Music streaming applications constitute one of the fastest-growing markets today.

Beats Music, an addition to that market, is at first glance very similar to Spotify. It enables you to stream your favorite music on desktop or handheld device and includes a download function for offline listening. Beats Music also features an intuitive user interface that allows you to select your favorite artists from which its algorithm creates a playlist suited to your taste.

The main difference between the two is that Spotify is free (or premium Spotify for $6.99 per month, which allows downloading) and Beats Music costs $9.99 per month. With access to over 20 million songs, you can find almost anything. It is, however, noticeably slim on variety, especially in the independent music categories.

The main features of the Beats Music app include, “Just for You” (hand-picked albums and playlists from their music experts), “The Sentence” (you create a playlist based on a sentence that reflects your mood, location and people you’re with), “Highlights” (discover new things happening in the world of music) and “Find It” (which picks a music playlist based on your preferred genre or given activity).

Overall, Beats Music is a smart music streaming service that is well worth the subscription fee. Until then, I’m definitely going to keep enjoying my seven-day free trial.

★★★★★

akennedy2@mavs.coloradomesa.edu