How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Music Streaming App Like Spotify?

When happy- enjoy music, when sad understand music, when partying- jump on the tunes, when concentrating- indulge in it, the music has its place everywhere.  Music is something that is an inseparable part of our everyday life.  Indulge in any music, and you will always end up finding yourself in any of the situations. It […]

Updated 16 February 2024

Ajay Kumar
Ajay Kumar

CEO at Appventurez

When happy- enjoy music, when sad understand music, when partying- jump on the tunes, when concentrating- indulge in it, the music has its place everywhere. 

Music is something that is an inseparable part of our everyday life. 

Indulge in any music, and you will always end up finding yourself in any of the situations. It is like breathing the rhythms. 

This music made its debut in the mobile app development industry too. Many businesses, startups, or people with great ideas are trying to develop a music-based mobile application. 

Meanwhile, blindfolded believing just the words is like nodding yes to something not worthy to deal in.

Surprising Facts & Stats About Music Streaming App

  • Spotify generated $7.85 billion revenue in 2020, a 16% increase in year-on-year
  • Spotify has never published an operating profit. In 2020, it posted a $581 million loss
  • 365 million people use Spotify once a month, 165 million are subscribers
  • 70 million songs are available on Spotify and 2.9 million podcasts
  • The global online music streaming market size was valued at $12,831.2 million in 2019 
  • It is estimated that the music streaming market size will reach $24,711.3 million by 2027
  • Music Streaming Application Market to hit $17.50 Billion by 2025 

music streaming subscribers by platform

Right after choosing the best tech for social networking apps, the maximum time is spent on music streaming applications. By Taking second place, the domain is aggressively growing. 

So, whatever aforementioned was all about numbers, graphs, and statistics, it is now the time to indulge in the core of music streaming apps like Spotify. 

Let’s get started-

spotify subscribers in millions

When exploring the app store for musical applications, getting confused with different top music streaming services types is quite common. 

Types of Applications

  • Music Editing Apps
  • Music Learning Apps
  • Music Streaming Apps
  • Apps for Music Bands
  • Music Identification apps

Many players are available in the music streaming industry, such as Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music. But among these applications, Spotify is something you are more familiar with. 

A Brief of What Spotify is All About?

Spotify that has gained widespread attention from all over the world, is a Swedish-based audio streaming platform. 

The app is ruling the global music streaming market share with over 217 million monthly active users, according to the company’s official Q1 2019 report. Out of these, 100  million are Spotify Premium subscribers.

An app launched in the year 2008 is today a company of more than $5.98 billion with a net profit of $88.65 million. 

Through its algorithms and services, Spotify always managed to satisfy users accordingly. 

Let’s get started- 

So, we were saying that what makes successful apps successful? Here we got you some features to be added-

Some features to be added in music streaming apps like Spotify

Now that you have decided to go ahead with music streaming mobile app development company, given below are the features not to be missed-

Captivating UI/UX

If there is nothing that captivates the audience’s mind in the very beginning, nothing else can do the job. 

To attract the maximum number of audiences, the UI/UX design services of the app should be accurate, easy, user-friendly, engaging, and simple. The more simple the interface will be, the more the chances of app viral and active users will be.

Also, top mobile app UI design trends get the weightage because it triggers the audience’s mind in the very beginning. If it fails, starting from resources, cost, hard work, time will go in vain. 

We got you a pro tip- when developing an application, do not skip Minimum Viable Product for a startup. It is a mirror that will show you if your app idea is acceptable in the market and what can be done next to make it fit in the market. 

Onboarding process

Once the user is done downloading the app and preparing themself to use the app- the next is the mobile app onboarding process

This is the page that will redirect the user to the app’s core. Thus, the user should be given the option of registering to the app through various sources. The multiple sources could be social media account, Gmail, Facebook account, and many more. You can also follow several mobile app onboarding best practices

Apart from that, the information that is meant to be given by users like name, country, age, gender, contact number, and photo(optional) can later be used for future scaling and music Streaming industry analysis. Also, it becomes easy to keep track of the user’s music taste for offering better music recommendations. 

Home page and music playlist

Have you ever used Spotify? The app enables one to select their choice of songs once they are done with the login process. 

Giving users to choose their taste of songs from different categories and language categories can help in more user engagement. 

But that does not mean that users are bound to shuffle between those options only. The choices are just what interest users the more. Apart from that, the app should be developed so that it allows users to go beyond the boundary to let them listen to anything they want. 

For example- today’s hit, romantic beats, etc., can enhance the overall user experience. However, the flexibility aspect here is stealing the show; lack of flexibility can be a huge turn-off for the users. 

Let users search and discover

Anything that is left unexplored is the most important thing. Taking the same thought ahead can add some weight to the app. 

Thus, the user should be given the option of exploring as they are using music streaming apps like Spotify. In addition, users can filter music from the pool of music android libraries lists through the options. 

To ease the effort and minimize the hard work, app developers can mark filters with albums, artists, mood, song names, and year. 

Let them share and stay socially active

It is the era of social presence. So you can use the chance to make the user do some social marketing for your app. 

Let users share what they listen to with their friends, social circle, social networking sites, etc. 

Apart from letting users share, making them follow their favorite artists from within the application would make them remain updated on a new album or song. 

The freedom of sharing things on social media can help in boosting the app’s performance and the app’s visibility in the market with a mobile app store optimization guide.

Cost of Developing On-Demand Music Streaming Mobile App

To make you understand how much does it cost to make a streaming app, we have broken down the costing factors into different phases- 

  • Planning and estimation
  • Finding reliable mobile app developers
  • Designing the application 
  • Choosing the right platform
  • Getting the license
  • Developing features and functionalities

Now, let us touch them in great depth- 

Planning and estimation phase

Before starting with the actual development process, prepare a detailed planned concept of the project. 

Look why and how your competitors succeed and figure out a way to overpass their success growth with your application. 

You might be wondering; when your competitor is succeeding, it means people like what they are offering.

But in reality, users might be waiting for something that can change their way of streaming and listening to music. So when finding out what is missing, tailor your application’s features and functionalities to match users’ needs. 

The first phase might look as if it is free of cost, but it is a time-consuming and costly affair. And both the things are worthy of indulging in. 

Finding the right and reliable mobile app developers

Once you are done with what you want in your application, the next step is questing for the right mobile app developer. 

Make sure you are considering factors like rates, location, language, demographics, cultural differences, etc . when considering or appointing mobile app developers or the on-demand music streaming app development company.

Outsourcing your on-demand mobile app development solution can be proven as a great solution. 

Meanwhile, figure out how much it costs to develop a mobile application before jumping in how much it costs to create a music streaming app as per the location. 

After that, there is a list of things you should ask the mobile app development company before yes to them. 

Planning to develop an app like Spotify

Once finalizing the right mobile app development company or reliable mobile app developers, it is time to jump to the project’s wireframing. 

Wireframing & prototyping services will showcase how skeletally your app will look with features and every action required. It is a visual guide representing your app. 

When doing so, remember that users love to use apps that are easy to use, followed by an easy onboarding experience. You can also choose mobile app wireframe tools to build your music streaming apps like Spotify. 

Prototyping will be the stage that will take responsibility for testing the app- something that will incur costs. So make sure you are thoroughly done with your competitor’s research along with putting the best part. 

Deciding platform like Spotify

The next factor will determine the cost of developing a Music Streaming App. 

Going ahead with the React native for startups is often recommended rather than choosing a cross-platform application. The reason here is if you go ahead with a native app,  there will be higher chances of offering a seamless and smoother experience to the users- something that will also match the existing operating system. 

Spotify’s SDK is available for both Android and iOS app development solutions

Getting your application licensed

No matter how awesome music you will share with the audience, not taking the copyright and not following the legal procedure can take you behind bars. 

To safeguard you from legal conditions, a lawsuit is in the store for you. 

You need to have a Public Performance Rights License to go ahead with the same. Moving on to the other side, there are 3 agencies in the USA namely ASCAP.com, BMI.com or SESAC.com. 

Furthermore, a certain revenue or royalty needs to be paid to the artists or musicians sharing their compositions and things in your application.

Features to be developed

Authentification 

To understand this point all the more, take the example of Spotify. The app utilizes the freemium business model and offers a trial period before finally paying for the subscription. In addition, the app is connected to the social media platform called Facebook, allowing users to sign in through their accounts. 

To go ahead with the same feature, 24 hours are required to develop the front-end, whereas 16 hours are needed to attend the back-end part. 

Music streaming 

For making the music streaming uninterrupted and smooth, you can go ahead with a simple MVP. 

MVP generally takes 60-80 hours for the front-end, whereas a minimum of 50 hours is dedicated to the back-end part. Regarding the music streaming feature, around 600 hours are strictly required to develop the app. 

Search

Spotify makes users choose among playlists and select the one that suits their mood currently. Apart from that, users can search as per the artist, album or a particular genre. 

Its MVP generally required 50-60 hours for developing the front-end and around 50 hours to go ahead with the back-end. 

Sharing music

It is all about sharing the tracks and seeing the playlists. Its front-end will take 5 hours for each platform, whereas the back-end will take 60 hours to develop.

Playlists 

There is a team of experienced Android developers who work to set the playlist as per the mood and expectations of the users. Apart from that, users can also set their collection of music and their friends. 

Its front-end would take 40 hours, whereas the back-end will take 70 hours. 

So, these things will affect the cost of developing on-demand music streaming mobile apps.

Like on-demand music streaming apps like Spotify, the on-demand taxi industry is also flourishing. 

When this was the final answer to the costing part, we have got you further reading to let you know how to earn money through music streaming apps. 

If you are looking to create reliable music streaming app like Spotify, Appventurez is the right choice for you!

Why Choose Appventurez For a Music Streaming App Development Solution Like Spotify?

Appventurez offers dependable music streaming apps equipped with built-in streaming features and various monetization models. Furthermore, we provide a comprehensive array of cutting-edge online music streaming application development services tailored for both individuals and businesses. If you harbor creative ideas for a music streaming app, akin to Spotify, our Mobile App Development Services can turn your vision into a reality for your business.

Here are some reasons why you should consider us for your music streaming app:

The expert team

Our mobile app development dedicated team has hands-on experience utilizing the innovative tech stack to build platform-oriented and cross-platform advanced apps. 

Privacy

No matter what app you want, our professionals always stay focused on your’s data and privacy. So they create a music streaming app that follows high-security standards and remains safe from end-to-end. 

Dedicated Developers

We hire experienced developers for your music streaming app project. Our team will work for you until the project’s delivery is successful. 

On-time Delivery

We make sure to deliver service on time, and there will be no delay from our side. On-time delivery is the standard practice that we follow for each project. 

FAQs

Q. How to earn money through music streaming mobile application?

You can earn money through music streaming mobile apps by charging the customers and artists. Charge the customers through subscriptions, Ads, additional sources of revenue and charge the artists through monetizing the songs and promotion.

Q. What are leading back-end technologies music streaming apps?

To make the music streaming application perfectly compatible with both web and mobile platforms, developers can use Cassandra, PostgreSQL, and general caching systems of the memory.

Q. What features can give more edge to the overall music streaming app?

Several features can make your music streaming app more reliable and efficient. These features include calendars placed with events, integrated chatting or messaging option within the app, and choosing the favorite songs and music.

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    Ajay Kumar
    Ajay Kumar

    CEO at Appventurez

    Ajay Kumar has 15+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, project management, and team handling. He has technical expertise in software development and database management. He currently directs the company’s day-to-day functioning and administration.