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Google killed Play Music in October 2020, a service many people loved for one feature in detail: its online music file locker with uploaded songs that seamlessly integrated with Play Music's streaming catalog. You could too only add together titles you ain and heed to them without ever having to pay a dime. Luckily, there 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 drove of services that replicate Play Music's feature set almost one: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. Still, these services have slightly dissimilar approaches than Play Music, so here'due south what you need to lookout out for.

YouTube Music

If yous don't heed the YouTube Music interface, it's the most straightforward solution you could promise for. You don't demand to create a new account, you can just keep using your Google login. For a express time, yous could even straight motion your files from Play Music to the newer platform. One time y'all've uploaded your files to YouTube Music, yous'll find that at that place are some significant differences when it comes to library management and adding new songs, though.

YouTube Music strictly separates uploaded music from music available on the streaming platform. When you search for your uploaded songs, you lot always have to switch from the YT Music tab to the Uploadsdepartment, a separation that also divides the library when you lot manually curlicue through your songs. When y'all sort your library by artist and want to see someone's albums, you're out of luck: You can only see an overview of all songs when you lot become this route.

Y'all 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 drop it on the service'due south website or rely on an unofficial third-political party service.

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

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

Apple Music

If y'all can't stand up YouTube Music at all, you might want to requite Apple Music a try. It allows you to upload 100,000 songs just similar YouTube Music using iTunes on your calculator. 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 have to live with.

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

iBroadcast

iBroadcast may not have the prettiest interface, simply if you only want access to your uploaded songs wherever you lot are, it might be the best solution. The free 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 (nosotros'll have to accept 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 adjust it subsequently the fact — a Play Music feature YouTube Music never got. There's also Chromecast support.

You can sign up for the service here.

Media Leap

Media Leap is a recently launched Canadian service that allows y'all to upload upwards to 1TB of your own songs on its servers for costless. Information technology and so lets you stream that music to upwards to five devices via a web interface and mobile apps, and you tin 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. Be aware that a lot of features yous usually take for granted are just slated for later, equally a spokesperson told united states. The team 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 at present), 1-click album and artist downloads, mass metadata editing, duplicate song checking, and a light manner.

When you lot sign upward, the service will ask you to add your home address and phone number, but yous don't have to fill out these details — you but need to enter your name, e-mail, and countersign and proceed setup. If you need more than than 1TB of storage, y'all can sign upwards for a $5 monthly programme — that's when y'all do demand to enter more of your personal data. In the future, the visitor will "most likely" add ads for complimentary 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 as it only lets you upload a maximum of ii,000 MP3 files. That limit means it'southward only suitable for people who want to augment the service'southward itemize with a select few titles. Like in YouTube Music, your own files are hidden away and aren't seamlessly integrated with Deezer'due south library. They only prove up in an actress section in the desktop app, subconscious away under Favorites in the sidebar -> More -> My MP3s(which is too where you upload files). In the Android app, yous'll only notice your uploaded titles under Favoritesin the bottom bar ->Playlists -> My MP3s.Deezer can be ready as the default audio provider on Google Dwelling house and Nest devices, the just service in this listing to support it other than YouTube Music — which is our master reason for including it in this roundup.

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

Cloud-hosted digital lockers

Some people might not be comfortable with uploading their music to an unknown online location and might merely want a ameliorate experience when they heed to music added to their existing cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or their own server. That'south where the following services come in.

Astiga

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

The basic functionality is free, but if you often add music to your cloud library, you might want to pay for the $4/month or $24/year premium subscription. It allows you to sync automatically or equally often as you want to instead of only in one case all three days. Astiga is officially available on Android and the web, only there are tertiary-party and experimental apps for other platforms. You tin read more about it and sign up here.

CloudBeats

Similar Astiga, CloudBeats is an app that connects to a cloud storage service or your own server and lets y'all stream your music files to your phone. The bones functionality is free, but if y'all want to download files to your phone through the app or send music to a Chromecast target, yous need to pay a erstwhile fee of $vi.99.

In dissimilarity to the other options listed here, CloudBeats is only bachelor on Android and iOS. Y'all'll need to utilise another thespian on your desktop to heed to your songs there, so y'all might run into roadblocks when yous want 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. Yous can comb through the library by album, creative person, playlists, genres, songs, or playlists. You lot also get access to online radios. If you don't like the default light theme, you can modify it, and there are quite a few more options in settings if you lot don't similar some design decisions or the default playback behavior.

A $7.99 in-app purchase gives you more features like a 10-band blaster, loudness normalization, gapless playback, Chromecast and AirPlay support, and an advertisement-gratuitous radio experience. There's no iOS app — the CloudPlayer Android app is the but way to go.

Muzecast

Muzecast is some other solution when y'all want to access your own files in the cloud, and it's very much similar to the others listed here. Yous 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 bachelor, songs are cached on your Android device, information technology has a congenital-in equalizer, and playlists tin exist synchronized beyond Android phones and even other apps that support M3U and WPL. Muzecast is also available on Android Auto, Wearable OS, and Android TV. Information technology works with Chromecast.

I personally dislike the pattern, but some people might relish its out-of-the-box retro expect. In that location's a free, advertisement-supported version of Muzecast and a $7.99 ad-free variant. The Android Television receiver app costs $iv.77.

Self-hosted digital lockers

Hither 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 abode entertainment managing director Plex that organizes media stored on your computer or server — cloud services aren't supported (anymore). It wants to be a i-end solution for all of your media files like music, films, TV shows, pictures, and and then on. It offers beautiful clients for nigh all of your devices.

Plex recently launched a standalone music player called Plexamp. It's amidst the prettier solutions with a pattern that takes cues from Soundcloud and Spotify, written in responsive and mod React Native code. You demand to pay a calendar month to use it, but you lot tin as well examination the regular complimentary Plex app before committing.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a completely complimentary and open-source alternative to Plex, built on the at present proprietary Emby media server. Its Android app isn't equally pretty as Plexamp, just it absolutely doesn't have to hibernate its face, either. You can install the host software on your reckoner or a server, and one time y'all've got everything indexed, you're set up to go. Jellyfin lets yous download offline copies of your media when yous're out and well-nigh, there'due south Chromecast back up, an Android Television app, and, most recently, an Android Auto interface.

Jellyfin doesn't accept native support for deject storage services, only there are solutions if you really want to. To get started, you lot demand to install the server awarding and the Android app.

Personally, I don't think any of these services nails music storage as well as Play Music did — Google's service just had the best integration between your uploaded files and the streaming catalog. The solutions listed hither are either only actually good every bit 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 have to settle for 1 of these. Of grade, y'all can also manually motion your music to your telephone and use a histrion similar Phonograph.

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

Added more services

Added Media Leap.

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's not writing manufactures for Android Police, he's probably out and about every bit a videographer.

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