You can do more with your library: Find lost tracks, organize your collection, and discover new songs.
There are plenty of them. There are many music streaming services available. These services have inspired a growing number if companion apps and add-ons that can help you get more out of your subscription.
This means that you don't have to use the default features of Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube Music. You can also use tools that run on top of these platforms to get additional features and options.
While some of these tools can be used with all music streaming services, others are specific to one platform. These are some of the favorites that we hope you will find useful.
Songpocket
Songpocket for iPhone and iPad plugs directly into the Music app on your tablet or phone, giving you greater control over how your music will be arranged.
You don't have the Apple-imposed order and grouping. You can place your favourite artists at the top and group albums as you wish.
You can use the app with any music that is in the default Music app. The app will display all of your music organized alphabetically.
You can then move albums around between groups you have created by reordering them.
Next
Next will cost you $5 (for iPad and iPhone) but it'll be well worth it for serious music fans. It functions like a smart shuffle, analyzing play counts for your tracks to bring up some of your favorite songs as well as some "hidden gems" you may not have heard for a while.
Next can be used with the Apple Music app library, which includes tunes that you have purchased, imported, saved, or downloaded from the streaming music catalogue that Apple offers.
Next integrates seamlessly with Siri, CarPlay and AirPlay as well as the Music App. There's even a widget that allows you to pin this smart shuffle feature onto your home screen.
Boil the Frog
Boil the Frog (web), which borrows from the old saying about a frog being slowly cooked in a pot, to apply it to playlists, uses artist similarity data generated via Spotify.
The web app allows you to go between artists in as few tracks possible. Try switching between artists who are famous for different types of music to get the best results.
The webpage where you are viewing your playlist allows you to preview and remove tracks from it. You can listen to the entire playlist by saving it to your Spotify account.
To help you get inspired, there are also a few Boil the Frog playlists available on the website.
Last.fm
Last.fm was launched in 2003. It is available on desktop, web, and mobile. This means that it has a large music collection for you to choose from.
It understands the relationships between artists so it can offer new music you will love based on your existing listening habits.
Last.FM can track your listening either automatically (it's integrated right into Spotify), or you can browse the site at your leisure, looking for similar artists and exploring different genres at your own speed.
You can view which songs and albums are most popular, create charts of your listening habits, and many other features.
MagicPlaylist
While your streaming music service will likely have many ways to recommend new songs, it is hard to beat MagicPlaylist (web).
Based on our testing, MagicPlaylist (web) promises to create "the playlist of dreams" using just one song. It's definitely worth looking into.
MagicPlaylist will create a playlist based on your favorite tracks. It can take as long as one hour, two hours, or three hours depending on how long you need.
You can save the playlist to your Spotify account. MagicPlaylist also allows you to create lists of songs based on certain moods (e.g. party, chill).
YT Music Mini
You'll be able to control YouTube Music playback wherever you are in Chrome or any other Chromium browser like Microsoft Edge.
You don't need YouTube Music open in order to play music, skip playlists, and start or stop audio playback.
This compact extension offers many customization options. You can change between light and dark mode, control playback with keyboard shortcuts, and see lyrics as the music plays.
You can also link YouTube Music to your Last.FM account (see the details above) to save your listening history.
MusicBot
MusicBot (for iPhone & iPad) combines Apple Music's default app with Siri Shortcuts. This allows you to do more with your music library.
It's basically a collection of shortcuts for the Music app that makes it easy to navigate your digital music collection.
With a single tap, you can have your favorite playlists shuffled, the Music app loaded up with your latest music, the Music add-on loaded up with songs that have been sitting in the back of your library, and the Music app load your most recent music.
You can also customize MusicBot to suit your specific needs.
