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Google killed Play Music in October 2020, a service many people loved for 1 characteristic in item: its online music file locker with uploaded songs that seamlessly integrated with Play Music's streaming catalog. You could also simply add titles you own and listen to them without e'er having to pay a dime. Luckily, there are a few alternatives that replicate some of Play Music'southward capabilities, including its successor YouTube Music.

Existent online digital lockers

The first category is a collection of services that replicate Play Music's feature set most 1:1 — yous can upload your files to these platforms and heed to them via the respective apps, just as though y'all would stream music regularly. Still, these services take slightly different approaches than Play Music, so hither'southward what y'all need to watch out for.

YouTube Music

If you don't mind the YouTube Music interface, information technology'southward the well-nigh straightforward solution you lot could promise for. You lot don't need to create a new account, yous can just proceed using your Google login. For a express time, you could even direct move your files from Play Music to the newer platform. Once you've uploaded your files to YouTube Music, you'll detect that there are some significant differences when information technology comes to library management and adding new songs, though.

YouTube Music strictly separates uploaded music from music available on the streaming platform. When y'all search for your uploaded songs, yous 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 you sort your library by artist and desire to see someone'southward albums, you're out of luck: You lot tin simply come across an overview of all songs when you become this route.

You as well lose the dedicated desktop uploading tool that Play Music had. When you desire to add together new files to YouTube Music, you take to elevate and drib it on the service's website or rely on an unofficial third-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 have ads if you lot simply want access to your own files.

We explored the differences between Play Music and YouTube Music uploads in corking detail in this article.

Apple tree Music

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

To admission your music on an Android device, you lot'll have to pay $10 a month for Apple Music, just the digital locker portion of the service called iTunes Match is besides bachelor standalone for $25 a year if you only utilise Apple tree products.

iBroadcast

iBroadcast may not have the prettiest interface, only if you only want access to your uploaded songs wherever y'all are, it might be the all-time solution. The costless service lets you store 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 information technology promises that information technology doesn't sell your data (we'll have to take its word on that) and is currently working on a $3.99/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, you can accommodate it subsequently the fact — a Play Music characteristic YouTube Music never got. In that location's too Chromecast support.

You can sign up for the service here.

Media Leap

Media Spring is a recently launched Canadian service that allows you to upload up to 1TB of your own songs on its servers for free. It then lets you stream that music to up to five devices via a spider web interface and mobile apps, and yous tin download songs to your phone for offline listening. In contrast to the other services presented here, Media Leap still feels pretty rough effectually the edges when it comes to the interface, but streaming itself worked without problems for me. Be aware that a lot of features you usually take for granted are only slated for after, as a spokesperson told us. The squad is working on a proper queue, Chromecast support, an equalizer, additional file formats such as m4a and aac (only mp3, ogg, and flac are supported right now), one-click anthology and artist downloads, mass metadata editing, duplicate song checking, and a light manner.

When yous sign upwards, the service volition ask you to add your habitation address and phone number, merely you don't accept to make full out these details — yous just need to enter your name, email, and password and continue setup. If yous need more than 1TB of storage, you tin sign up for a $5 monthly plan — that'south when you do need to enter more of your personal information. In the time to come, the company will "most probable" add ads for free users, so y'all might take to pay the subscription fee in the long term if you lot want to avoid that.

Deezer

Deezer isn't our get-to solution as it only lets you upload a maximum of 2,000 MP3 files. That limit means it'due south just suitable for people who desire to augment the service's itemize with a select few titles. Like in YouTube Music, your own files are hidden away and aren't seamlessly integrated with Deezer'southward library. They but show up in an extra department in the desktop app, subconscious away under Favorites in the sidebar -> More -> My MP3s(which is also where you lot upload files). In the Android app, yous'll but find your uploaded titles nether Favoritesin the bottom bar ->Playlists -> My MP3s.Deezer can be prepare as the default audio provider on Google Dwelling house and Nest devices, the but service in this list to support it other than YouTube Music — which is our primary reason for including information technology in this roundup.

Yous need to pay for the /month premium subscription to access the online locker, which will too give you admission to millions of songs without advertisement interruptions.

Cloud-hosted digital lockers

Some people might not be comfortable with uploading their music to an unknown online location and might just want a ameliorate experience when they mind to music added to their existing cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or their ain server. That's where the post-obit services come in.

Astiga

Astiga is a web service that offers a user-friendly interface for listening to music you've saved to your cloud storage. It'll automatically organize your titles into a streaming service-similar style one time yous've synced your library.

The basic functionality is free, but if yous oft add music to your deject library, you might desire to pay for the $4/month or $24/year premium subscription. It allows you to sync automatically or every bit frequently equally you desire to instead of only in one case all three days. Astiga is officially available on Android and the web, simply there are third-political party and experimental apps for other platforms. You tin read more nigh information technology and sign up here.

CloudBeats

Similar Astiga, CloudBeats is an app that connects to a deject storage service or your own server and lets you stream your music files to your phone. The basic functionality is free, just if you want to download files to your phone through the app or send music to a Chromecast target, you demand 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. Yous'll need to utilise some other thespian on your desktop to heed to your songs at that place, so you might run into roadblocks when you desire to sync playlists.

CloudPlayer

CloudPlayer's approach is almost identical to CloudBeats'. The Android app connects to your OneDrive, Dropbox, and/or Google Bulldoze storage and organizes recognized audio files in a library. You can comb through the library by album, artist, playlists, genres, songs, or playlists. You also go admission to online radios. If you don't like the default low-cal theme, you lot can alter information technology, and there are quite a few more than options in settings if you don't like some blueprint decisions or the default playback behavior.

A $7.99 in-app purchase gives y'all more features like a 10-band equalizer, loudness normalization, gapless playback, Chromecast and AirPlay back up, and an advertizing-costless radio experience. There's no iOS app — the CloudPlayer Android app is the simply way to go.

Muzecast

Muzecast is some other solution when you want to access your own files in the cloud, and it's very much like to the others listed here. You lot can stream content from your computer, Dropbox, or OneDrive. The role player supports the usual DRM-free file types. Lossless streaming of upwardly to 24/192 KHz is available, songs are cached on your Android device, information technology has a built-in equalizer, and playlists tin exist synchronized beyond Android phones and even other apps that back up M3U and WPL. Muzecast is also available on Android Auto, Wear OS, and Android TV. It works with Chromecast.

I personally dislike the design, simply some people might enjoy its out-of-the-box retro look. In that location's a complimentary, advert-supported version of Muzecast and a $7.99 advertizement-gratis 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 dwelling house or your webspace.

Plex

You've probably already heard of the habitation entertainment manager Plex that organizes media stored on your estimator or server — cloud services aren't supported (anymore). Information technology wants to be a i-stop solution for all of your media files like music, films, Television shows, pictures, and so on. Information technology offers beautiful clients for almost all of your devices.

Plex recently launched a standalone music thespian called Plexamp. It's amongst the prettier solutions with a design that takes cues from Soundcloud and Spotify, written in responsive and modernistic React Native code. You demand to pay a month to apply it, simply you can too examination the regular free Plex app before committing.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a completely free and open-source alternative to Plex, built on the now proprietary Emby media server. Its Android app isn't as pretty as Plexamp, but it absolutely doesn't have to hide its face, either. You can install the host software on your estimator or a server, and one time you've got everything indexed, you're ready to become. Jellyfin lets you 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 Automobile interface.

Jellyfin doesn't have native support for cloud storage services, just in that location are solutions if you actually desire to. To get started, you need to install the server application and the Android app.

Personally, I don't call up any of these services nails music storage every bit well every bit Play Music did — Google's service just had the all-time integration between your uploaded files and the streaming itemize. The solutions listed hither are either merely really good as streaming services or as storage solutions for music you already own. Unfortunately, there's no turning dorsum now that Play Music is discontinued, so you'll accept to settle for ane of these. Of course, yous tin can likewise manually motion your music to your phone and apply a player similar Phonograph.

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

Added more services

Added Media Jump.

Thank you: DonPorazzo, ikeofkc, Oleg Vorkunov

About The Writer

Manuel Vonau (1636 Articles Published)

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

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