Instead of shopping around for a streaming service that will ultimately disappoint you, why not cut out the middleman and start using a music library you actually own? Advantages such as uninterrupted music, increased portability, and increased longevity of the hardware you actually use make it worth the cost of a few albums.

Your Discover Weekly probably doesn't suck - the feature is so popular that it's the subject of long glowing profiles on tech blogs and business blogs. Spotify even built an ad campaign out of users tweeting how much they love the feature. Each week, every active Spotify user gets a new list of 30 tracks, and over half of them find a new favourite. But depending on your Spotify habits, it is possible to get a garbage Discover Weekly. Here's what's happening and how to fix it.

Google launched a new browser-based music sequencer Thursday that allows users to be both song writer and producer and create their own simple jams using Chrome.

Whoa, hold on there, person about to exchange money for movies or music - do you know how much free stuff is out there on the web, all legally released and available for anyone to listen to or watch? If you want to spend less on your entertainment budget and maybe discover some interesting new stuff at the same time, here's where to look.

Spotify's algorithm-generated playlists try, but they don't always hit the mark. If you want to mess with the recipe a bit, try out Nelson, the Spotify playlist generator that lets you customise what shows up on your playlist based on the kind of music (or musical elements) you enjoy.

VLC, the Swiss Army knife of media players, has been updated to version 3.0.0. The latest version adds some much-needed features to the player, including one that could make streaming all that content from your computer to your living room TV a lot easier: Chromecast support (among other things).

While the mixtape is long gone, you still might be looking for a new way to share your latest weekend mix with your coworkers, or stay connected to friends across the country by jamming out to your favourite songs together. Now you can use JQBX to share playlists, vote on songs, and lend your musical taste to everyone with a Spotify account.

It's fun sharing music with people, especially while you're doing other fun things. If you use Discord to chat with your gaming friends (or anyone really), now you can listen to music as a group with built-in Spotify connectivity.

SoundCloud recently switched its music streams from 128Kb/s MP3 to 64Kb/s Opus. Many users hear a drop in sound quality in the higher frequencies. So artist Joseph Lyncheski, aka Direct, built an extension for Chrome and Firefox to force the site to stream in its old format. (For now, Safari is still streaming in MP3.)

For a horror soundtrack, Stranger Things 2 feels very... productive. The rhythmic synths don't evoke a Lovecraftian monster so much as a gently churning supercomputer. This makes for a great soundtrack to your work day. Cue it up on Spotify and get in the zone.

There is a lot of different types of music out there. Like, a lot. Don't believe me? Check out this time-sucking tool called Every Noise at Once.

Last week, Google announced a slew of new products, from a pair of Google Home voice assistant variants to the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones. Those new voice assistants, such as the $79 Google Home Mini and the $US399 ($514) Google Home Max, make music playback throughout the home simple -- so you're going to want to hook up to a music streaming service. Google Play wants to be the streaming service of choice for all Google devices. With added features designed to entice Google Home, Chromecast and Android users, here's why it's worth your consideration over other services such as Spotify.

If you're one of the few using Microsoft's Groove Music app and Groove Music Pass streaming service, bad news: The company's discontinuing both Groove Music Pass subscriptions as well as the ability to stream, purchase or download music with the Groove Music app at year's end. Instead, Microsoft is partnering with Spotify, and letting users move select Groove Music content to the streaming service.

Nothing is secret on the internet -- we know this. We get Facebook ads for shoes we look at on ASOS and Instagram ads for products we mention on Facebook. The eyes and algorithms are everywhere. Sometimes it's creepy, sure. But today it's great, because it means that everyone has a perfect, beautiful Spotify playlist of the songs we loved in high school.

Sometimes all I need in this crazy world is a brisk walk to clear my head and some good music bumping through my headphones. But when that simple pleasure is interrupted every morning by my partner issuing voice commands while I'm out of the house, silencing the music in my headphones, it can be a tad frustrating. It's especially irksome when the root cause is the multiple user preferences of my Google Home, a voice assistant that is there to, ostensibly, make my life a little easier.

Spotify's latest update adds iMessage support, making it easier to share tracks with your friends during text conversations. Best of all, both sender and receiver can play the shared tracks without opening the app itself -- at least until you want to listen to the whole song.

No matter where music comes from, it has the power to make you feel, make you think, and make you dance. If you use Spotify, broadening your musical horizons is easy.

The announcement of Apple's music bumpin' HomePod means you might be reconsidering which streaming service you use. To be honest, going from one to another might not be that big of a leap. Most streaming services do share a variety of similarities. They work on whatever smartphone you own, usually support streaming to speakers through Airplay or Google Cast, and its premium service lets you stream music on-demand and save it for offline listening.

Of course, not all music services are created equal. What might work with your Sonos may not play nice with your Amazon Echo, and what your upcoming HomePod will play isn't exactly third-party software.

Chances are you've signed up to at least one streaming service -- but are you making the most of the best-quality music on offer? A quick audit of your apps can boost both streaming and downloaded bit-rates, so you're always assured of the highest fidelity audio flowing through your pricy headphones to your eardrums. Which means you hear more of the music and a little less of the noise that can accompany lower quality music files.