Editor's pick: Best music streaming apps for Australians

Ready for endless music everywhere you go? Of course you are. In just a few short years streaming apps have completely changed the way Australians access their music. There are now so many different ways to listen to your favourite tunes – and discover new ones. So whether you're just joining the streaming revolution or looking to switch services, we've got an app for you.

Pro Tip: Switch streaming services with STAMP app

Available on: Google Play, App Store

Want to switch streams without losing your library? Streaming platforms like Spotify can be pretty unhelpful when it comes to transferring your playlists to a rival service. But that doesn't mean you have to sit down and re-like all your favourite songs from scratch. STAMP is an app that will do it for you. Transfer playlists from and to Spotify, Google Play Music, TIDAL, Amazon Music, Deezer and YouTube Music. Transferring one playlist is free or you can get the premium service for a one-off payment of $12.99.

Full disclosure? STAMP app is a little buggy. It can only handle transferring about 200 songs at a time and makes you log into both streaming services for every new transfer session. But it's still the best way we've found to automate a switch from one music service to another.

Apple Music

Available on: Google Play, App Store

Remember when iPods were a thing? How times have changed! But if you're one of the many Australians who built up an impressive iTunes library back in the day, you can now put it back to good use. As well as allowing you to stream over 45 million songs ad-free for a monthly subscription, Apple Music will automatically import your old iTunes purchases into your streaming library. No need to bother with a transfer app like STAMP or meticulously go through liking all your favourite songs again.

Apple Music is a great platform for discovering new tunes. Its artist, album and playlist suggestions are spot on and full of great discoveries, and as well as streaming all your favourites on demand, the app also allows you to listen to live radio which is definitely nice to have.

If you're a postpaid Telstra mobile customer you can get 6 months of Apple Music for free and both Telstra and Boost Mobile customers can stream Apple Music data-free.

Deezer

Available on: Google Play, App Store

When it comes to streaming services, you might vaguely recognise Deezer as "that other one that's not Spotify". But far from being a poor cousin to the big players, Deezer is a pretty exciting alternative. The platform boasts 53 million tracks, curated playlists and music recommendations that are as smart and personalised as any music service out there.

But perhaps the coolest thing about Deezer is "flow". It's basically the button you press when you can't decide what to listen to. Flow is an endless playlist that mixes your favourite tracks in with new discoveries. It's like listening to a radio station that was built just for you and it feels like the secret sauce that's been missing from other streaming services. 

Spotify

Available on: Google Play, App Store

Spotify was one of the very first streaming services, and it's been one of the longest lasting because it's easy to use, with a huge music library that's full of great recommendations. It's also the only major service in Australia that offers a free ad-supported version. On free Spotify you can choose playlists or albums to listen to but you can't pick the tracks – they're on shuffle. But Spotify recently made a change to allow free users access to 15 playlists in which you can choose the tracks you listen to. But you don't get to pick the playlists. Or of course you could just pay for the premium version.

If you're an Optus mobile customer you can stream Spotify data-free, which will certainly cut down your monthly bill. 

Amazon Music

Available on: Google Play, App Store

Amazon Music offers everything you'd expect from a streaming service: unlimited access to 50 million songs, the ability to build your own library, music recommendations, hand-curated playlists to discover new tracks and personalised music stations. So what's different? One word: Alexa.

For those who don't know, Alexa is Amazon's voice powered digital assistant. By all accounts, Alexa has some mad skills and is bound to build more over time. If you've got an Alexa-powered speaker, Amazon Music will be a lot of fun to play around with. You can ask Alexa to play your favourite songs or put artists you like on shuffle. If you're not sure exactly what you want to listen to, you can ask Alexa to just play "happy music" or "workout music". The Amazon Music app on your smartphone also has Alexa but without voice launch it's not quite as exciting.

YouTube Music

Available on: Google Play, App Store

It makes a sort of sense for YouTube to set up a music streaming service. After all, YouTube has been home to a vast music library for years and has been many Australians' go-to source for listening. YouTube Music has actually been around for a while as part of YouTube Red. But the service was recently revamped and is likely to replace parent company Google's platform Google Play Music in Australia by the end of the year. 

YouTube Music offers all the features we've come to expect from a music streaming service, plus a couple of new ones. Like Deezer's "flow", YouTube Music offers a feature called "your mixtape" which uses information about your tastes to create an endless playlist mixing your favourite songs in with new recommendations. Add to that the fact that YouTube Music also lets you watch music videos and you could find yourself with a compelling reason to sign up. But if you're going to watch a lot of videos, keep an eye on that mobile data!

Stingray Qello

Available on: Google Play, App Store

Love live music? This could be your new favourite app. Stingray Qello offers on-demand streaming of live music performances. There are thousands to choose from, spanning decades from the 1930s right up until today's latest and greatest. You can browse by artist, decade, genre or just search. The free version lets you watch one track from each live show and browse channels with curated video moments. The premium version gives you unlimited access to all content.

iHeart Radio

Available on: Google Play, App Store

If you prefer to kick it old school, radio is still a thing that exists. In fact, digital advances have given us access to more radio stations than ever, all free of course, just as radio should be. And when it comes to streaming radio on your mobile, iHeart Radio is one of the slickest apps around, with station recommendations based on what genres you like and stations created just for you, including a station filled with your favourites. 

Just like on Spotify there are artist radios and related artist mixes. And many stations can even be customised over time by liking or disliking songs as you listen (but this is still radio, you can't skip). While most of iHeart Radio's stations are US-based there are quite a few home-grown options including Triple J, ABC Radio and KIIS.

If you're an Optus mobile customer you can stream iHeart Radio data-free on many plans. 

Shazam

Available on: Google Play, App Store

Not strictly a music stream app but you're definitely going to want Shazam. Because we've all had that moment – you're standing in a shop or cafe or just listening to the radio at home and suddenly you hear a song and you have to know what it is. Shazam will tell you. It's been around for ages now but we're yet to see an app that beats it at what it does. It will recognise pretty much any song that's been professionally recorded in a matter of seconds and then help you save it to a number of popular streaming apps including Spotify.

Jacqui Dent

Editorial Strategist

Jacqui Dent is an Editorial Content Strategist at WhistleOut Australia, where she writes about mobile phone plans, NBN plans and everything in between. Over her ten-year career, she has worked to provide informed advice to the public, first in the sphere of writing and now in the world of consumer tech. Jacqui has also written about consumer telco products for Business Insider, Pedestrian and the 50Up Club.

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