Detailed Guide on How to Develop a Music Streaming App

The music industry has been growing since the first record players hit the market. With the total revenue amounting to $28.8 billion in 2021, the music sphere makes more and more artists join the community and create musical masterpieces.  

The modern-day reality is streaming apps that allow anyone with access to the internet and a pair of headsets to enjoy millions of hyping tracks from all over the world. And users gladly pay just to have easy access to their favorite music. It’s no wonder entrepreneurs on the lookout for promising business solutions are in need of useful tips on how to create a music streaming app.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into the music industry and find out more about music apps, what features some trendy solutions offer, and what is the proper way to create a music app that will stand a chance to become the next Spotify.

Overview of Music Streaming Application Market

Probably each of us has an audio system or just a pair of headsets. Due to the high dynamics in the development of the music niche and the number of tracks released every day, the music market streaming apps just must be on the rise.  

According to Statista, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the music industry for the next five years will be about 7.54%. It’s a fairly rapid tempo that provides great opportunities for the new players. 

Types of Music Applications

Today, the music market offers several types of applications that cover listeners’ demands for high-quality music. Here are the options available:

Music Library Apps

Such solutions are server-based libraries of music. They host millions of songs by famous artists and monetize app usage by offering paid subscriptions. This option is ideal for those who prefer effortless music search, don’t mind recommendations, and are okay with tons of new tracks coming into their headsets on a daily basis. 

The world-famous examples of such solutions are Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Qobuz, and others. 

Cloud Storages

These cloud-based apps allow users to upload their tracks into the cloud storage to listen to them from any devices available. It’s a perfect option for those who have a large collection of low-res to hi-res music they need to store. 

Trending solutions in this segment are AudioBox, Groove Music, Sync.com, pCloud, and others. 

Radio and Podcast Apps

These music solutions serve one purpose only — broadcast live and recorded audio from different stations. Podcasts of any sort also fall within this category and can be streamed by radio and podcast apps similarly. Users of these software solutions usually belong to older age groups. Moreover, audiobook and educational podcast lovers can also benefit from the app. 

This category is represented by such apps as Shoutcast, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Echo, and more. 

This kind of app often combines the best features of each category to provide the most multipurpose solutions, as Apple Music and Spotify have done.

Key Features of a Mobile Music Streaming App

How do you create a music streaming service that would touch the hearts of listeners? For starters, integrate the functions that are always on the ear!

Personal Account

This functionality is an absolute must-have. Users, who have personal accounts, are kept more interested and engaged. They are also less likely to quit using your app shortly after downloading.

If you intend to integrate some personalization and playlist-saving options into your app, you definitely should allow users to log in to your app via their email addresses. Besides, when it comes to personal accounts, compatibility with social media accounts they already have can make a great difference. It would expand the use of your app even more.

Music Player

This is the core functionality without which an app cannot be called a music streaming app at all. The integrated player must be easy-to-use, but offer some advanced functionalities to geeky users. Equalizers, interface color choices, music album covers, and complementary features are must have. This will help your app to be ahead of the competition. 

Lossless Format and Latest Bluetooth Codecs Integration

Truth be told, with the spread of low-cost speakers and headsets, the number of audiophiles willing to overpay for exceptional music quality hasn’t dropped much. Such users are picky, therefore won’t use an app that doesn’t offer the latest Bluetooth music codecs, including AAC and Aptx HD.

They also expect your app to host hi-res music in lossless formats, the most widespread of which is FLAC. But if you don’t offer any, they are unlikely to get interested in your music streaming app. 

Library and Playlists

Music players should be exposed to the variety of options, such as searching, filtering, saving, and categorizing songs. You may offer users some automatically generated playlists, for example,“most played” or “recently played,” but letting users create playlists their way is exactly what you need. 

Radio or Podcasts

If you want your app to fall into the category of radio and podcast apps, it has to be integrated with radio streaming services. At the same time, adding a distinct page with live podcasts is the right call by all means. 

Navigation and Recommendations

How do you create a music app that’s exciting? Use some AI-based functionalities! Consider integrating the system of smart recommendations that could pick songs based on the user’s genre preferences. 

Allowing a user to navigate in your extensive storage of songs for all tastes is another must-have feature. How else would they find the music they like?

Team and Technologies to Develop a Music Streaming App

A fully-fledged app development is a tough task that requires using a complex approach. The complete list of specialists involved in the process may look like this: 

• Business analysts.
• Project managers.
• UI/UX designers.
• Android developers.
• iOS developers.
• Front-end and Back-end developers.
• QA engineers. 

The number of specialists needed for the project may vary depending on its complexity.

As for the tech stack required when you create a music app, the array is vast. Programming languages, frameworks, APIs, and more are closely connected to functionalities your app should have. 

• Front-end development: React.JS.
• Mobile development: Swift, Kotlin.
• Back-end development: Node.js.
• Database: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Mongo db, Amazon Kinesis.
• Framework: Hadoop, Hub Framework, Apache Storm. 
• Server: Nginx.
• Data storage: AWS, Google Cloud Platform.
• Data management: Kafka.
• Web app development: Bootstrap, HTML5.
• In-app purchase (subscription). PayPal, Braintree.
• Social media integration. Facebook, Google.
• Push notifications. AWS.
• DevOps: Docker, Datadog, TestFlight, AWS. 

The listed technologies are some of the options that might be used. The end tech stack fully depends on the project scope, specificities of the app, the platform, the dev service vendor, etc. After all, the equally great result may be obtained in more than one way.

The Stages of Music Streaming App Development

Software development often requires a complex approach. Let’s review a proper, step-by-step process of how to make a music app: 

Market Discovery and Planning

Every successful app development starts with comprehensive market research. It includes analyzing competitors and their music solutions, analyzing your target audience, and, probably, creating a user persona, conducting surveys, and more.

Once it’s done and dusted, you proceed with planning what functionalities your future app should have, which advantages will be emphasized, and how you need it to look like. At the end of the day, you should have a clear list of objectives and, probably, some rough sketches of the future UX. 

Prototype Development

The next step is to prepare a solid design concept. It may look like a layout or something. It should represent the end design of every page in your app. User experience is crucial, so stick to the design based on user personas rather than your personal preferences. 

MVP Development

Consider developing a minimal viable product first. It will help you to validate the idea before going all-in. Start with basic design and core functionalities and see how it goes. You will probably stand a chance to raise funds with your MVP. Or at least make stakeholders and potential sponsors way more interested.

QA Testing

Even an MVP must undergo some QA testing. It will help to cleanse most bugs and code errors and ensure seamless music app functioning. Nowadays, users have a lot of software solutions to choose from. Yours should not compromise their expectations.

Deployment and Maintenance 

Finally, you need to deploy your app and ensure its presence in popular marketplaces. Apple Store and Google Play are the most popular ones. Besides, you should start gathering user feedback from day one and implement it in a timely manner in the form of updates. Don’t stop cleansing your app and address the bugs omitted.

How Much Does It Cost to Create your Own Music App?

In short, the total cost for a mediocre music streaming app may fall within the range of $25,000-60,000. High-end solutions with some advanced functionalities may cost up to $160,000 or even more. 

The cost of a digital solution development depends on factors that define its complexity and, consequently, the time required to build it. Here are some cost-forming factors for your consideration:

• The type of the app (native, web, cross-platforms) and the number of platforms.
• The number and type of functionalities are included.
• The complexity of the interface and design.
• The innovativeness of the app.
• A number and type of APIs to be included.
• Turnaround times.
• A number of developers and other specialists on it. 
• Hourly rates of developers.

Another interesting thing about music app development is the end price also depends on the location of IT specialists working on your projects, since their rates may notably vary.

The highest-paid specialists can be found in the US, Canada, and Australia, with an average hourly rate of about $55-60. Yet, the most expensive doesn’t always mean the best. Ukraine-based vendors offer services of similar quality at a more attractive price rate, varying in the range of $20-30. 

Consider Weelorum Your Trusted Partner in Developing Your Mobile App

Googling for “how to create your own music app?” Outsource your valuable project to a vendor you may completely trust!

Weeloeum is a dev agency that has been around for years serving small startups and large-scale enterprises on different matters. With extensive experience in building music streaming apps, an impressive tech stack, and market-leading expertise, we are ready, willing, and able to assist you in your custom music app development. 

Superior dev quality, clear communication, strict requirement fulfillment, and fair pricing are the least you may expect from partnering with Weelorum. Don’t hesitate to share your project details with us, claim your free strategy session, and get a quote from us. 

Final Thoughts

You should have some clear insights on how to make a music streaming app by the end of this post. You always start with the market and target audience research, proceed with planning needed functionalities, developing, testing, and deploying. 

Furthermore, you will need to use an extensive tech stack and utilize substantial labor resources to make a music app. In case you don’t know where to start or just need a contractor to handle part or most of the work, consider partnering with a reliable vendor of dev services.

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