Music streaming app development: everything you need to know

Music streaming apps are changing the way we listen to music.

Gone is the time when people used to sit, relax, and listen to their favorite songs recorded on cassettes and tapes. Even the craze for music CDs has reduced amongst the masses – all thanks to digital music applications.

With almost everything becoming digitally available, the needs and demands of consumers have changed considerably. For everything you need or want to do, you can easily find a mobile application in the online app stores.

Even to enjoy music, the app-loving generation has several popular music apps available to them.

Music streaming statistics for 2019 and beyond

Here are a few music streaming statistics for 2019 that help you understand the demand of the music streaming industry and its growth:

Looking at the revolution taking place in the music industry, it becomes vital to develop your music streaming app.

If you are passionate enough to create a music app in the world, here is what you need to know first –

Best music streaming apps in the music streaming market

After the trend of playing music through CDs was gone, the shift turned towards getting the songs downloaded into smartphones or other devices for easy access.

But, then another significant shift happened towards online music streaming. Very few people now want to have their favorite songs downloaded to their phones. One reason is that the device memory is limited, while there is no limit to how many songs an individual may like to listen.
Music streaming apps can be considered the next big thing in the world of music.

Before planning to make a music streaming app, you should know about the prime competitors in the market.

As per the DigitalTrends , here are the best music streaming apps-

Spotify

Apple music

Pandora

SoundCloud

Tidal

With this quick glimpse over the popular music streaming apps, you now have an idea about the competition that exists. To stay ahead, your app must have some features that make it unique and better for the end-users.

Now, let’s move on to some other important aspect of music app creation.

Things to consider while creating a music streaming app

Music app development is not an easy task, and you need to consider several different aspects of it before making any final decision.

Here are a few significant things you should keep in mind–

1. Identify the type of music app you want to get developed

Your app can be some sort of online music library which its users can access either free or with a paid subscription. Similarly, it can just be a platform for users to upload their music files and stream them wherever and whenever they want. You can even have all such features all together in your app as well.

2. List down the features that you want in your music app

Accordingly, the choice of a suitable app development technology needs to be made. For that, our app development experts can help you with the same. Also, how the navigation will flow and other functionalities need to be discussed.

3. Think about the backend storage facility where the music files streaming on your app will get saved

You can choose cloud-based servers or stream from existing music apps such as Spotify using their APIs. Dig deeper to know about the pros and cons of every possibility. Talk to our experts if you think this can be helpful.

4. Find a reliable app development company

The app development company with prior experience in developing music or video streaming apps can help you develop the competitive on-demand app.

Prime features of a music streaming application

For your music app to be loved by the targeted audience or users, it should be built with certain essential features.

Here are the standard features you must have in your music streaming app-

1. User registration and identity check

If you have a business plan in mind associated with your music app, you won’t allow just anyone to use your app.

This is what makes user registration and log-in one of the basic features of your music app.

After successful registration of a user, it is equally important to authenticate the user identity. These days, it can be done by implementing social media authentication, email or mobile number authentication.

Once it is all done, a user can then enter into your app to access the other features it has been developed with.

Later, you can start to offer premium features of your app to generate revenue.

2. Music search

After entering into your app, a user expects it to have a search feature using which he can search for the songs he wants to play or stream.

So, the next significant feature of your music streaming app should be its music search filter.

This search filter should be able to search for a song by the artist name, album name, genre, production house, film name, or even by the song itself.

A next-level add-on feature that you can get developed with the help of the latest technology such as AI, etc. is about making music recommendations to the users. As per their previous search history or the defined choices of music, the app can show their music files to play and listen.

3. Playlist creation

Most of the music lovers want to create playlists of the songs they would love to listen to again and again. Similarly, some people want to create different playlists of music files from different genres to be played as per mood.

This calls for the development of this user-centric feature in your music app.

Self-created playlists within the app will make it easier for the users to find and play their favorite songs. It eliminates the need to search for a song again and again to some extent.

4. Social media connect

Social media channels have become part of everyone’s life. People love to create a post on their profiles or pages to tell others what they are doing at any point in time.

Aligned with the interest of your end-users, you can make it easier for people to share what they are listening to in your app through social media channels.

This social sharing feature has a dual-sided benefits – the users feel good about using this feature within the app. Plus, the app gets promoted every time a user share the music-related update to his friends, followers, or connections on different social media channels.

In one way, it will become easier for you to promote your app to a broader target audience through this unique feature.

5. Online-offline music streaming

Most of the people indeed have their smart devices connected to the Internet all the time. But what about the situations when they have limited access to the Internet?

Keeping this in mind, you need to get this dual streaming feature developed for your music app.

It should allow the users to connect to the library of music files in the app when they have seamless Internet access. Alongside, it should have an offline mode for users to play their favorite songs as at times; they might have internet issues.

Another user-centric advantage of this feature is that it will help your app users to minimize the use of available bandwidth.

6. Event listing

Musical events happen in almost every city across the globe throughout the year. The interesting part is that music lovers are always on the lookout for such events.

So, one way to attract a bigger target audience to use your app is to have an event-listing feature developed for the end-users.

Using this feature, the users can plan musical events and detail it out through the app to invite people in a specific region to it. You can keep this feature free to use or make it a part of the premium features of your music app.

7. Playlist sharing

Another reason behind the popularity of certain globally popular apps is the inter-communication that they enable.

We live in a world which loves to stay connected in almost every aspect of life. So while getting your app designed, you should keep in mind the importance of user-to-user communication.

One possible feature that can be implemented is of playlist sharing, wherein one user is allowed to connect with others and share their playlists.

Finding like-minded people may become one reason why your app’s users would love to continue using it more.

Expert tips for creating a music streaming app

1. Licensing the music streaming app

You need to consider licensing your music streaming app before making it available for the targeted users.

Depending on the locations you want to launch your app in, there are several different authorities you need to take the license from.

Otherwise, you won’t be allowed to stream music from diverse sources through your app.

2. A perfect strategy

You may not be able to successfully run your music streaming app without a well-defined revenue generation plan in place. So, you need to think about possible ways of monetizing your music app.

Turn your music streaming app idea into a product now

If you’ve been thinking over coming up with the music streaming app, you must not delay. The industry is growing, and so is the demand.

For your app idea, we can help you with some features, functionalities, or the strategy that can help you sustain despite the most popular music streaming apps.

Also, what you can do is check out how you can turn an idea of developing a music streaming app into a successful product here[Link to our blog – “How to create a list of MVP features?”].

Once you finish reading the product guide, let’s get over a call to discuss how much time would it take to get into the market of music streaming. After all, you cannot compromise on building your music streaming app, what say?