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

Real online digital lockers

The first category is a collection of services that replicate Play Music'south feature prepare most 1:1 — you can upload your files to these platforms and listen to them via the corresponding apps, only equally though you would stream music regularly. However, these services accept slightly different approaches than Play Music, so here'due south what yous need to spotter out for.

YouTube Music

If you don't mind the YouTube Music interface, it'southward the most straightforward solution you lot could promise for. Y'all don't need to create a new account, y'all tin can just continue using your Google login. For a limited time, you could fifty-fifty directly movement your files from Play Music to the newer platform. Once yous've uploaded your files to YouTube Music, you'll detect that there are some significant differences when it comes to library management and adding new songs, though.

YouTube Music strictly separates uploaded music from music bachelor on the streaming platform. When y'all search for your uploaded songs, you always have to switch from the YT Music tab to the Uploadssection, a separation that besides divides the library when you manually scroll through your songs. When y'all sort your library by creative person and want to see someone'south albums, you're out of luck: You can but see an overview of all songs when y'all get this route.

You also lose the dedicated desktop uploading tool that Play Music had. When you lot want to add new files to YouTube Music, you have to drag and drop it on the service'south website or rely on an unofficial third-party service.

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

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

Apple Music

If you can't stand YouTube Music at all, yous might want to give Apple Music a attempt. 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 search, then that's a limitation y'all'll take to live with.

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

iBroadcast

iBroadcast may not have the prettiest interface, simply if you only want admission to your uploaded songs wherever yous are, information technology might be the best solution. The free service lets you store an unlimited amount of files, comes with Android and iOS apps on tiptop of the 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 data (nosotros'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 right metadata, you can suit it after the fact — a Play Music feature YouTube Music never got. There'south also Chromecast support.

You can sign upward for the service here.

Media Bound

Media Leap is a recently launched Canadian service that allows yous to upload upwards to 1TB of your ain songs on its servers for free. Information technology then lets you lot stream that music to up to five devices via a web interface and mobile apps, and you can download songs to your phone for offline listening. In contrast to the other services presented here, Media Leap withal feels pretty rough around the edges when it comes to the interface, simply streaming itself worked without issues for me. Be enlightened that a lot of features you ordinarily take for granted are only slated for afterward, as a spokesperson told u.s.a.. 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 at present), one-click album and creative person downloads, mass metadata editing, indistinguishable vocal checking, and a light mode.

When y'all sign upwardly, the service will ask you lot to add together your home address and phone number, but you don't take to fill up out these details — you merely need to enter your name, email, and password and continue setup. If y'all demand more than 1TB of storage, yous can sign up for a $5 monthly programme — that's when you exercise need to enter more of your personal data. In the time to come, the company will "most probable" add ads for gratis users, so you might have to pay the subscription fee in the long term if you desire to avoid that.

Deezer

Deezer isn't our go-to solution as it merely lets you upload a maximum of 2,000 MP3 files. That limit means information technology's only suitable for people who want to augment the service'due south catalog with a select few titles. Like in YouTube Music, your own files are hidden away and aren't seamlessly integrated with Deezer's library. They only prove upwardly in an actress section in the desktop app, hidden away under Favorites in the sidebar -> More -> My MP3s(which is also where y'all upload files). In the Android app, you'll only find your uploaded titles under Favoritesin the bottom bar ->Playlists -> My MP3s.Deezer can be set up as 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 chief reason for including it in this roundup.

You need to pay for the /month premium subscription to access the online locker, which will likewise give you admission 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 just desire a ameliorate feel when they mind to music added to their existing cloud services similar Dropbox, Google Bulldoze, OneDrive, Box, or their own 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-similar fashion in one case 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/calendar month or $24/twelvemonth premium subscription. It allows you to sync automatically or as oft as y'all want to instead of only one time all three days. Astiga is officially bachelor on Android and the web, but there are third-political party and experimental apps for other platforms. You can read more about it and sign up here.

CloudBeats

Like 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 basic functionality is free, but if you want to download files to your telephone through the app or transport music to a Chromecast target, you lot demand to pay a i-time fee of $half-dozen.99.

In contrast to the other options listed hither, CloudBeats is simply bachelor on Android and iOS. You'll need to use another player on your desktop to heed to your songs in that location, so you might see roadblocks when y'all desire 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 rummage through the library by album, creative person, playlists, genres, songs, or playlists. You besides get admission to online radios. If you don't like the default lite theme, you can change information technology, and there are quite a few more options in settings if y'all don't like some design decisions or the default playback behavior.

A $vii.99 in-app purchase gives yous more features similar a x-band equalizer, loudness normalization, gapless playback, Chromecast and AirPlay back up, and an ad-free radio experience. There's no iOS app — the CloudPlayer Android app is the only way to become.

Muzecast

Muzecast is some other solution when you want to access your own files in the cloud, and it'south very much similar to the others listed here. You can stream content from your calculator, Dropbox, or OneDrive. The player supports the usual DRM-gratis 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 can be synchronized across Android phones and even other apps that support M3U and WPL. Muzecast is besides bachelor on Android Machine, Wear Os, and Android Tv set. It works with Chromecast.

I personally dislike the design, but some people might enjoy its out-of-the-box retro expect. In that location's a complimentary, advert-supported version of Muzecast and a $7.99 ad-costless variant. The Android TV app costs $4.77.

Self-hosted digital lockers

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

Plex

Y'all've probably already heard of the domicile entertainment manager Plex that organizes media stored on your estimator or server — deject services aren't supported (anymore). It wants to exist a i-finish solution for all of your media files similar music, films, TV shows, pictures, and so on. It offers cute clients for almost all of your devices.

Plex recently launched a standalone music player called Plexamp. It's among 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 month to use information technology, but you can also test the regular costless Plex app before committing.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a completely complimentary 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 hibernate its confront, either. You lot tin can install the host software on your calculator or a server, and once you've got everything indexed, you're prepare to get. Jellyfin lets you download offline copies of your media when you're out and well-nigh, in that location'south Chromecast support, an Android Television app, and, nigh recently, an Android Auto interface.

Jellyfin doesn't accept native support for cloud storage services, but there are solutions if you actually want to. To get started, you demand to install the server application 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 betwixt your uploaded files and the streaming catalog. The solutions listed here are either simply really good every bit streaming services or equally storage solutions for music you already own. Unfortunately, there's no turning back now that Play Music is discontinued, so you'll take to settle for 1 of these. Of course, y'all can as well manually move your music to your phone and utilise a player like Phonograph.

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

Added more services

Added Media Bound.

Thank you: DonPorazzo, ikeofkc, Oleg Vorkunov

Near The Author

Manuel Vonau (1639 Articles Published)

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

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