Best online services for free music streaming

With high-quality music available for free though these cool services, there's no need for piracy at all. ET compares some of your best options available on the web & mobile


DHINGANA

Dhingana offers a large selection of music in regional languages including Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Bhojpuri and in genres like bhajans, ghazals, remixes, meditation and so. If you sign-up for an account, you can create and share playlists as well as discover what your friends are listening to.

PROS: User-controlled audio quality, no sign up required, genre-specific songs easily sorted from main screen, controls on lock screen

CONS: Buffering a song takes time, visible advertisements in the music player, user cannot switch between accounts

GAANA

With music in over 21 languages and a database of more than a million songs, the revamped Gaana is making a big splash. Once you log-in to your account you can sync your playlists across the web and all connected devices. The feature-rich interface makes it easy to discover and search for songs of your choice. (Listen to free online music at Gaana.com)

PROS: International music collection, instant song playback, multiple ways to discover and search for music, share songs using third party apps

CONS: No buffer progress bar, user cannot select audio quality, no lock screen controls, iffy search sometimes shows irrelevant results


HUNGAMA MYPLAY

Hungama offers over 4,50,000 songs, videos, ringtones and wallpapers but the cluttered interface makes it difficult to find updated content. Search is accessible only though the options interface and thankfully, shows relevant results. However, there is no option to get detailed artist or album information.

PROS: Immediate playback and super fast buffer, offers audio as well as video content, excellent search functionality, high quality video stream

CONS: Advertisements play each time the app opens or exits, in app advertisements, no selectable audio quality, cannot skip ahead or back in a song

RAAGA

Raaga offers music in 18 languages but no international content. You also need to go through a time-consuming signup & activation process after which you can have playlists synced between your device and web portal. The interface is easy-to-use but slow when navigating between menus.

PROS: Easy-to-use interface, fast search, on-screen volume controls, 'shake to skip' feature lets you skip songs using the device's accelerometer

CONS: Compulsory sign-up required, no login via Facebook, slow interface, cannot adjust streaming audio quality, not much new content

SAAVN

With Saavn, you need to first select a language to see songs. You can view either new releases or weekly top 15-songs from the main window. The app automatically adds all the songs you select into a playlist visible under the music player — making it easier to keep a track of your library.

PROS: User controlled audio quality (highest quality is 128 kbps), playlist synced between app and web portal, song buffer indicator

CONS: In-app advertisements, no way to browse through different genres, no international content, no social network discovery or sharing

IF YOU WANT to purchase songs for offline listening, you can buy whole albums or individual songs from places like Flyte, iTunes, Nokia Music, Raaga and Hungama. Prices per song usually range from Rs 6 to 15.

AUDIO STREAMING doesn't completely do away with piracy. In-line audio recorders like SmartRecorder or MooO can record any music stream that you're playing on your computer.

THE BITRATE of a song is directly related to audio quality: higher the bitrate, higher the quality. The problem arises because a high bitrate song also leads to higher data usage. A balance between the two is hard to find.

CREATING PLAYLISTS is the easiest way to keep track of the music you want. So, pick one of the services, sign in, create your playlists and your music will be the same on all your devices.