Tips to Develop a Brilliant Music App

Music accompanies us wherever we go thanks to portable players and mobile devices. We listen to our favorite tracks 24/7 while taking the bath or going to the office. It helps us to get away from the stress and the strain with only a couple of taps. The way we consume music has changed over the times. Generations have witnessed the transformation of portable devices and how they evolved from Sony Walkman to flash players and music applications today.

Mobile devices connected to the Internet provide a full access to music and track libraries for all tastes and preferences. No downloads and hours of waiting, no CD burning and installations. Just make sure your smartphone is connected to the global web and run the music app.

In spite of overwhelming popularity, the majority of music apps lack efficiency and productivity. It means that music app development is a good idea for a startup. However, if you really want to gain success, you need to make your product fast, stable and less consuming when it comes to device resources. If you have an idea of developing a music application for a startup, this article will come in handy.

Biggest Music Apps on the Mobile Market

Before we get to the development process, let’s do some research and have a look at the biggest names on the mobile market. Most of you are familiar with them. At the same time, you need to have a clear understanding whom you are going to compete with when entering the market with your own music app. The biggest names in the field include:

• Spotify;
• SoundCloud;
• Pandora Radio.

These are the leading apps according to the recent researches, stats and surveys. Their popularity has been changing rapidly especially after implementation of the streaming feature. Streaming here is actually the key word of applications’ success. It comes as a better alternative for downloading tracks. It is less time-consuming and lets you immediately start listening to your favorite song. The process is simple and includes several simple steps:

1. Click the track you want to listen to.
2. Server receives the request with a needed file.
3. The audio stream is sent directly to your mobile device.

Now let’s have a closer look to the biggest titles on the music app market.

Spotify App

Spotify uses a unique technology for streaming music. The application stores audio tracks on multiple servers. Moreover, users’ mobile devices are app’s servers. It applies the cache of their hard drive. In other words, Spotify uses millions of different mobile devices as its server. This is a good idea, as tracks and podcasts require lots of storage space. Such method made it possible for the app builders to deliver over 30 million different tracks to their users.

Moreover, the application has a great social background letting subscribers share music and tracks via app’s own network. Traditional features include the possibility to create your own playlists, get updates from other Spotify users, share the content, follow your Facebook friends to see what kind of music they prefer and more. Another great thing about this music app is the opportunity to sync tracks downloaded from your PC to a smartphone and listen to it online whenever you want.

Accessible by both iOS and Android devices, the app offers several subscription opportunities:

• A free plan featuring embedded adds;
• Premium ads-free subscription.

A free plan is good but it comes with a limited option of features. If you want to take the fullest from the app and get an unlimited access to all its functions, you should only pay $9.99 as a monthly fee. For this money you benefit from ads-free streaming and can use any option and feature.

Apple Music

Apple Music is another popular music application that is considered as the main competitor. Although accused by Spotify of unfair competition, the product has raised in popularity. Some people say that Apple rejected Spotify updates and removed them from the App Store in order to promote its own product. We are not going to discuss this particular issue in the article. Our mission is to focus on the key features of the product and highlight its benefits for startups.

There is nothing critically different between these two apps. Apple Music has the same operating methods and mechanisms. The main mission is to deliver an enormous music library to its users. The system learns your music preferences, favorite singers and music genres to deliver efficient recommendations.

The music app comes with a selection of features that allow users:

• Combine the library from the application with iTunes library;
• Search for tracks based on your tastes and preferences;
• Use virtual assistant Siri to search for new tracks and songs.

Apple Music has API for developers who are eager to implement the same streaming principles in their music applications.

The Cost of Music App Development

As well as any other type of applications, the cost of music app development depends on various factors. Complexity of the project is the first and foremost thing that will affect the price. For this reason, you need to have a clear vision of all features you want to have in your app. At the same time, it is necessary to define the best technologies to implement during the development process. The development cost can also depend on the following parameters:

• Development team (in-house/outsource/freelance);
• Type of platform (iOS or Android);
• A number of features.

The last one is the most crucial. Here is a list of basic features your music app needs to have in order to compete with the main rivals in the niche:

• Signing in – think of a fast and easy way for your users to register and log in. A good idea is to use their accounts in social media for the fast authorization;
• Social sharing – socialization is a vital feature for any mobile application. A music app is not an exception. Let your users share tracks to follow friends to check what they prefer to listen to;
• Search and navigation – you need to implement an easy and efficient searching tool making it simple to find a particular track or song;
• Push notification – this feature is an essential one for any type of app. It results in better engagement with your product;
• Performance – this feature may appear to be a deciding point for your users when choosing between two music apps. You need to make your application performance as fast as possible. Moreover, it is supposed to consume less device resources;

The implementation of all the above-mentioned features can be a daunting process even for an experienced developer. For this reason, the prices for the project can be rather high. A good idea is to opt for a full-scale development company that introduces a good balance between high quality and affordable prices.

Summing Up

A music app is obviously a good idea for a startup considering the fact that most of existing applications perform poorly. On the other hand, we have some proven leaders in the niche that have proved to be efficient enough. They actually do not offer something special. It means that you have a great chance to implement some unique features and take the audience by storm. Our experienced team of developers is always here to help.