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Google killed Play Music in October 2020, a service many people loved for one feature in item: its online music file locker with uploaded songs that seamlessly integrated with Play Music's streaming catalog. You could also merely add titles y'all ain and mind to them without e'er having to pay a dime. Luckily, in that location 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's feature fix almost 1:1 — you can upload your files to these platforms and listen to them via the respective apps, just as though you would stream music regularly. However, these services have slightly different approaches than Play Music, and then here'southward what you need to watch out for.

YouTube Music

If you lot don't listen the YouTube Music interface, it'due south the near straightforward solution you could hope for. Y'all don't need to create a new account, you can just keep using your Google login. For a limited time, you could even directly move your files from Play Music to the newer platform. One time you've uploaded your files to YouTube Music, you'll observe that at that place 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 you lot search for your uploaded songs, you always accept to switch from the YT Music tab to the Uploadssection, a separation that also divides the library when you manually scroll through your songs. When you sort your library by artist and want to see someone'south albums, y'all're out of luck: You tin can simply encounter an overview of all songs when you get this road.

You also lose the dedicated desktop uploading tool that Play Music had. When you want to add new files to YouTube Music, you have to drag and drib it on the service'south website or rely on an unofficial third-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 take ads if yous only want access to your own 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 up YouTube Music at all, y'all might want to requite Apple Music a try. It allows you to upload 100,000 songs just similar 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 y'all'll have to alive with.

To access your music on an Android device, yous'll have to pay $10 a month for Apple Music, simply the digital locker portion of the service called iTunes Friction match is besides available standalone for $25 a twelvemonth if y'all only use Apple tree products.

iBroadcast

iBroadcast may not have the prettiest interface, but if yous only desire access to your uploaded songs wherever you are, it might be the best solution. The costless service lets you store an unlimited amount of files, comes with Android and iOS apps on top of the spider web app, supports Chromecast, and has some intelligent Spotify-like playlists. The privately funded Seattle company behind it promises that it doesn't sell your information (we'll take to take its give-and-take on that) and is currently working on a $3.99/calendar 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 tin conform information technology after the fact — a Play Music feature YouTube Music never got. At that place's also Chromecast support.

You lot tin can sign upwards for the service here.

Media Leap

Media Leap is a recently launched Canadian service that allows you to upload up to 1TB of your own songs on its servers for complimentary. It then lets you stream that music to up to v devices via a spider web interface and mobile apps, and yous can download songs to your telephone for offline listening. In dissimilarity to the other services presented hither, Media Spring nevertheless feels pretty rough around the edges when information technology comes to the interface, merely streaming itself worked without problems for me. Be aware that a lot of features you unremarkably take for granted are only slated for subsequently, as a spokesperson told u.s.a.. The team is working on a proper queue, Chromecast support, an equalizer, boosted file formats such every bit m4a and aac (only mp3, ogg, and flac are supported right at present), ane-click anthology and creative person downloads, mass metadata editing, duplicate vocal checking, and a lite mode.

When you sign upward, the service will ask you to add your home address and phone number, but y'all don't take to fill up out these details — you just demand to enter your name, e-mail, and password and keep setup. If you demand more than 1TB of storage, yous can sign upwardly for a $five monthly plan — that's when you practice demand to enter more of your personal data. In the futurity, the company volition "virtually likely" add ads for costless users, so you might have to pay the subscription fee in the long term if yous want to avoid that.

Deezer

Deezer isn't our get-to solution as it only lets y'all upload a maximum of 2,000 MP3 files. That limit means it'due south merely suitable for people who desire to augment the service's catalog with a select few titles. Like in YouTube Music, your ain files are hidden away and aren't seamlessly integrated with Deezer's library. They only testify up in an extra section in the desktop app, hidden abroad under Favorites in the sidebar -> More than -> My MP3s(which is besides where y'all upload files). In the Android app, y'all'll but find your uploaded titles under Favoritesin the bottom bar ->Playlists -> My MP3s.Deezer can be ready every bit 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 main reason for including information technology in this roundup.

You lot need to pay for the /month premium subscription to access the online locker, which volition besides give you access to millions of songs without advertizement interruptions.

Deject-hosted digital lockers

Some people might non exist comfy with uploading their music to an unknown online location and might just want a better experience when they mind to music added to their existing cloud services like Dropbox, Google Bulldoze, OneDrive, Box, or their ain server. That's where the post-obit 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. It'll automatically organize your titles into a streaming service-like style once y'all've synced your library.

The basic functionality is gratis, merely if you often add music to your cloud library, you might desire to pay for the $4/month or $24/year premium subscription. It allows you to sync automatically or as often as you want to instead of but once all three days. Astiga is officially bachelor on Android and the web, but there are third-party and experimental apps for other platforms. You can read more about it and sign up hither.

CloudBeats

Like 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 you want to download files to your phone through the app or send music to a Chromecast target, you need to pay a one-time fee of $6.99.

In dissimilarity to the other options listed hither, CloudBeats is only available on Android and iOS. You'll demand to use another player on your desktop to listen to your songs in that location, so you lot might run into roadblocks when you desire to sync playlists.

CloudPlayer

CloudPlayer'south 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 become access to online radios. If yous don't like the default light theme, y'all can alter it, and there are quite a few more options in settings if you don't like some design decisions or the default playback behavior.

A $vii.99 in-app purchase gives yous more features like a ten-band equalizer, loudness normalization, gapless playback, Chromecast and AirPlay support, and an ad-costless radio feel. In that location'due south no iOS app — the CloudPlayer Android app is the only way to go.

Muzecast

Muzecast is another solution when you want to admission your ain files in the deject, and information technology'southward very much similar to the others listed here. Y'all tin 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 bachelor, songs are cached on your Android device, information technology has a built-in equalizer, and playlists tin exist synchronized across Android phones and fifty-fifty other apps that support M3U and WPL. Muzecast is also available on Android Machine, Article of clothing Bone, and Android TV. It works with Chromecast.

I personally dislike the design, but some people might enjoy its out-of-the-box retro await. There'south a free, advertizement-supported version of Muzecast and a $vii.99 ad-free variant. The Android TV app costs $4.77.

Self-hosted digital lockers

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

Plex

You'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-stop solution for all of your media files similar music, films, TV shows, pictures, 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. You need to pay a calendar month to use it, simply you tin also exam the regular free Plex app earlier committing.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a completely gratuitous and open-source culling to Plex, built on the now proprietary Emby media server. Its Android app isn't as pretty equally Plexamp, but it admittedly doesn't have to hide its confront, either. You lot can install the host software on your computer or a server, and once you've got everything indexed, you're ready to go. Jellyfin lets you lot download offline copies of your media when you lot're out and about, there's Chromecast support, an Android Television receiver app, and, most recently, an Android Motorcar interface.

Jellyfin doesn't have native back up for cloud storage services, simply there are solutions if you really desire to. To get started, you need to install the server application and the Android app.

Personally, I don't think whatever of these services nails music storage likewise as Play Music did — Google's service just had the best integration between your uploaded files and the streaming catalog. The solutions listed here are either but really proficient 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 i of these. Of form, y'all tin can also manually motion your music to your phone and use a player like Phonograph.

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

Added more services

Added Media Jump.

Thanks: DonPorazzo, ikeofkc, Oleg Vorkunov

About The Author

Manuel Vonau (1639 Articles Published)

Manuel is a tech enthusiast and Android fan based in Berlin. When he'southward not writing articles for Android Constabulary, he's probably out and about as a videographer.

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