The best music streaming services 2023: Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Qobuz, more

Editor’s Note, July 2023

Tidal, Apple Music and Amazon Music HD still take the top three spots in our best music streaming services guide, because although Spotify is outrageously popular (and its newest AI DJ feature is proving just as much of a hit across the pond as it is in the US), it’s still limited to lossy, compressed audio files. Many of its rivals now offer both CD-quality and hi-res streams.

If you’re a fan of classical music, Apple Music was our top recommendation thanks to Apple Music Classical until recently (also, check out Apple Music Sing after you’ve warmed up those vocal chords!) but now we’ve heard Qobuz and, well, we like those hi-res files and downloads. We like ’em a lot… 

Becky Scarrott – Senior Staff Writer, Audio

Gone are the days of downloading and organising extensive MP3 music collections (mostly – although some of us still have plenty of love for the iPod Classic). Time marches on and today, the best music streaming services make music and podcasts more accessible than ever before. These services can completely transform your listening experience, with millions of tracks at your fingertips and across all of your devices, streamed wirelessly, with playlist creation tools and personalized recommendations.

Spotify used to be the flagship – and at one point, only – streaming option, thanks to its vast library and easy-to-use platform. But it has serious competition in 2023. Spotify’s been promising high-res audio for some time but has yet to deliver it, while services such Tidal, Apple Music, and Amazon Music HD offer much better audio quality.