Everything’s better with music, even apps. The ability to call upon the entirety of recorded music history from your development projects enables endless possibilities. Maybe you want to build an exercise app to sync playlists to your heart rate. Or perhaps you want to create your own music streaming app. Regardless, if you want to integrate music streaming into your app or development project, you’re going to need a music streaming API.

Spotify tends to get the most attention regarding APIs for streaming music, but they’re certainly not the only option. Spotify’s not even necessarily the best when it comes to artists being compensated fairly for their work.

To help you know your options, we’ve put together a thorough list of music streaming APIs for your next music app!

1. MusicKit API

Spotify may be the biggest player in the streaming field, but Apple Music has made serious headway. In fact, Apple Music has more subscribers in North America. Apple Music’s revenue and subscribers have been growing at an impressive rate since at least 2015. They had 72 million subscribers as of June 2020.

MusicKit API is Apple Music’s API. Not only does it allow you to integrate Apple’s extensive digital library into your development projects, but users can also sync with their local media libraries as well. MusicKit API can even be used to retrieve music metadata and user info. The ability to create and modify custom playlists via the API seals the deal, especially considering how easy MusicKit is to work with.

2. Napster API

If you’re over the age of 20, odds are good that the name Napster and digital music are permanently linked in your mind. It might also mean you might be surprised to see them listed on an API roundup. Isn’t this the P2P network that destroyed the recording industry? Not exactly.

Yes, Napster forever changed the way we distribute and listen to music. They paved the way for how we listen to, store, sort, and even think about music. Napster’s gone legit since the days of Metallica lawsuits, though. They’ve got a legit API, too, which is more than powerful and versatile enough to drive your music streaming project.

Napster API lets you effortlessly integrate with their surprisingly extensive catalog. You can also access music data and user info, just like MusicKit. Whether you’re looking to build playlists or need an API to access album art, Napster API will do the trick.

3. Amazon Music API

Alexa, play awesome tunes! It’s a little wild that we can add advanced AI and voice-recognition software into our projects, and often for free, but such is the future we’re living in. That’s the main selling point for Amazon Music API, which lets you control your apps using Alexa’s voice-operated commands.

You can also use the Amazon Music API to enable anything else you can do with Amazon, from multi-room playback to setting alarms. You can even generate metadata for any music that streams through your service.

If you want to use the Amazon Music API, you’ll need to be registered as an Amazon developer. However, if you’re creating a public service that uses the Amazon Music API, you’ll need to apply for certification.

4. Spotify API

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the Spotify API in our music streaming API roundup. They ARE one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world, after all. The Spotify API is worth a look for the sheer number of available features. After all, the music analysis features are second-to-none, letting you sort music by danceability, mood, tempo, or loudness. These features offer an unparalleled opportunity to customize and fine-tune seamless playlists.

The Spotify API is worth looking into if you’re also building web apps. The Spotify Web Player SDK lets you play music straight from a browser with minimal implementation. Spotify also boasts a significant developer community. A TON of developers use the Spotify API, so there’s bound to be someone who could help you troubleshoot any issues you might encounter. There are many high-quality apps, tools, and toys built using the Spotify API for you to take inspiration from in your own development experiments!

5. Deezer API

No muss, no fuss, Deezer API offers unlimited access and easy integration. You don’t even need API authentication. You can interact with Deezer API with simple GET HTTP requests.

Deezer offers an impressive array of endpoints, covering everything from your usual musical metadata like album and artist info to more advanced features like chart info or user data. You can even create, modify, and interact with playlists using the API. Deezer API is a good pick for those new to using APIs, considering how easy it is to interact with using only basic HTTP commands.

6. Feed.fm API

Many of the music streaming APIs on our list offer similar features and functionality. This means that you may end up choosing a music API for its handful of unique features. In the case of Feed.fm API, that would be easy integration with devices like Chromecast, Apple AirPlay, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku.

Feed.fm is also designed to keep busywork to a minimum. It’s about as close to a plug-and-play API as you can get, with a whole slew of useful automated workflows.

Feed.fm’s integration with streaming is its most striking feature, though. It allows you to easily cast audio from everything from streaming video to simulcasts. Its other main selling point is the clear and transparent way it tackles legalities and royalties. The availability of numerous SDKs for Feed.fm API seals the deal, as this frees you up to use Feed.fm pretty much anywhere.

7. Pandora API

Pandora is another one of the oldest and most established music streaming platforms out there. It’s little surprise, then, that the Pandora API is quite capable and well worth a look if you’re looking to integrate streaming audio into your app.

Advanced playback controls are the first thing separating the Pandora API from other music streaming APIs. You can play a track straight from the search function, for instance. You can also play the most recent song from a user’s library, as well, which could open up many interesting social features and functions.

Pandora’s podcast features also make the Pandora API worth a look. It returns a podcast’s entire library, for one thing, which makes it ideal for creating libraries and content apps.

8. Soundcloud API

Soundcloud is the place for discovering everything from new electronic DJs to indie rock, and DIY rap artists. And, as we’ve covered on the blog, Soundcloud has made big efforts to refactor its internal monolithic platform with microservices and APIs in recent years. Soundcloud also provides a very well-documented public API.

Using the Soundcloud API, developers can return data on recent user actions, such as their playlists and liked tracks. You can also use the API to search for music, and even write capabilities, like uploading a track or creating a playlist. Soundcloud is a cool example of a platform that offers the same experience regardless of whether it’s a browser, mobile app, or API.

9. MusicAPI

Users are spoiled for choice when it comes to music streaming options. And, as we can see above, so are developers with music API options. But, what if you wanted to integrate multiple streaming platforms into your application simultaneously? That would be a lot to manage. Well, one platform, simply called MusicAPI, has you covered.

MusicAPI offers an API that enables you to access music data from any streaming platform from a single unified interface. It also enables you to access certain libraries and playlists from users, which requires authorization, of course. At the time of writing, MusicAPI purportedly supports 20 services.

Keeping An Ear Out For New Music APIs

The music industry changes rapidly, and as such, music streaming platforms are constantly evolving. As part of this ongoing evolution, we will likely see more and more music platforms adopt APIs either to power their internal services or to create new public-facing offerings.

Before this happens, however, the developer community has already sought to reverse-engineer some private APIs for platforms that do not yet officially offer them. For example, there are unofficial APIs for YouTube Music, Tidal, and Yandex. These libraries could be considered for hobbyist projects but are probably not viable for commercial projects.

Did we miss a music streaming API? Please mention it in the comments below, and we’ll consider it when we update this post in the future!

Music Streaming APIs: Final Thoughts

It’s beyond exciting that we have access to such powerful musical tools. With music streaming APIs, anyone can create engaging, attractive, slick, sleek music and media apps.

Music library APIs are only the beginning, though. We’re beginning to see AI music APIs as well, like Amper by Shutterstock, Jukebox by OpenAI, or Aiva.ai, for instance. This innovative new tech employs the latest in machine learning and neural networks to create custom music for your applications, whatever they may be. Now podcasts and video series can have unique, original music without having to hire the London Symphony.

With this music streaming API roundup, you’ve got everything you need to add music to livestreams, create custom playlists, and add audio functionality to basically anything. Let’s use this as our opportunity to usher in a new Golden Age of music streaming apps, tools, and resources!