Music has been around us forever. Since man discovered tunes and created instruments to make sound, music came to life. Then technology took over and instead of listening to live music, people began listening to it on their MP3s, MP4s, and phones. Now, music is available on almost every device, even treadmills!

That’s how versatile music devices and platforms have become. However, when the topic for application comes up, people have mixed opinions. Some tilt in favor of free music applications while the rest prefer paid ones. Of course, both of them have their relevance but free music applications might just take the cake here.

There are various websites that usually talk about music streaming applications and they are all paid music applications. The thing with paid applications is, although they work very well, not everyone has the ability to afford them. On the other hand, a free music app is convenient and requires no charges.

How Music Makes You Calm

In the era we live, people are stressed most of the time. This stress often stems from what people do, which includes their job, education, and basically their lives. However, what people don’t know is stress release.

Releasing stress can be a difficult thing to do, especially if you don’t have the time and energy to learn about it. But music is something that everyone understands without doing or thinking much. So much so that when a song starts, people’s feet automatically start tapping the floor. Have you ever been a part of something like this or seen it happen?

Music can contribute to stress release. While different genres of music have different effects on people, most types of music can calm people and make them feel better.

Free Versus Paid Music Applications

There are two types of music applications: paid and free. While both of these types are found in large numbers out there, a handful of them run the whole show.

When it comes to paid applications, Spotify is the most popular. When we talk about free music applications, Soundcloud, YouTube, and others come to mind. But which one is better? How is a free music app amazing?

Benefits of Free Music Apps

A free music app isn’t exactly free. Technically, the user does not have to pay a dime but most “free” music apps have this one thing going for them. Most of these applications follow a model that requires maintenance and upkeep. It’s why the businesses running them need funding.

The apps are funded by ads. You must have heard or come across different kinds of ads on these websites and applications. They run the show. This is a win-win situation, for both the business and the consumer. The consumer does not have to pay a dime, and the business can operate and make some profits on the side as well. The first most obvious benefit of a free music app is that it’s free.

Secondly, free music applications are mostly simple to use. There’s no denying that paid music applications are simple as well, but they come with features and technicalities that may not be that easy for simple people to understand.

While youngsters who regularly use applications and are tech-savvy can easily learn any application in a day or two, it is not always easy for older people. Suppose a 60-year-old grandfather wants to listen to an old song from his time. Would he rather go through a paid music application, insert his credit card details, then sign up for the free trial, search his song and listen to it? Or would he just stream it on YouTube or Netflix without a hassle? The answer should be quite obvious here.

Affordability

If you know your paid music applications, you must know about Spotify. It is the most popular paid music application, but it is for a reason. Lately, they allowed each individual to add 10,000 songs in their personal library. It’s doubtful whether someone can actually listen to 10,000 songs, let alone add them to their personal library.

Well, it can be argued that applications such as Spotify provide real-time experience and top-notch features to their esteemed customers. Due to which, their prices seem justified. However, someone who just wants to hear a song or some beats to relax may not want to commit to long-term payments.

The thing with these paid applications is that they ask for monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and annual payments. These payments are made in totality before the user actually hears the songs. This might be affordable for some people, but not everyone can hack their budgets to listen to songs.

Artists

Downloading music is not only unethical, but it is also illegal. It is also immoral to upload tracks and playlists of artists on websites and applications without their permissions. All artists work hard to produce songs. Singers, composers, song makers, and so many people are involved in producing a single song.

So it is only right for artists and singers to receive their hard work back in the form of money. But there are actually applications and places where their songs are uploaded without their permission. Let’s take a closer look at them.

YouTube

YouTube has more than 60 million songs. That in itself is a very huge number. Out of these 60 million songs, not all are uploaded by singers and their real accounts. Some are uploaded by random people, who get penalized by YouTube every now and then. Their videos are taken down and removed for posting someone else’s music without their permission.

Soundcloud

Soundcloud racks more than 125 million songs, just slightly ahead of YouTube. Jokes apart, Soundcloud has more songs because it is a place where a random person can find more covers and recorded songs. Yes, there are real songs sung by real artists and singers as well, and they are posted under their own name, by the same person. But they’re not accessible everywhere.

Still, Soundcloud provides an opportunity to hear free music and is a very popular free music app.

Takeaways

All and all, free music applications are amazing. Not only are they beneficial for the people but they help the people running them too. It is like taking care of two birds with one stone. However, there is no circumstance where downloading songs illegally is acceptable, it is still wrong. A free music application works as long as it has permission from the singer to feature their songs.