The app is based on both the official and beta releases of the Android app and the set of mods used by the developer are available for viewing to all due to its open-sourced nature. With a well-documented set of changes and updations of the app, Spotify dogfood is one of the few modded apps that are safe to download. Apr 14, 2011 Desktop apps such as the Soundcloud app from the Mac App Store are easy enough to use, but the process of finding and adding tracks happens in the browser and it's pretty laborious. The Spotify Dogfood Mod really does wonders and it is safe to download and use. For that to be possible, you need to uninstall any previous installations of it first. If the app came bundled with your device, like most Samsung devices, you can’t use this mod out of the box, since you need to change the package name to a different one.
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From a startup in 2008 to 100 million monthly active subscribers in 2017, Spotify has claimed the throne of music streaming business. Having a smartphone is synonymous to listening to music, practically. With customers in such abundance within reach, how much does it cost to make an app like Spotify is a hot topic.
Music streaming business is on the rise, as people do not have to download anything anymore. Vinyls and record collectors is a different story of itself. Our subject here in is how much does it cost to make an app like Spotify. Music just about equals Spotify and/or iTunes for millennials. What does it mean for mobile app development industry? Finding out the cost to create a music app.
How does Spotify work
Spotify is a music streaming and playlist social sharing service available in 60 countries. It has over 30 million songs in its library and works across almost all devices. Users do not have to download songs and store them on a hard drive to listen. In Spotify users just find a song or album and play it online right away.
You have to be a registered user first to have access to basic Spotify features for free. But you’ll see in-app advertisement and won’t be able to listen to music offline. Paid Spotify subscriptions grant you full features, like downloading, no ads, or hi-fi sound quality in Premium. More Q&As below.
How much does Spotify cost?
There are 2 versions: free and Spotify premium for $10/month.
How to download music from Spotify?
Available only in Premium account, go to Library, select song or album. Then slide the Available Offline button to the right.
How to listen Spotify offline?
Select a playlist, tap Edit, and check if the arrow-icon next to it is grey or green. Tap grey ones to turn it green, which means a playlist is synced to your device. Press Done afterwards.
How to make playlists in Spotify?
Library > Playlists > Create new playlist. Name it, add tracks, or edit it at any moment.
How do you share a playlist on Spotify?
Select a song or playlist, tap the 3-dotted icon, and tap Share. Choose between Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr options and tap Post.
Next in our agenda of how much does it cost to make an app like Spotify are app features. Both basic and extra. So what makes up a music streaming business?
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Spotify features
Currently, Spotify is not covering all the existing markets. In many countries users get the “Not available” notification. Hence, opportunities for music apps or to create music streaming website are still open. And the cost to make an app like Spotify would, of course confide in features and type of app. Here are core features of Spotify app:
What sets Spotify apart from other music services and radios is audio streaming. This technology allowed to enjoy music as easily as never before. More on that in our next section. Now, to make a music streaming app like Spotify one would have to implement the following features:
- User profiles and authorization: forms for users to register and login, using email address or social media accounts
- Audio streaming service: to enable constant online access to music files through cloud storages
- Search and organize options: search and navigate algorithms to find songs by titles or artists, and save favorite tracks
- Playlists: that users can save, edit and listen and share both in online and offline
- Offline availability: saving music to users’ devices or computers, or caching files
- Social sharing: options to share songs/playlists with friends and see what others are sharing, privately or publicly
- Notifications: to get news from friends, artists and community.
In addition, you would almost definitely need to create subscription plans for a music app. The main way to earn money on Spotify-like app is to grant access to cool features with paid subscription. Or if you make a free music app, you can monetize on ads.
Let’s move on to specific ingredients to start your own music streaming service.
Technology stack for music streaming app
How much does it cost to make an app like Shazam
And technology behind the app explained. Separate costs for iOS & Android..
April 19Simply put, Spotify stores all the music on servers and sends requested songs to users’ devices. All files are cached on smartphones or laptops so there’s no need to retrieve it again from servers. For this, and all other features, Spotify use Cassandra, PostgreSQL and general memory caching system.
To make a music streaming app you can build your tech stack around Python and JavaScript, like Spotify team does. PHP is used to some extent on server side, though Spotify backend structure is mainly built with Java. Also, consider these tools that impact the cost to make an app like Spotify too:
- Kafka software: to manage and process data in real-time
- GraphWalker to conduct model-based testing and integrate with Python services
- Amazon S3 (or similar) to store audio files, caching with CDNs
- Dataproc or other Google cloud platforms for platform infrastructure
- Chromium embedded framework (CEF) to build UI for desktop application
- Bootstrap and/or HTML5 for web app development
- Nginx as open source HTTP and proxy server
Cost components of Spotify-like app
There’s no plain and precise way to answer how much does it cost to make an app like Spotify. As you may know, mobile app development is a lengthy and complex venture. Consider dev team hired, hourly rate (or fixed price), business strategy, type of mobile app, features and app infrastructure, timeline, etc.
In most cases, developer rate is a defining factor to app cost. To make a music streaming app, or any mobile app, takes hundreds or thousands of hours. So, $25 per hour or $150 per hour rate for same app would make a fortune in between. As we’ve settled earlier with Shazam, Starbucks or Instagram cost articles, let’s use median $50 hourly rate for estimation.
For music app like Spotify the biggest chunk of work would be backend (20%) and app development (40%).
Though do not dismiss design/UX, web/front-end and quality assurance. These tasks are critical as well to make an app similar to Spotify. And together, it all suggests hiring a team of 7-10 experts, at least.
Backend for app like Spotify
The architecture (backend) to an app like Spotify could quickly turn quite entangled. This is due to use of many supplementary services, like Spotify apparently does include hundreds of them. Most of them are written in Java and Python, others with Clojure and HTML5 languages. Less of PHP, used primarily for server-side logic.
Spotify team utilizes C++ for Mac/Windows client, Java for Android and Objective-C for iOS applications, nothing new here. The main principle behind Spotify backend is partitioning by features. Each app feature has a team of developers assigned. To make an app like Spotify you would also need to link the JS and backend with so called ‘access point’.
We’ve also prepared a chart of broad architecture for audio streaming app like Spotify:
Backend development estimation: 200+ hours.
In April 2017, the panel was upgraded to leave beta status, renamed as 'Spotify for Artists', and opened to all artists and managers. Spotify for Artists In November 2015, Spotify introduced a 'Fan Insights' panel in limited form, letting artists and managers access data on monthly listeners, geographical data, demographic information, music preferences and more. The ability to purchase and download music tracks via the app was removed on 4 January 2013. The feature was rolled out to a small number of US-based artists by invitation only. Spotify apk download for pc. Additional features include the ability to get 'verified' status with a blue checkmark on an artist's profile, receiving artist support from Spotify, customising the profile page with photos and promoting a certain song as their 'pick'.In September 2018, Spotify announced 'Upload Beta', allowing artists to upload directly to the platform instead of going through a.
Related topic: How to make an app in 10 steps.
Android/iOS platforms
Now comes the most time-consuming and costly part of actual mobile app development. Developers you’ve hired would start programming a music app for Android, or a music app for iPhone. Our issue of how much does it cost to make an app like Spotify is resolved here.
Spotify Android SDK and Spotify iOS SDK are now available publicly. It aims to ease developers work a bit for features like music streaming and authentication. Though services like Android Multimedia Framework can help integrate audio/media files, you still can’t make it quick.
Here is our time estimate breakdown by features to make an app like Spotify:
| Feature | Android (hours) | iOS (hours) |
| App skeleton | 50 | 50 |
| Main screen | 60 | 55 |
| Login | 24 | 20 |
| Registration | 32 | 30 |
| Music player | 150 | 150 |
| Search | 80 | 80 |
| Browse | 60 | 60 |
| Video player | 150 | 150 |
| Library | 80 | 75 |
| Artist | 24 | 20 |
| Album | 24 | 20 |
| Playlist | 24 | 20 |
| Advertisement | 40 | 45 |
| Downloading | 24 | 25 |
| Social integration | 40 | 40 |
| Settings | 80 | 75 |
| Push notifications | 40 | 30 |
These are only essential features not to bore you with too many details.
Native platform development estimation: 1400 hours.
Conclusion: the cost
And now we are ready to reveal how much does it cost to make an app like Spotify. Note, we are outlining only a generalized estimation of costs, based on features and tech stack for a music streaming app. Also remember, we’ve used $50 hourly rate to evaluate the cost of Spotify-like app. Though, we have skilled app engineers to hire at $30 hourly rate at ThinkMobiles .
| iOS application | Android application | App for multiple platforms | |
| Backend | $10.000 | $10.000 | |
| Development | $60.000 | $70.000 | $130.000 |
| Design | $8.000 | $10.000 | $20.000 |
| Desktop app | $5.000 | $5.000 | |
| QA / PM | $7.000 | $10.000 | $20.000 |
| Total cost (approx.) | $90.000 | $105.000 | $185.000 |
WIth all those variables in mind, a music app like Spotify would cost you:
- $70.000 for MVP with basic functionality only
- $90.000+ for iOS music streaming app
- $105.000+ for Android app similar to Spotify
- $185.000 for multi-platform full feature application.
In conclusion, the fact that $14 billion was floating around as Spotify acquisition deal says volumes. About the value as well as music streaming business prospects. Spotify alternatives are already on the march – Pandora, Deezer, iTunes, Soundcloud, Grooveshark, Google Play. Wouldn’t you want to join?
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If you're an early Spotify user, you may be looking for a new, free music-streaming service as Spotify's six months of free listening comes to an end.
Trendsetting music lovers who signed up for Spotify when it first hit the U.S. on July 14, 2011 will soon encounter roadblocks. For instance, come the six-month deadline to switch to Spotify Unlimited ($4.99 per month) or Spotify Premium ($9.99 per month), Spotify users will only be able to play their favorite songs a maximum of five times, and free streaming will cap at 10 hours per month.
It's no doubt the unlimited access to a huge library of music — about 15 million tracks — is one of the features that loyal Spotify users love.
Other features include the ability to make playlists of favorite songs (up to 10,000 tracks per list) and social integration to Facebook. Songs you play automatically display on your Facebook Timeline and desktop sidebar. Plus, access content via share buttons and a convenient search bar. With Spotify Premium, users enjoy an offline mode, which means they can listen to playlists on the plane, train or beach. Finally, radio stations specifically tailor to a user's specific artist or genre preferences.
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As fun and convenient as Spotify is, for many, the honeymoon phase is over with the service's free music cutoff. Here are five free music-streaming websites and applications that act as alternatives to Spotify.
1. Grooveshark
Grooveshark is a comparable service that provides free on-demand music streaming with ads. Over 30 million people use Grooveshark globally.
How it compares to Spotify: Comparable features include the option to share songs or playlists with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and other social networking platforms. Like Spotify, Grooveshark offers a downloadable desktop application. Other capabilities include radio-streaming and uploading your own music. Grooveshark also offers song and artist suggestions related to your listening habits.
Differences: Since anyone can upload music to Grooveshark, audio quality of tracks may vary. With Grooveshark, there is no monthly limit for free accounts, as opposed to the 10-hour cap soon to occur on Spotify. However, ads play on both systems.
Spotify watch app. Size of Music Library: Over 7 Million Songs
Paid Options: Grooveshark-Plus ($6 per month) provides unlimited, ad-free listening. New application Grooveshark-Anywhere offers to-go music streaming at $9 per month.
Mobile Availability: Free radio streaming or on-demand access to music with paid subscription for Android, Nokia, Palm, Blackberry and 'jailbroken iPhones,' as listed on Grooveshark's website.
2. Pandora
Pandora's desktop and mobile free radio-style music-streaming service provides tailored sets of tunes based on the artist or track you input.
How it compares to Spotify: Pandora allows users to easily listen without having to search for tracks or create a playlist. 'The Music Genome Project' behind Pandora generates music related to your search terms. The radio will tweak itself according to your thumbs-up or thumbs-down ratings. However, there are limits to songs skipped per hour. Pandora's social sharing capabilities are pretty weak compared to Spotify's wide range of Facebook, Twitter and Messenger capabilities.
Differences: Spotify is clearly better if you want a wide selection of on-demand music streaming. Pandora Internet radio plays from a smaller collection of 700,000 songs, compared to Spotify's 15 million-song vault.
Size of Music Library: 700,000 tracks
Paid Options: Pandora One ($36 per year) comes with unlimited music play, higher-quality audio, unlimited song skips and no advertisements.
Mobile Availability: Free radio streaming and premium listening via Pandora One options are available on Android 1.6 and later, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod touch and Palm Pre devices.
3. Rdio
Rdio is a desktop music streaming application that allows new users in the U.S. to access ad-free, on-demand music streaming for an undisclosed amount of time a month. From the co-creators of Skype, Rdio began to offer Rdio Free with a set amount of ad-free, free on-demand music with its Facebook integration in October 2011.
How it compares to Spotify: Both non-paying users of Rdio and Spotify can play music on-demand, share their playlists and favorite songs on numerous social networking websites, receive music recommendations and listen to artist-tailored radio stations. We like how Rdio and Spotify allow free users to browse and listen to top tracks lists, albums and new releases.
Differences: Rdio Free comes ad-free and on-demand, whereas Spotify plays ads in between song sets. The company will not disclose how much time is free for users who opt out of the premium service. Rdio states, 'We’d rather do it this way than bombard people with ads…When you run out of free music in any given month, you can choose to upgrade to any of Rdio’s existing pricing plans or start free anew the following month.'
Size of Music Library: 12 million songs
Paid Options: Rdio Web ($4.99 per month) offers unlimited web streaming from browser or desktop platforms. Rdio Unlimited ($9.99 a month) offers unlimited web streaming plus unlimited mobile streaming. Unlimited Family ($17.99) offers two unlimited web and phone subscriptions.
Mobile Availability: Available on iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android 1.6 or higher, Windows Phone 7 devices and Blackberry phones.
4. MOG FreePlay
MOG FreePlay is the free version of its original subscription-required application.
How it compares to Spotify: Like Spotify, MOG FreePlay offers free music streaming with ads. However, for 60 days, new users can listen to MOG FreePlay without ads. Similar to Spotify, MOG FreePlay logs users in through Facebook and shares music with friends. The service provides recommendations based on bands and artists you have Liked on Facebook. Both players have options to create playlists, favorite songs and much more.
Differences: MOG FreePlay also offers an undisclosed amount of play, like Rdio; however, this platform gives you a chance to earn more free music every month by earning points for inviting friends to join MOG.
Size of Music Library: 13 million songs
Paid Options: Paid options for unlimited music include a MOG Basic plan ($4.99 per month), which comes with unlimited, on-demand music for your computer, sans mobile access. The MOG Primo plan for $9.99 per month comes with computer and mobile access and unlimited streaming to your phone.
Apps Like Spotify Dogfood Promo
Mobile Availability: Only available through Primo plan to iPhone, iPod Touch and Android phones.
5. YouTube
While YouTube is a video player, we recommend using YouTube for free, on-demand music streaming if you love listening to songs on-demand. You can use YouTube Disco to find songs by artist. A search for Beyonce turned up 100 videos, mostly from her official VEVO site.
How it compares to Spotify: Create playlists of your favorite songs for listening at work or play. You can also easily share YouTube videos on various social networking platforms.
Differences: Listening to music on-demand on YouTube may be more work — you will have to search for songs to listen to them. However, access plenty of playlists others have pre-packaged.
Mobile Availability: YouTube's pre-installed application works on Android and iOS devices. Downloads are also available on Windows Phones. Web-based versions are available for most smartphones.
What music streaming applications or services do you use? How do they compare with Spotify? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Andreas Blixt