17 Free Music Apps for iPhone That Hit the Right Note

Music apps have become an essential part of our daily lives. With just a few taps on our iPhones, we can access millions of songs from artists around the world. Music apps allow us to discover new music, create custom playlists, listen offline, and share our favorite tunes.

In this guide, we will explore the top 17 free music apps for iPhone that provide an amazing listening experience. Whether you like popular hits or undiscovered indie artists, there is an iPhone music app perfect for your preferences.

Benefits of Free Music Apps for iPhone

Before diving into the apps, let‘s look at why free music apps for iPhone are so great:

Endless Music Discovery

Apps like Spotify and Pandora use advanced algorithms to recommend music based on your listening habits. This allows you to constantly find new songs and artists related to what you already enjoy. You‘ll never run out of great music to listen to.

Customizable Playlists

Most music apps allow you to customize playlists to match your mood or activity. You can have upbeat playlists for working out, relaxing playlists for reading, and playlists for parties. With millions of songs available, you can create endless perfect playlists.

Offline Listening

A major benefit of music apps is the ability to save songs for offline listening. This allows you to play music anywhere, anytime – no internet required. It saves mobile data and ensures you always have your favorite music on hand.

Music apps make sharing simple. You can follow friends to see what they are listening to, collaborate on playlists, and share new music discoveries on social media. Apps like SoundCloud even let you follow rising artists and interact with musicians.

With these useful features, it‘s easy to see why music apps have become must-have iPhone accessories for music listeners. Now let‘s look at some of the top free options.

1. Spotify

Spotify is one of the world‘s most popular music streaming services, with over 80 million tracks available. The mobile app makes it easy to access Spotify‘s huge music catalog from your iPhone.

The app allows you to search for your favorite artists, albums, and playlists. Spotify will also recommend playlists and new music based on what you‘ve listened to before. Everything syncs seamlessly with Spotify on other devices.

Some key features include:

Ad-free listening with Spotify Premium
Ability to download songs for offline listening
Thousands of curated playlists
Concert listings and ticket sales
Podcast streaming
Social sharing capabilities

You can download Spotify free from the App Store. The premium features require a paid subscription.

2. Apple Music

Apple Music is Apple‘s music streaming service, seamlessly integrated with your iPhone and other Apple devices. A subscription gives you access to over 90 million songs, playlists curated by musical experts, and daily radio-style stations.

The app makes music discovery easy by highlighting new releases, top charts, and music videos. You can also see recommendations based on the artists and genres you listen to most. Additional features include:

Ad-free listening
Ability to download 100,000 songs for offline playback
Live radio station Beats 1 with exclusive shows
Behind the scenes original content
Synchronization with your iTunes library

You can try Apple Music free for 3 months when you download it from the App Store. After the trial it costs $9.99 per month.

3. Pandora

Veteran music app Pandora operates like an advanced radio station, allowing you to customize stations based on your favorite artists, songs or genres. The more you listen and indicate song preferences, the better your station becomes.

Pandora‘s "Music Genome Project" analyzes each track according to hundreds of attributes to find similar songs you may enjoy. Unique features include:

Stations based on a single song, artist or genre
New music discovery based on your feedback
Bookmark songs to replay later
Download stations for offline listening
Podcast streaming

You can download Pandora free and use all features with ads, or upgrade to Pandora Plus for an ad-free experience.

4. YouTube Music

YouTube Music provides official songs, albums, music videos and live performances from artists around the world. The vast music catalog comes from the YouTube videos that users upload.

Beyond official songs, you can find remixes, covers, and rare tracks uploaded by other YouTube users – great for music discovery. Other useful features include:

Ad-free listening with YouTube Premium
Offline downloads for when you‘re not connected
Intelligent search understands lyrics, music type, and artist
Create custom stations and playlists
View music videos and concert footage

Get the YouTube Music app free from the App Store and upgrade to Premium to remove ads.

5. SoundCloud

SoundCloud gives you access to over 200 million tracks uploaded by users around the world. In addition to established artists, it‘s a great place to discover emerging indie musicians and listen to original creations.

You can follow other users and get notifications when they release new tracks. Useful features include:

Huge catalog of original remixes, mashups and covers
Follow friends, artists and influencers
Share and comment on tracks
Create playlists to collect music
Promoted tracks introduce you to rising talent

Download SoundCloud free for iPhone to start exploring unique unsigned artists.

6. Audiomack

Audiomack provides streaming access to both mainstream and emerging hip-hop, rap and R&B artists. You can stream full albums and mixtapes, many available for offline listening.

The app is especially popular for mixtapes you won‘t find on other services. Features include:

Stream full albums and mixtapes
Download albums/mixtapes for offline listening
New music and top charts for rap and hip-hop
Dedicated channels spotlight rising artists
Share music and follow other users

Get the Audiomack iPhone app free to access new hip-hop music instantly.

7. TuneIn

With TuneIn you can stream live radio stations from around the world. Listen to music, news, sports, podcasts and more from 100,000 stations.

TuneIn is great for discovering local radio when traveling. You can browse stations by location and language. Other features include:

100,000 live AM, FM and internet radio stations
Podcast streaming from major networks
Sports play-by-play including NFL, MLB and Premier League
Ability to record live radio for playback later
Download favorite stations for offline listening

Get the TuneIn Radio app free from the App Store and upgrade to Premium for ad-free listening.

8. My Mixtapez

My Mixtapez provides unlimited streaming of new and trending hip-hop music. You‘ll find the latest mixtapes, albums and songs from top rappers and DJs.

The app makes it easy to stream and download new hip-hop mixtapes. Useful features include:

New mixtapes and hip-hop releases added daily
Stream full mixtapes and download tracks
Follow favorite DJs and artists
Share and discuss music with other fans
Playlists for top trending hip-hop songs

Get the latest rap and hip-hop mixtapes by downloading My Mixtapez free.

9. Shazam

Shazam can identify any song playing near you. Just tap the app and hold your phone towards the music to identify the artist and track.

Beyond recognizing songs, Shazam is great for music discovery. You can see charts of popular songs and access lyrics, videos, and streaming options. Key features:

Identify songs in seconds by listening
View music charts for your city and genre
Play full songs in app and add to Apple Music or Spotify
Read lyrics as songs play
Follow artists and get recommendations

Download Shazam free for iPhone to instantly identify music and access lyrics.

10. Pandora Now

Pandora Now provides a personalized feed of new music based on your listening history and favorite artists. It functions similarly to Pandora radio stations.

The app finds fresh music and customized playlists tailored to your tastes. Useful features include:

New music discovery from favorite genres/artists
Add variety with customized playlists
One-tap listening starts music instantly
Download stations for offline listening
Thumb up/down songs to tune recommendations

Try Pandora Now free for iPhone to receive personalized music recommendations.

11. iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio gives you access to over 2,000 live radio stations broadcasting a variety of music, podcasts and talk radio.

In addition to live radio, iHeartRadio has customizable stations and playlists covering every genre. Features include:

2,000+ live radio stations
450,000 curated playlists and custom stations
Podcasts, audiobooks and talk radio
New music and emerging artists Channels
Download stations for offline listening

Download iHeartRadio free for iPhone to listen to music, news, comedy and more.

12. YouTube

The main YouTube app allows you to stream official music videos from your favorite artists. It has an enormous music video collection spanning genres and decades.

Beyond the videos, YouTube has many music-focused channels like Vevo. The app features:

Official licensed music videos
Concert footage, live performances and more
Music charts showcase trending songs
Related videos introduce you to new artists
Create playlists of your favorite videos

The YouTube app is free for iPhone and provides access to unlimited music videos.

13. Musixmatch

Musixmatch displays song lyrics synchronized in real-time as you play music on your iPhone. You can also search for any song by lyrics to find the name and artist.

Having access to lyrics is great for singing along, understanding songs, and discovering music. Features include:

Real-time floating lyrics for Spotify, YouTube, etc.
Identify songs by searching lyrics phrases
Read lyrics offline for downloaded music
Add song favorites and view charts
Lyrics for millions of tracks across languages

Grab Musixmatch free from the App Store to gain access to a massive lyrics catalog.

14. JioSaavn

JioSaavn is an Indian music streaming service with millions of Bollywood and regional song tracks. The catalogue spans many Indian languages.

The app provides unlimited streaming access to one of the largest collections of Indian music. Features include:

Millions of Hindi and Indian regional songs
Thousands of playlists and radio stations
Download tracks for offline listening
New music updates, top charts and exclusives
Lyrics displayed in real-time

You can download JioSaavn free for iPhone and access all core features.

15. Deezer

Deezer gives you on-demand access to 73 million tracks with over 3,500 curated playlists. The app makes music discovery easy.

Useful features include:

Access to CD-quality FLAC audio
Flow feature plays continuous music
Song lyrics to sing along to
Expertly curated playlists for every mood
App for Apple Watch

Try Deezer free on iPhone with ads, or upgrade to Deezer HiFi for lossless CD quality music.

16. Napster

Napster has an extensive catalog of over 90 million tracks available for streaming on demand. The app also includes evolving playlists and radio stations for music discovery.

Top features of the Napster app include:

90 million songs available for streaming
Evolving playlists match your tastes
Hundreds of genre radio stations
Sync your local music files to the app
Listen offline with downloadable tracks

Download Napster‘s music app free for iPhone. A subscription is needed for full access.

17. Gaana

Gaana is an Indian music app with over 45 million songs in Bollywood and various regional languages. There are thousands of playlists and radio stations.

Top app features:

45+ million songs in Indian languages
Thousands of playlists for Bollywood and regional music
Download tracks for offline listening
View synchronized lyrics
Get customized recommendations

You can download Gaana free for iPhone and access full features when you create a free account.

As you can see, there is an incredible variety of free music apps for iPhone – no matter your taste in music.

Top competitors like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music have millions of hit songs, playlists, and music discovery features. Other apps like SoundCloud and Audiomack showcase rising indie artists and genres like hip hop and rap.

Many apps allow you to download songs for offline listening, read lyrics in real-time, follow friends‘ activity, and get customized music recommendations – all benefits that make music apps a superior listening experience compared to traditional MP3s and radio.

Hopefully this guide gives you some new music apps to try on your iPhone. Expand your musical taste by mixing top suggested apps like Spotify with specialized apps like JioSaavn for Bollywood and Indian music. Create playlists for your every mood and activity. Discover new genres and indie artists.

With millions of songs in your pocket, music apps make every day better. Find your new favorite app and enjoy unlimited music and features to match your personal taste. Happy listening!