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Google killed Play Music in October 2020, a service many people loved for one characteristic in particular: its online music file locker with uploaded songs that seamlessly integrated with Play Music's streaming catalog. You could as well just add together 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'south capabilities, including its successor YouTube Music.

Real online digital lockers

The outset category is a collection of services that replicate Play Music's feature fix almost i:1 — you tin can upload your files to these platforms and listen to them via the corresponding apps, merely as though you would stream music regularly. Yet, these services have slightly dissimilar approaches than Play Music, so here's what y'all need to watch out for.

YouTube Music

If you don't mind the YouTube Music interface, information technology'due south the nearly straightforward solution you could promise for. You don't need to create a new account, yous can merely keep using your Google login. For a limited time, you could even directly move your files from Play Music to the newer platform. In one case you've uploaded your files to YouTube Music, you'll discover 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 bachelor on the streaming platform. When you lot search for your uploaded songs, you always have to switch from the YT Music tab to the Uploadssection, a separation that also divides the library when you lot manually roll through your songs. When you sort your library by artist and want to see someone'southward albums, y'all're out of luck: You lot can just see an overview of all songs when y'all go this route.

Yous also lose the dedicated desktop uploading tool that Play Music had. When yous desire to add new files to YouTube Music, you lot have to elevate and drop information technology on the service'south website or rely on an unofficial third-political party service.

YouTube Music is a calendar month if you desire to access the streaming service portion of the service without ads, simply the online locker is gratuitous and doesn't have ads if you lot only desire access to your own files.

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

Apple Music

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

To access your music on an Android device, you'll have to pay $10 a calendar month for Apple Music, but the digital locker portion of the service called iTunes Lucifer is also available standalone for $25 a year if yous but use Apple tree products.

iBroadcast

iBroadcast may not have the prettiest interface, simply if yous but desire admission to your uploaded songs wherever you are, it might be the best solution. The complimentary service lets you store an unlimited corporeality of files, comes with Android and iOS apps on summit of the web app, supports Chromecast, and has some intelligent Spotify-like playlists. The privately funded Seattle company behind information technology promises that it 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 actress features to stay afloat in the long term.

iBroadcast fifty-fifty has desktopand Android apps that monitor your folders for new music. If your files don't come with the correct metadata, yous can accommodate information technology later the fact — a Play Music feature YouTube Music never got. At that place'due south as well Chromecast support.

Y'all can sign up for the service hither.

Media Leap

Media Leap is a recently launched Canadian service that allows yous to upload up to 1TB of your own songs on its servers for free. It then lets yous stream that music to up to five devices via a web interface and mobile apps, and you can download songs to your telephone for offline listening. In dissimilarity to the other services presented here, Media Leap notwithstanding feels pretty rough around the edges when it comes to the interface, simply streaming itself worked without bug for me. Be aware that a lot of features you usually have for granted are merely slated for later, every bit a spokesperson told united states of america. The team is working on a proper queue, Chromecast back up, an equalizer, boosted file formats such as m4a and aac (only mp3, ogg, and flac are supported right now), one-click album and artist downloads, mass metadata editing, duplicate song checking, and a light mode.

When you sign up, the service will inquire you to add your habitation address and phone number, but yous don't have to fill up out these details — you just need to enter your name, email, and countersign and continue setup. If you demand more than 1TB of storage, you lot tin can sign up for a $5 monthly programme — that's when you do need to enter more of your personal information. In the future, the company will "well-nigh probable" add together ads for free users, so you might take to pay the subscription fee in the long term if yous want to avert that.

Deezer

Deezer isn't our go-to solution as information technology just lets you upload a maximum of 2,000 MP3 files. That limit means information technology'due south only suitable for people who desire to augment the service'south catalog with a select few titles. Like in YouTube Music, your own files are subconscious abroad and aren't seamlessly integrated with Deezer'due south library. They only testify up in an extra section in the desktop app, subconscious away under Favorites in the sidebar -> More -> My MP3s(which is besides where y'all upload files). In the Android app, you lot'll only observe your uploaded titles under Favoritesin the bottom bar ->Playlists -> My MP3s.Deezer tin be set as the default audio provider on Google Abode and Nest devices, the but service in this list to support it other than YouTube Music — which is our main reason for including it in this roundup.

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

Cloud-hosted digital lockers

Some people might non be comfortable with uploading their music to an unknown online location and might just desire a better experience when they heed to music added to their existing cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or their ain server. That'southward where the following 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-like fashion in one case you've synced your library.

The basic functionality is free, merely if you often add together music to your deject library, y'all might want to pay for the $4/month or $24/year premium subscription. It allows you lot to sync automatically or as often equally you want to instead of only one time all 3 days. Astiga is officially available on Android and the web, simply in that location are 3rd-party and experimental apps for other platforms. You can read more almost information technology and sign upward here.

CloudBeats

Like Astiga, CloudBeats is an app that connects to a deject storage service or your ain server and lets you 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 ship music to a Chromecast target, you need to pay a one-fourth dimension fee of $vi.99.

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

CloudPlayer

CloudPlayer's arroyo is almost identical to CloudBeats'. The Android app connects to your OneDrive, Dropbox, and/or Google Drive storage and organizes recognized audio files in a library. You can comb through the library past album, creative person, playlists, genres, songs, or playlists. You as well get access to online radios. If you don't like the default light theme, you tin modify it, and there are quite a few more options in settings if you lot don't like some design decisions or the default playback behavior.

A $vii.99 in-app purchase gives yous more features like a 10-ring equalizer, loudness normalization, gapless playback, Chromecast and AirPlay support, and an ad-free radio feel. There's no iOS app — the CloudPlayer Android app is the only mode to get.

Muzecast

Muzecast is another solution when you desire to access your ain files in the cloud, and it's very much similar to the others listed hither. You tin can stream content from your computer, Dropbox, or OneDrive. The player supports the usual DRM-free file types. Lossless streaming of upwards to 24/192 KHz is available, songs are cached on your Android device, it has a built-in equalizer, and playlists can be synchronized beyond Android phones and even other apps that back up M3U and WPL. Muzecast is also available on Android Auto, Vesture Os, and Android Tv. It works with Chromecast.

I personally dislike the design, only some people might enjoy its out-of-the-box retro expect. There'southward a free, ad-supported version of Muzecast and a $vii.99 advertizement-free variant. The Android Television app costs $iv.77.

Self-hosted digital lockers

Hither are a few solutions that simply piece of work with servers or computers situated in your home or your webspace.

Plex

You've probably already heard of the habitation entertainment managing director Plex that organizes media stored on your estimator 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 and then on. It offers cute clients for most all of your devices.

Plex recently launched a standalone music player called Plexamp. Information technology's amidst the prettier solutions with a design that takes cues from Soundcloud and Spotify, written in responsive and mod React Native code. You demand to pay a calendar month to employ it, but yous can also test the regular gratuitous Plex app before committing.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a completely free and open up-source culling to Plex, built on the at present proprietary Emby media server. Its Android app isn't as pretty every bit Plexamp, but it absolutely doesn't have to hide its face, either. Y'all tin install the host software on your computer or a server, and one time you lot've got everything indexed, you're set up to go. Jellyfin lets you lot download offline copies of your media when you're out and about, there'southward Chromecast support, an Android Television app, and, most recently, an Android Auto interface.

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

Personally, I don't recollect any of these services nails music storage as well every bit Play Music did — Google'due south service but had the all-time integration between your uploaded files and the streaming catalog. The solutions listed here are either only really good as streaming services or as storage solutions for music you already ain. Unfortunately, there'south no turning dorsum now that Play Music is discontinued, and so you'll take to settle for 1 of these. Of class, you can likewise manually motility your music to your phone and employ a player like Phonograph.

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

Added more than 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 force, he's probably out and about as a videographer.

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