How Much Does it Cost to Develop a Music Streaming App?

Mobile apps have revolutionized our music streaming activity. There are thousands of music streaming apps on the App Store and Google Play Store. Music streaming apps like Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora are the market leaders as they are simple and offHow to Create a Successful Music Streaming Mobile App?
er great value for money. However, to create the next market leader, you need to consider various factors like license, platform and other top music streaming app features. With more than 74 million users, Spotify leads the music streaming industry. Here are the reasons behind its massive popularity and how you can make a music streaming app like Spotify. 

Music Streaming App Market Statistics

Before jumping into how much it costs to build a music streaming app, let’s look at the revenue share of digital music albums from the global music industry. The increasing demand for digital music streaming emphasizes companies across the globe to look forward to investing in music streaming applications in order to ensure a good revenue share. 

• Revenue of the Music Streaming segment grossed about USD 1379.1 Million in 2022.
• Moreover, the global music streaming market is growing so steadily that the global subscriber base is expected to reach $2.81 billion by the end of 2025.

• The music streaming app market is expected to reach $17.50 billion in 2025. 
• According to Statista, nearly 14% of users use paid music streaming apps multiple times a day.
• There are nearly 186.7 million digital music users in the US itself, so there are pretty good chances for your music streaming app to get a good number of downloads. 
• Our targeted market leader, Spotify, has 200+ million active users, 109+ million paid subscribers and approximately 40% of the global music streaming market. 

Benefits of Music Streaming App Development

As everything is found to be digitizing these days, thus people’s preference about watching videos and listening to music has also changed. Gone are the days when people used to store cassette tapes and download their favourite songs one by one. Now, things are revolutionized to be quick and easier than ever before with just a few taps. 

Considering this plenty of changes, businesses are found to be really interested in investing in the lucrative sector. Here are a bundle of benefits provided by on-demand music streaming app development:

• The digital music industry seems to grow unexpectedly with each passing year, and resultantly people’s interest is also shifting towards digital music trends.
• The global digital music market is predicted to expand to $10 million by 2023. Therefore, this is the appropriate time to invest in the digital music industry by developing your own music streaming app. 
• Music streaming platforms offer great flexibility to music lovers by allowing them to customize their music lists and suggestions. 

Leaders of Music Streaming Market

When you look into the digital music industry, you will find three leaders in the market; 

1. Spotify – 36% market share
2. Apple Music – 19% market share
3. Amazon Music – 12% Market share

Spotify

It is a video and music streaming app allowing the users to search for a song, artist, album or genre. Users can also share their favourite music albums, create playlists and share their favourite music files with friends and family. 

Two friends, Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, launched Spotify back in October 2008. They came up with the idea of a music streaming app while sitting idle in their apartment in Stockholm, Sweden. 

Key Features of Spotify Music App

• Registration
• User Profile
• Discovery and Search
• Recommendation
• Social Sharing
• Online and Offline Access
• Creating Playlist
• Push Notifications
• In-app messages
• Brand out the app with third-party resources
• On-demand music facility

Tech Stack of Spotify

 

Apple Music

It is the second most famous music streaming app, providing users with a bundle of features and discounts plans for families and students. Back in 2019, Apple music – the iOS music streaming app had over 60 million paid subscribers and 50+ million song albums in the library. However, the music streaming app is only compatible with Apple devices, including Apple HomePad. Apple Music streaming services lack robust sharing options like Spotify. 

• Key Features of Apple Music App

1. Automatic Downloads
2. Subscribe to Apple Curated Playlists
3. Preserve and Edit Apple Curated Playlists
4. Limited Downloads to Optimize Storage
5. Find the Shuffle and Repeat Buttons
6. Read Lyrics for Songs
7. Stream Music Using your Mobile Data
8. Customize the Library Screen
9. Use Apple Music Shortcuts

Amazon Music Unlimited

We’ve got the third competitor on the list, i.e. Amazon Music – the advanced version of Amazon Prime Music. It is accessible for free to Prime subscribers. Just by paying a minimal extra amount, the users can get access to an expanded catalogue. The music streaming app stands out in a way that it recommends playlists grouped around the artists the users listen to. The Amazon Music app will also show the song lyrics on the “now playing” screen. 

• Key Features of Amazon Music Limited

1. Ad-Free music streaming
2. Ask Alexa (integration with Echo and Alexa)
3. Side-by-side
4. Free Trials and Subscription plans
5. Libraries and Offline Listening
6. Music Sharing 
7. Speakers and Voice Assistants integration
8. Huge Music Catalog

The Killer Idea Behind Spotify to make it Biggest Market Leader

To give you a clear vision about how to build a music streaming app like Spotify, let’s have a closer look at the logic behind Spotify that made it a big hit.

• Spotify – music streaming service stores music on multiple servers
• When a user wants to stream a random track on its mobile, Spotify will find it on millions of servers and send it to the user’s device. 
• Spotify servers are computers and all other gadgets of Spotify’s subscribers.

This idea proves to be more effective than the approach of hitting servers with requests to download tracks individually. Moreover, you become a vital link for the global digital music sharing network that is engaging too. Besides, it allows the users to stream music tracks legally by paying royalties to authors. 

Types of Music Streaming Apps

Music streaming app development is mainly categorized in the following categories based on users music preferences:

• Server-based Music Library

This type of music streaming app reveals plenty of wonderful options to music lovers. It gives access to unlimited music for free or may have some paid subscription for some advanced features. Just like popular music streaming services, Spotify and Apple Music, users can create their playlists or download music albums based on their subscription preferences. 

• Radio Station

Not only music streaming services but radio stations have also gone digital for music lovers. This revolution is brought with the aim to get a large customer base provided by users as per their listening preferences of favourite tracks. Moreover, the radio station apps play trending songs, including iHeartRadio and Pandora music. 

• Cloud Storage

In this category of music streaming app, users can download songs and save their favourite track over the cloud platform. Once after saving their favourite songs, users can listen to them whenever they want, both online and offline. For instance, we’ve cloud storage facilities in music stream apps like Apple Music and ShoutCast. 

Features to Consider while Music Streaming App Development

When an entrepreneur hires mobile app developers or a top mobile app development company in New York, you will describe the must-add impressive features and salient features for your music streaming app. These features are the sole reason which will make your app popular among all other competitors in the market. 

User and Admin Panel Features

• Registration

Among plenty of features to make the app functionally smooth and faster, it includes easy registration for app users. To register, users are required to sign-up for the app via their email and password. Moreover, they can also sign up with their social media accounts by using the same credentials. 

• Search Bar

Users are free to search for any song, music, artist, album, title, genre and recording solutions. 

• My Music

They can download their favourite music track or create a playlist of their favourite songs whenever users want. They can create a playlist, edit, delete and share tracks from the list. Users can also share their playlists with other users through social media accounts. 

• Music Player

One of the essential elements for the success of your music streaming app is that it should feature a user-friendly music player. In addition, the music player should allow the users to create more than one playlist of songs, albums, and famous artists they want to listen to. 

• Settings

Users are given the option to adjust audio and app settings in order to make the app more intuitive. They change the settings as per their listening preferences. 

• Offline Mode

It is such a feature that can fluctuate the entire cost to develop a music streaming app like Spotify. Featuring offline mode in your app allows the users to listen to all songs on the go without having an internet connection. It works in a way that the user will cache the song’s audio data through the device’s local storage and then stream it without the internet. 

• Recommendation

Whatever is your music preference, you can get suggestions relevant to your music streaming flavour. It helps businesses in connecting users with the best possible way through it. 

• In-app Messages

Integrating messaging features into your music streaming app is a new way to provide flexible support to customers and ensure their queries are solved immediately. 

• Push Notifications

Keeping your music lovers updated with newly launched songs and uploads helps your music streaming app to progress. Therefore, push notifications are the best way to engage users. 

Advanced Features to include in Your On-Demand Music Streaming App

Integrating advanced features in your on-demand music streaming app will play the leading role in attracting users and standing out from other competitors in the market. Here are some of the advanced features you need to grasp for making your music streaming app successful. 

• In-App Voice Assistance

It makes song searching convenient by allowing users to give instructions by voice assistance. 

• Event’s Calendar

This feature will allow users to check for the dates and schedules of upcoming live music shows, concerts of favourite singers, and more. 

• Public and Private Playlists

The user can create different playlists based on its preferences. Public playlists are visible and accessible by anyone using that standard music streaming mobile app. At the same time, private playlists are accessible by only the user and person who has access granted. 

• AI-Based Music Suggestions

It is an advanced feature added by music streaming app developers that recommends the most suitable songs based on likes and dislikes. These amazing recommendations are gathered through AI & ML technologies to offer an exceptional user experience. 

Tech Stack and Resources Required for Music Streaming App Development

When discussing the estimated cost to build an app like Spotify, the primary factors to consider are the tech stack and team resources to complete the project. So, here check them out. 

Technology Stack

Following are the different technology stacks that you must integrate while developing your on-demand music streaming app:

• Programming Languages: Python, Java, Swift4, Kotlin
• Real-time Analytics: Hadoop
• UI/UX Design: React JS, Angular JS, AWS, Cloud Storage, Azure, Google Cloud
• Web App Development: Bootstrap, HTML5
• Payment Integration: Braintree, Stripe, PayPal
• Push Notifications: Bandwidth, Twilio
• App Testing: Crash Analytics, Fabric, Jira
• Data Management: Datastax

Team Structure

Whether hiring a software development company or freelance development, a fully efficient and skilled team is necessary to transform your app idea into reality and build a market-leading on-demand music app. If we split the team resources required to build a music streaming app, we need a team of developers and designers to develop a complete product. Either it’s about iOS and Android music streaming app development or a music streaming website development, here are essential components of every challenge:

• Business Analyst
• Project Manager
• Back-End Developers
• Android App Developers 
• iOS App Developers 
• Quality Assurance Engineers

Factor Affecting Music Streaming App Development Cost

Besides the tech stack and team structure, we’ve various other factors as well to affect the music streaming app development cost. To get an accurate estimation about how much does it cost to build a music streaming app like Spotify, you need to have a look at the following factors too:

1. Device Compatibility & Platforms

Neither all music lovers are iPhone Users, nor all are Android users. So, your music streaming app must be compatible with multiple devices and screen layouts. Moreover, you should also observe market analysis to choose the right kind of platform. Building a cross-platform can definitely increase the overall music streaming app development cost. 

2. Different Charges by Offshore Firms

The mobile app development companies and development freelancers both have different hourly charges and rates according to the region they are based in. In simple words, we can say that it varies from country to country and region to region. For instance, in areas like Europe, the USA and other adjoining countries, developers will be charging relatively higher than Asian countries. Therefore, one should hire a development team from anywhere in the world that they can afford. 

3. UI/UX Design

Having an impressive mobile app UI/UX design is the foremost factor to attract a huge base audience. The mobile app designing phase is quite a critical stage that includes prototyping, wireframing, testing, and development. So, if you’ve got complex music streaming app design in your mind, consequently, it will take more time and cost. 

4. Features and Functionalities

For an app with basic features without any third-party integration, the app development cost stays relatively lower than an advanced mobile app. You will find a mobile application with advanced features, and third party integration will certainly cost higher. 

5. Third-Party Integration

It is one core factor that affects the music streaming app development cost. All the mobile apps that integrate third-party services will make your app function more efficiently, and so will the cost also increase. 

6. Team Structure and Technology Stack

The capabilities and experience of designers and developers directly affect the hourly rate of the hired team. However, if you don’t want to compromise on the app quality, you can go beyond your budget to get outclass-performing mobile apps. Besides experience, the tech stack required to build an app also matters while deciding the team members. 

How to Make Money with a Music Streaming Mobile App? 

While developing your next on-demand music streaming mobile app, you should decide on the monetization model in advance. There are various methods to generate revenue from music streaming apps like in-app advertisements, a number of downloads from the Playstore, Windows Store or App Store, by offering premium membership plans and lots more. 

 Note down your requirements and reach out to reliable music streaming app development company to get an estimated price. 

How to Create a Successful Music Streaming Mobile App? 

Thinking that you can start to develop your music streaming app like Spotify? Well, there are  somethings you need to keep in mind before starting to develop your app: 

• Build an appropriate strategy based on your budget constraints and other factors. 
• List down all your requirements before starting your music app development project. 
• Plus, create a list of all features you want to include in your app.
• Design and create an MVP (minimum viable product) to validate the scope of your music streaming app idea. 
• Gather reviews and feedback from the targeted audience and make updates accordingly on developing a full-fledged music app. 
• Make your music streaming mobile app compatible with multiple devices and platforms. 
• Select the appropriate licensing type and public performance rights in order to avoid copyright infringement. 
• Make sure that your app’s UI/UX design is simple, user-friendly, yet appealing. 
• You should keep a critical eye on the security of your app. 
• Keep updating your app to make it compatible with all new operating systems versions and different devices. 

How much does it cost to build a music streaming app like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music? 

You are familiar with all the necessary factors to bring under consideration while estimating the music streaming app development cost. Hence, the music streaming app development cost with basic features for a single platform (either iOS or Android) goes around $15,000 to $25,000. Furthermore, if you want a cross-platform mobile app integrated with all the advanced features and third-party services, then your music streaming app development cost would go around $25,000 to $30,000. 

The Bottom Line

You are now familiar with all the necessary information required to build your next music streaming app. However, after getting all the details about the music streaming mobile app development, you’ve to do lots of research in order to build your own app. 

So, get in touch with the best mobile app development company to observe your targeted user base and develop the next market-leading tech product within your budget.