much similar to the others listed here. You lot can stream content from your computer, Dropbox, or OneDrive. The player supports the usual DRM-free file types. Lossless streaming of up to 24/192 KHz is available, songs are buried on your Android device, it has a built-in equalizer, and playlists can be synchronized across Android phones and fifty-fifty other apps that back up M3U and WPL. Muzecast is also available on Android Car, Wear OS, and Android Tv. It works with Chromecast.

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

Self-hosted digital lockers

Here are a few solutions that only work with servers or computers situated in your domicile or your webspace.

Plex

Yous've probably already heard of the home amusement manager Plex that organizes media stored on your computer or server — cloud services aren't supported (anymore). It wants to be a one-finish solution for all of your media files like music, films, Television set shows, pictures, and and so on. It offers beautiful clients for almost all of your devices.

Plex recently launched a standalone music player called Plexamp. It's amongst the prettier solutions with a design that takes cues from Soundcloud and Spotify, written in responsive and modern React Native code. Yous need to pay a calendar month to utilize it, simply you can also examination the regular free Plex app before committing.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a completely costless and open-source alternative to Plex, congenital on the at present proprietary Emby media server. Its Android app isn't as pretty equally Plexamp, but information technology absolutely doesn't have to hide its face, either. You tin can install the host software on your computer or a server, and once you've got everything indexed, you lot're fix to go. Jellyfin lets y'all download offline copies of your media when you're out and about, there's Chromecast support, an Android TV app, and, most recently, an Android Automobile interface.

Jellyfin doesn't have native support for cloud storage services, but there are solutions if yous really want to. To get started, y'all need to install the server awarding and the Android app.

Personally, I don't recollect any of these services nails music storage equally well every bit Play Music did — Google's service just had the all-time integration betwixt your uploaded files and the streaming catalog. The solutions listed here are either but actually good equally streaming services or as storage solutions for music yous already own. Unfortunately, there's no turning back now that Play Music is discontinued, so you'll have to settle for one of these. Of course, you tin besides manually move your music to your phone and utilize a histrion like Phonograph.

UPDATE: 2021/01/09 8:59am PST BY MANUEL VONAU

Added more services

Added Media Leap.

Thank you: DonPorazzo, ikeofkc, Oleg Vorkunov

About The Writer

Manuel Vonau (1638 Articles Published)

Manuel is a tech enthusiast and Android fan based in Berlin. When he's non writing articles for Android Police, he's probably out and about equally a videographer.

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