Top Websites for Music Lovers: Stream, Discover, Track

Note (October 2026): This guide has been corrected. Last.fm ended its music streaming in April 2014, Pandora’s paid plans include offline listening, and YouTube’s Terms of Service do not permit downloads through third-party MP3 converters.

The best websites for music lovers depend on the job: YouTube and YouTube Music for free music videos and new releases, Spotify for large-scale streaming, SoundCloud for independent artists, Pandora for automatic radio stations in the United States, Last.fm for tracking listening history, and Bandcamp for buying music directly from artists.

Key Takeaways

• YouTube is the largest free source of music videos; offline downloads are only permitted through YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium.
• Last.fm no longer plays music (its streaming radio ended on 28 April 2014); it tracks what you play elsewhere and recommends similar artists.
• SoundCloud is built for independent and emerging artists and is available in 190 countries and territories.
• Pandora builds personalized radio stations but is licensed only for listeners in the United States.
• Spotify reported 777 million monthly active users and 300 million Premium subscribers for the second quarter of 2026.

Music is an important part of many people’s lives, and different music websites do different jobs: some stream songs, some help listeners discover new artists, some track listening history and some let fans pay musicians directly. If you love music but don’t know which site fits what you want to do, the list below explains what each one is for and its main limits.

Best Websites Every Music Lover Should Know

The four sites below were chosen because each covers a different need, and a comparison table further down adds two more widely used services, Spotify and Bandcamp.

1) YouTube

YouTube, the Google-owned video platform, is one of the largest free sources of music on the web, with official music videos, live recordings, lyric videos and uploads from independent artists. New releases from major artists usually appear there alongside songs from up-and-coming musicians, so YouTube works both for hits and for discovery. Most of that music is in video format, so listeners who only want the audio can use YouTube Music, Google’s dedicated music app, which replaced Google Play Music as Google’s main music streaming brand on December 1, 2020.

Some listeners look for offline copies using a youtube mp3 convertor, but YouTube’s Terms of Service do not allow downloading content unless YouTube expressly authorizes it or the rights holders give permission. Third-party services like https://ytmp3.com/ offer to turn YouTube videos into MP3 files from a pasted link, but that is not an authorized method, and pasting a link into https://ytmp3.com/ or a similar converter can also infringe the copyright in the song. The supported way to listen offline is a YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium subscription, which allows downloads for offline playback inside the app.

2) Last.FM

Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002, and unlike YouTube, it is solely dedicated to music. On Last.Fm, users can keep a record of everything they play through “scrobbling”, which logs tracks from connected players such as Spotify and Apple Music, and see what their friends are listening to. It is a useful tool for anyone who wants a long-term history of the songs they and their friends play, and Last.fm uses that history to recommend similar artists.

Last.fm shows how many times you have played a particular song and charts your most-played artists, albums and tracks.  Last.fm no longer streams music itself: it discontinued its streaming radio service on 28 April 2014 to focus on scrobbling and recommendations, so playback now happens in whichever app is connected to the account.

3) Soundcloud

Podcast and independent-music listeners will likely know about Soundcloud, a German audio streaming service founded in 2007 and built around pure audio. Here, you have no visual distractions whatsoever, and you can enjoy whatever the audio file you’re playing has to say.

Artists both small and huge post their work on SoundCloud to build an audience, and listening is free. SoundCloud is available in 190 countries and territories and passed 200 million audio tracks in February 2019; its most recent published user figure is upwards of 76 million monthly active users as of November 2021. SoundCloud is also a common first platform for musicians who want to upload and share their own recordings.

4) Pandora

Pandora is an American music streaming service, owned by SiriusXM since February 2019, where you can create custom radio stations; it picks songs using its Music Genome Project, which classifies tracks by musical traits. You can listen to music based on past searches, different artists or associated acts, and customize your radio stations so that you can listen only to things that you want to hear, unlike real radio stations where you occasionally have to put up with songs you don’t want to listen to.

Unfortunately, you can’t download music from Pandora, but as long as you have a WiFi connection, you’ll always have access to your stations. 🙂

How Do the Best Music Websites Compare?

The table below compares the four sites above with two other widely used services. Prices change often and vary by country, so check each service’s current plan page before subscribing.

Which Music Website Should You Use?

The right music website depends on what you want to do. A simple way to choose:

• To listen to almost any song for free: YouTube, or YouTube Music if you want an audio-first app.
• To stream full albums and playlists on demand: Spotify, which says it is the first audio streaming service to reach 300 million Premium subscribers.
• To discover unsigned and emerging artists: SoundCloud and Bandcamp, where musicians upload their own work.
• To play music in the background without choosing songs: Pandora in the United States.
• To see your listening statistics over years: Last.fm, connected to the player you already use.
• To support an artist financially: buy their music on Bandcamp, where the artist sets the price and Bandcamp keeps a 15% or 10% share of sales.

Spotify: The Largest Paid Music Streaming Service

Spotify is a Swedish music streaming service founded in April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. According to Spotify’s second-quarter 2026 results, the service had 777 million monthly active users, up 12% year over year, and 300 million Premium subscribers, up 9%. Spotify offers more than 100 million songs and over 7 million podcast titles; the free tier plays ads, while offline listening and ad-free playback require a paid plan. For background on how it changed the business, see this guide on how Spotify reinvented the music industry.

Bandcamp: Buying Music Directly From Artists

Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Epic Games bought Bandcamp in March 2022 and sold it to the music-licensing company Songtradr in October 2023. Artists set their own prices, and Bandcamp takes a 15% commission on sales made through its website, which drops to 10% once an artist’s sales pass US$5,000, plus payment processing fees. On designated “Bandcamp Fridays”, which began in 2020, Bandcamp has waived its revenue share so more of each sale goes to the artist.

How to Listen Offline Legally

Offline listening is legal when it happens inside a service that licenses the music. The main options:

1. Subscribe to a paid streaming tier such as YouTube Music Premium, Spotify Premium, SoundCloud Go or Go+, or Pandora Plus or Premium, then use the app’s download feature.
2. Buy music from a store such as Bandcamp, where artists sell their releases directly.
3. Use music the rights holder has chosen to offer as a free download, which some musicians do on their own pages.

Ripping audio from YouTube with a converter site is not authorized by YouTube’s Terms of Service, which limit use to personal, non-commercial viewing and listening through the service. The rules behind these limits are explained in this guide on what music licensing is and why it matters.

Getting More Out of Music

Music websites are a starting point. Listeners who want to go further can learn to pick out melodies with this beginner’s guide to ear training, or read about the benefits of music while working out when building a training playlist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it legal to download music from YouTube?

Downloading music from YouTube is only permitted where YouTube expressly allows it, such as the offline download feature in YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium. YouTube’s Terms of Service prohibit downloading content by other means without permission from YouTube and the rights holders, which rules out third-party MP3 converter sites.

Does Last.fm still let you stream music?

No. Last.fm discontinued its streaming radio service on 28 April 2014. It now records (“scrobbles”) the songs you play in other apps, such as Spotify and Apple Music, and uses that history to build charts and recommendations.

Can you use Pandora outside the United States?

Pandora is licensed only for listeners located in the United States, according to Pandora’s support community. Pandora Plus and Premium subscribers who travel abroad temporarily can play music they downloaded for offline listening before leaving.

What is the best free website for discovering new artists?

SoundCloud and Bandcamp are the most common choices for discovering independent artists, because musicians upload their own work to both. YouTube is also widely used for discovery, and Last.fm recommends artists based on your listening history.

Which music streaming service has the most paying subscribers?

Spotify reported 777 million monthly active users and 300 million Premium subscribers for the second quarter of 2026, and says it is the first audio streaming service to reach 300 million Premium subscribers.

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