How to Develop an Audio Streaming App

According to IFPI Global Music Report 2021, at the end of 2020 there were 443 million users of paid subscription accounts in music streaming services. Streaming platforms’ income reached $13,4 billion. This is 62,1% of total global recorded music revenues.

With the start of the pandemic, the demand for streaming services has increased. And this is not only about music. With a lot of free time but a lack of opportunities for face-to-face meetings, many people have switched to streaming apps:

• The number of Discord users grew by around 70 million in 2020.
• There are over 460 million podcast listeners.
• Americans listened to an average of 8.1 audiobooks in 2020, up from 6,8 in the previous year.
• In February 2021, Clubhouse’s audience reached 10 million, although this app had around 2 million users in January.

On-demand or live streaming 🎧

There are 2 basic types of streaming apps — on-demand and live. Live streaming is mostly used by radio stations such as iHeartRadio or apps like Pandora.

In this case, a customer can’t select what track he wants to listen to — the app decides it instead. It seems like a DJ on classic radio stations. The user discovers new artists and genres he or she has not listened to before.

Other examples of live audio streaming apps may be voice chat apps like Clubhouse or online lecture apps.

Using on-demand streaming apps customers can make their own playlists and play favorite songs to the death. In addition to selected tracks, the listener is free to choose the recommendation section. It is formed based on the preferences of users with similar musical tastes. Also, this is how podcast apps usually work: the client can listen to audio that has already been uploaded.

However, it’s not only about podcasts or music app development. This model is also used in apps with on-demand audio courses or audiobooks.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t use both types in one app. However, to enter the market easier and faster, choose the main one for the minimum viable product (MVP). This solution will help you test your idea and understand what your clients are really interested in.

License in music streaming app 📑

To create a music app, both live and on-demand streaming, require a license and agreements. But each type of streaming is licensed by different organizations. Here is a list of them:

If you want to make a music app like Spotify, be ready for large fees for being a part of the music streaming market: in 2020 this music streaming service paid royalties worth over $5 billion.

It will be a great idea to add Social Sign Up — the ability to create a profile by connecting to a social media account. It’s much faster than entering all personal data manually, and your users could see their friends.

Social Sign Up will be an advantage for you as well. With this feature, you can learn your users’ social media profiles, find out more information about them and gather more detailed statistics.

You can also gamify your streaming app to make it more attractive for users to spend time there. Implement an achievement system, so your customers could compete with friends and want to collect more awards.

Player in music app ⏯

It is the heart of any audio or music streaming app. Users will interact with this screen the most often, so it needs to be user-friendly and well-designed. The music player should have these features:

• The name of the played track and artist.
• Track or album cover.
• Control buttons (pause, previous/next audio, volume).
• Playlist with next songs.
• Like and add music tracks to the playlist.

To make your app better, add interesting features that upgrade its usability:

• Playing tracks in groups. Users can join a shared session, add tracks to a playlist together and select music to listen to.
• Switching between devices, like Spotify. You can transfer music playback from your smartphone to your computer or any other gadget without wires or logging into your account, but simply over WiFi. The device will start playing the track from the same point, and you can use your smartphone as a remote controller.
• Switching between video and audio players. This function is suitable for educational content or podcasts.

Search 🔎

It is one of the essential components of the app. User should find what he wants as easily as possible, then he’ll have a better experience. When the client sends his request, the back-end database searches by keyword what the user wants to get — song, album, performer, audiobook, on-demand course, meditation, etc. After finding he will see the result screen with the most relevant points.

YouTube Music has a search history feature. It is helpful for users who forget the name of a track after listening to it or forget to subscribe to the last podcast heard. The app immediately shows audio that the listener previously searched for so they don't have to enter the name again. You can place this option right next to the search bar, and users won’t have to look for listening history.

Content library 🗃

Often this is what you see when you log into the app. The content library contains various playlists offered by the app. Tracks are divided by genre, charts, categories, and similarity to specific artists.

This feature is conveniently implemented by Apple Podcast. Although in music streaming apps the library is often combined with recommendations, this screen is usually left only for subscriptions, listening history and downloaded content in podcast apps.

Not only music and podcast apps can have an attractive content library, but also audio guides. For example, you can link geolocation to audio files and send a push notification when your client visits a particular sightseeing location. He doesn’t have to search for the record himself. It can also be useful in trips, offering your user to listen to local music charts.

Recommendations in podcasts and music streaming apps 👍

This screen improves audio app usage and customer experience. Users can’t listen to the same music every time, and after a while they’ll need new tracks. It is also necessary for podcasts: when the listener’s favorite podcast is over, he lacks audio content and looks for a new one.

This is what Recommendations were created for. Specially developed AI algorithms check what people with similar tastes listen to and their favorite tracks.

Meditation Apps 🧘‍♀️

The popularity of meditation peaked in March 2020, just at the start of the global lockdown. These apps are still used by people struggling with stress and want to increase their level of calm and concentration.

Divide all meditations into “packs” that touch on specific topics: stress relief, rest, good sleep, proper breathing, etc. An interesting solution would be a meditation of the day –– it can be listened to by the user who doesn’t have a specific request or problem.

For those who cannot concentrate while someone is talking, add various sounds of nature, such as rain, wind, or rustling leaves. These sounds also help to fall asleep, so you will be able to cover several needs of your audience.

Users will be keen on listening to meditations if you add statistics. For example, your app will count the number of minutes people meditate or the number of meditations they listen to. In addition, you can synchronize the app with a calendar so listeners will get reminders and won’t forget to meditate.

Audio Guides for Museums or Travel Agencies 🎭

A personal audio app will be helpful in large museums with a high attendance rate and actively updated exhibits. Stories about each exhibit can be uploaded to the app in several languages. It is possible to stick a QR-code next to each item and build into the app a feature for code scanning.

If museum visitors want a traditional tour, a live stream will allow the tour guide to speak into the microphone instead of raising his voice. Then every tourist in the group can hear him, and the rest of the visitors may enjoy the exhibits in silence.

A similar feature could be added to the travel agency application.

Audio Books Apps 📚

For this type of app, it is important to set up the ability to listen to audio from where the user left off. The absence of this feature is likely to reduce customer loyalty.

If you want to work with non-fiction literature, add a book-sharing option to the app. Independent indie publishers love this feature, and they value Amazon’s Audible for it.

Don’t forget to organize books by genre, author, theme, or even mood. This will make it easier to find books and improve the recommendation screen.

Voice Chat Apps 🗣

The most famous voice chat app of 2021 is Clubhouse. These apps are perfect for educational events or professional communication within a company. The advantages of this type of chat include:

• Creating separate rooms: open (for everyone), social (for people you follow), and closed (for chosen ones).
• Extensive moderation options: mute participants, start them in rooms, set permissions.
• File or screen sharing for visual support. This feature is helpful for educational purposes.

Voices chats have been on the market for a long time, but Clubhouse has changed the game and given a fresh perspective on this type of app. If you want to be on-trend and create your own voice chat app, read our article about Clubhouse.