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Cheapest music streaming service: Uncovering the best value tips to listen for less in 2023
Navigating Spotify’s recent price increase? Fear not, there are plenty of ways to get the cheapest music streaming services. From exploring free trials and student discounts to employing technology tactics such as VPNs, you can continue enjoying premium services for cheap prices. Read on for a concise guide to substantial savings with music subscriptions.
Premium subscriptions can sometimes be a bit pricey. There’s just been a Spotify UK price increase, so now is the right time to look at how you can save some money on your music subscription. If you want to read more about the different music streaming subscriptions on offer, check out our music streaming services comparison guide where we list our top picks and all the information you need to choose where you stream your music.
There are several ways to get the cheapest music streaming services. In this guide, we’ll cover free music streaming, free trials, student and family subscriptions, and hacks to save cash such as using a VPN. So if you want to still enjoy the ad-free listening, offline downloads, and high-quality audio that premium offers, read on. Here are some tips to save cash!
- Sign up for free accounts
- Exploit free trials for music streaming services
- Get a student account
- Sign up for family accounts
- Find special music streaming offers
- Use tricks to get cheaper music streaming
- FAQs
Sign up for free accounts
First, let’s state the obvious – there are free accounts on some music streaming services but not all. Music streaming subscriptions can be expensive and if you don’t fancy spending around £10 or more each month or spending too much time with money-saving hacks, simply make the most of the free music streaming accounts. These streaming services offer a free account:
- Spotify
- Deezer
- SoundCloud
- BBC Sounds
- YouTube Music
Advantages
- Free – you’ll save a lot of money
- No need to sign up and give payment details
- Access to millions of songs, podcasts, and more
- Ability to create, share and discover playlists as well as to listen to podcasts all for free
Disadvantages
- A lot of ads
- Inability to download tracks to play offline
- Limits on tracks you can choose to play yourself
- Almost constant shuffle mode – can’t choose everything you listen to
- You could just use a radio, it gives you more or less a similar effect
What you need to know
- The only details you need to give are email, name, date of birth and your address to sign up for most free accounts.
- Don’t need to give payment details needed.
- No subscription is needed, just create an account with your email address.
- Stream away to your heart’s content.
- If you are more of a casual listener then think of a free account much like the old-school radio – you get your music to listen to in the background albeit with ad breaks here and there.
Exploit free trials for music streaming services
If you’re willing to keep signing up and cancelling in time, as well as constantly changing your music streaming provider, then you can get over a year’s worth of music for free. Make the most of free trials on offer by different music apps, and then you won’t pay a thing. Remember to cancel the trials before the end though, as they auto-renew and you’ll be stuck paying the monthly fee.
Advantages
- Free music streaming
- All features available
- Access to premium account so no restrictions on your listening
- You can try streaming services before committing to a subscription
- All of the major music apps offer free trials at some point
- There are often special discounts that see trial lengths extended to three or even six months
Disadvantages
- Most free trials require properly signing up and essentially subscribing
- You have to give payment details when singing up
- Must cancel before subscription fee is charged
- Hassle to keep subscribing and cancelling in time
- Sadly, most can only be used once
- Usually only for new users
What you need to know
- It’s simple – just cancel in time, before your subscription auto-renews.
- You can enjoy free music streaming, with a premium subscription so no annoying ads or restrictions.
- Subscriptions will automatically renew after the trial period.
- Most free trials are only for new users.
- Check the terms and conditions of the free trial before signing up.
Free trials available
Spotify
Spotify UK tends to offer regular deals and free trials to new users through many collaborations with brands and partners. Here at hotukdeals, we are always on the hunt for a bargain so you can keep up with all the latest Spotify deals. We’ve collected some of the best free trial offers currently out there to get free Spotify Premium:
- 1-month free trial for new users
- 3 months free when signing up using PayPal
- 4 months free with selected Argos purchases
Tidal
There aren’t often many deals for Tidal, but luckily enough for you there is one available now:
- 30 days free for new users
Apple Music
Apple Music offers a wide selection of music and other content, you can enjoy it for free with an Apple Music free trial:
- 3 months free for new users
- 6 months with an Apple purchase
Deezer
Deezer offers a two-month free trial for new users, after the two months are up you’ll have to pay the standard price but don’t forget – you can always cancel before your subscription renews for the third month:
- 2 months free for new users
SoundCloud
Listeners can get a 30-day free trial for SoundCloud Go or Go+, giving you access to their huge catalogue for nothing if you cancel in time:
Amazon Music
Amazon regularly offers free trials to its users:
- 30 days free for new users
- 90 days free with selected Amazon purchases
YouTube Music
New customers can make the most of this YouTube Music free trial:
- 1-month free trial for new users
Get a student account
Students can benefit from cheap music streaming services. Pretty much all music streaming services offer around about 50% off the standard subscription rate. Be sure to take a look for the best offers before buying, check out our article on getting the best music streaming subscriptions. Here are the top platforms’ prices:
Advantages
- Half the price of a standard subscription
- Huge savings
- Simple to use discount
- Access all premium features for half the price
Disadvantages
- Must be a student
- Have to renew student status each semester
- Autorenewal can charge you full price if you don’t update your details in time
What you need to know
- Note that to make the most of these student prices you will have to prove you are a student. This is usually a simple process though, all you will have to do is sign in to your university portal as proof
- Don’t forget to log in to your account and update your student status each semester otherwise, you will be charged the usual premium rate which is double the price!
- Discount works for students enrolled in the UK or abroad
- The cheapest music streaming service for students and the best in our opinion would be a Tidal subscription for only £4.99 it’s a bargain for such high-quality music and a huge catalogue
Student discounts available
Spotify
- Spotify student account: £5.99
Tidal
- Tidal student account: £4.99
Apple Music
- Apple Music student account: £5.99
Deezer
- Deezer student account: £5.99
SoundCloud
- SoundCloud Student account: £4.99
Amazon Music
- Amazon Music student account: £5.99
YouTube Music
- YouTube Music student account: £4.99
Sign up for family accounts
Most of the streaming services offer a family account, which normally means up to six users at once. Spotify also has a Duo account for two people living together so still a great deal. However, for Duo or family plans one of you must be the main account holder and everyone else is a passive user, which might become annoying if someone stops paying their share. Here’s an overview of all the information you need on family plans and those on offer:
Advantages
- You’ll save a lot of money, with most family accounts it works out to about a couple of quid each. For example, Apple Music’s family account allows six users, at £16.99 per month, so it works out as give or take £2.80 each per month.
- You don’t need to be a family, friends or flatmates work too.
- It works out as the cheaper option even for smaller families.
Disadvantages
- One person has to pay the fee and you have to rely on others to pay you their share.
- For most family subscriptions, everyone must share the same address.
- To be cost-effective everyone has to be using their accounts, if only a couple of people of the six total accounts actually use their account then it may not be worth paying the fee each month.
What you need to know
- Have to have one main account holder who pays for the subscription.
- Most offer up to six accounts.
- You must live at the same address for most subscriptions.
- Tidal Music is the best family music streaming service deal in the UK – what a bargain at £14.99 for up to six accounts, making it only £2.44 each. So in this Spotify vs Tidal, Tidal wins for having a great value family account.
Family accounts available
Spotify
- Spotify Family Plan (up to six users): £17.99
- Spotify Duo Account (for two users): £14.99
Tidal
- Tidal family account (up to six users): £14.99
Apple Music
- Apple Music family account (up to six users): £16.99
Deezer
- Deezer family account (up to six users): £17.99
SoundCloud
- SoundCloud don’t offer a family account
Amazon Music
- Amazon Music family account (up to six users): £16.99
YouTube Music
- YouTube Music family account (up to five users): £14.99
Find special music streaming offers
The main music streaming services in the UK will have collaborations with other companies, to offer services for cheap or for free. Here are some of the hottest deals out there right now:
Spotify
- Buy Apple AirPods from Argos and get a four-month Spotify free trial with your purchase
- Get Spotify Premium for three months when signing up for Microsoft Awards
Apple Music
- If you are an EE pay monthly user, you can get a six-month free trial of Apple Music with unlimited music downloads
- Sign up for Currys Perks and get a three-month Apple Music free trial and other Apple services including TV+, Fitness and Arcade
- Selected O2 Priority users can get up to three months free with some able to get a six-month free trial depending on terms and conditions
Deezer
- Pay for a year’s subscription in one go and save some cash overall.
Use tricks to get cheaper music streaming
Saving cash on your music subscription has never been easier, here we’ve collated a few of our top tips and tricks on how to get the cheapest music streaming services and subscriptions:
Multiple email addresses
For the majority of music apps free trials or discounts are only available to new subscribers, this means that once you sign up for a trial once it’s often hard (but not impossible) to do it again. Using multiple email addresses can get around this.
First, some music streaming services do allow you to use the same email address to register for another free trial so it’s always worth a try. Secondly, of course, you can always just use another email address. It sounds too simple, but for the majority of trials even if you sign up using the same name but a different email it will work.
Advantages
- Can get free trials more than once by using a different email and creating another account.
- Don’t have to pay a thing.
- If free trials are only available for new customers you can get around this by using another email.
Disadvantages
- It’s worth bearing in mind that you won’t be able to carry over any of your playlists from your old account. But this is a small trade-off for a free music subscription.
- It’s a lot of hassle having to make a new account every time.
What you need to know
- Always check the terms and conditions of the streaming service, some may not allow the same person to have multiple accounts, even using different email addresses.
VPN hacks
It’s a well-known hack by now but subscribing to a music app via a VPN (Virtual Private Network) can save you a pretty penny. Tidal, Spotify and Apple Music often offer discounted subscription prices to users in other countries, all you need to do is set your VPN to that country and sign up.
For these types of deals, they may not be as straightforward as they seem so it’s always worth reading other people’s experience with them. Here at hotukdeals, we’re proud to boast an awesome community of deal hunters, so check the comments of offers and discussions to clear up any questions you might have. We have a recent discussion on how to get your music subscriptions for less, make sure to give it a read-over to save some cash.
Advantages
- Pay a fraction of the price for a subscription
- Keep your account as usual, no need to keep cancelling before a free trial runs out
Disadvantages
- Hassle to sign up for a music streaming service on another country’s website
- Your account will be registered in another country
- Please note, this method may not work for everyone. For example, Spotify’s Terms of Service disallows ‘artificially manipulating location’
What you need to know
- As of August 2023, Turkey has one of the cheapest Spotify subscriptions in the world, coming in at 39,99 Turkish Lira or a mere £1.16 a month
- Using a VPN changes your IP address meaning you can get around a website’s geoblocking
- You will need to sign up for a VPN subscription
- Be aware that you may need to periodically connect to your Turkish VPN server to validate your Spotify subscription; however, for actual streaming, you can disconnect from the VPN once a subscription is active
How to use a VPN to get cheap music streaming
At the moment it works out insanely cheap to subscribe to Spotify in Turkey, costing little more than £1 a month. Streaming music services like Spotify adjust their subscription prices based on location, and with a VPN, you can tap into regions offering more affordable rates. You can use a VPN for other music streaming platforms too such as Apple Music or Tidal. But proceed with caution and recognise that your account could be suspended or terminated for violations. We’ve put together a quick how-to for subscribing to Turkish Spotify as an example of how to use a VPN for music streaming, the steps shouldn’t differ too much for other platforms.
- Choose a reliable VPN service
Make sure to select a VPN that offers servers in the country of the cheap subscription, for example, Turkey. Some popular choices that we would recommend include SurfShark, PureVPN, and NordVPN due to their reputation and server coverage.
- Install the VPN and connect to the country’s server
Install the app on your device. Once you’ve signed into your VPN, select a server based in the desired country.
- Create a new account on the music platform
If you already have an account for example with Spotify, it won’t be eligible for a location switch to Turkey for a cheaper rate. You’ll need to make a new account while your VPN is activated and set to a Turkish server.
- Subscribe
Whilst using your VPN for the desired IP address, create an account and subscribe. For example, with the Turkish IP address from your VPN, navigate to Spotify’s website and sign up for a subscription.
- Payment method
Here comes the tricky part. Certain music streaming platforms may only accept payment methods native to the region you’re trying to subscribe from. If your usual credit card isn’t accepted, you might opt for virtual, prepaid cards that can be used internationally or pay using PayPal (if available in the region).
FAQs
What is the cheapest music streaming service?
One of the cheapest music streaming services around with the best value for money is SoundCloud. Subscribing to SoundCloud Go is £9.99 and gives you access to over 320 million tracks, making it one of the biggest music libraries in the business and potentially the best music streaming service. There’s also Tidal and YouTube Music offering music subscriptions for £9.99.
What is the cheapest way to stream music?
Without a doubt, the cheapest way to stream music is to use a free account with Spotify, Deezer, SoundCloud or YouTube. There’s also BBC Sounds which is completely free to all users with a TV Licence.
What are the best free music streaming services?
Most music streaming platforms offer a free version, including Spotify, SoundCloud, Deezer, BBC Sounds and YouTube Music. Spotify ranks as the top free music streaming service due to its huge library and personalised playlists.
Is Tidal free?
No, there’s no free option with a Tidal account so you have to sign up and subscribe. The good news is that sometimes there is a free trial for new subscribers, all of the latest Tidal deals are listed at hotukdeals.
Is Apple Music free?
No, Apple Music doesn’t offer a free version. Sometimes there’s an Apple Music free trial on offer so be sure to check out hotukdeals for these and other music streaming offers.
Here at hotukdeals, we are constantly on the lookout for new music streaming offers, be sure to check out the latest discussion amongst our community about the cheapest music streaming service and how to save on subscriptions.
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