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

Gone are the days of radios, walkmans, and iPods, where we spent many hours browsing through music, choosing our favorite songs, downloading them, and paying for the services. The advancement of technology has changed the tempo of music streaming as well and has introduced on-demand music streaming apps. More than 85% of music lovers now prefer to use music streaming apps like Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. They have made it easy for users to listen to a wide range of music genres with just a click of a button and without needing to sort and download data repeatedly.

In the third quarter of 2024, Spotify reached a new milestone with 640 million active users worldwide, which represents a notable 12% increase from the previous year. During the same period, the company also reported having 252 million paying subscribers. This growth highlights Spotify’s expanding influence and success in the global music streaming market.

Pretty impressive, right?

Now, if you wish to develop a custom music streaming app for your business, this article will help you determine the music streaming app development cost and the various factors that affect it. In addition, we will also look at the multiple features of a robust music-streaming app like Spotify and the various benefits of investing in custom-streaming music apps.

To give you a brief idea, the music streaming app cost can vary from $45,000 to $250,000. The various factors that affect your overall app development budget include the location of the app development organization, the app’s UI/UX design, the development process, maintenance, quality assurance procedures, etc.

Now before diving into detail for all the factors, let us first help you understand a bit about the Spotify market and why investing in Spotify-like music-streaming app development is one of the most profitable ways of increasing your overall business revenue.

Comprehending the Music-Streaming App Market: Why Should You Invest in an App Like Spotify?

Music streaming has become the preferred way for people to listen to music, and Spotify has been a major player in making that happen. Since it started in 2008, Spotify has changed the music industry by offering huge libraries of music that people can easily access and enjoy. This has shifted how users think about listening to music, moving away from CDs and downloads to streaming from their devices anytime, anywhere. Spotify’s success in growing its user base and increasing its revenue year over year shows just how popular and financially successful music streaming can be.
According to the reports, the digital music streaming market is expected to reach a valuation of $35.45 billion by the end of 2025 and this growth is driven by various factors. First, advancements in technology have made music streaming services like Spotify more accessible on various devices, making it easier for users to listen to music wherever they are. Secondly, these platforms use smart technology to suggest music tailored to individual tastes, which keeps users engaged for longer periods. Plus, the ability to share music on social media helps integrate these streaming services into everyday social interactions, broadening their appeal.
Considering all this, there is a significant opportunity for new businesses thinking about entering the music streaming market. Building an app like Spotify today looks promising because of the growing market and changing listener habits that favor streaming over owning music.

Diving into this market could open up various sources of revenue from subscriptions, ads, and partnerships. What’s more, once a streaming service builds up a solid base of users, it can scale up significantly, meaning it can expand its reach to new regions and different groups of people. This makes investing in a music streaming app a potentially profitable move as the market continues to grow.
Now that you understand why it’s the right time to invest in the music streaming app market, the next step before diving into the development costs is to explore the different types of music streaming applications you can develop. Each type caters to specific listener preferences and business models, offering unique opportunities for market entry.

Types of Music Streaming Applications Businesses Can Develop

As you consider entering the music streaming market, it’s crucial to understand the different types of music streaming applications available. Each type serves a unique listener need and offers distinct business opportunities. Here are some popular categories to consider:
1. On-Demand Music Streaming Apps
These are the most popular types of music streaming apps, like Spotify and Apple Music, where users can choose exactly what they want to listen to. These apps offer extensive libraries of songs, playlists, and personalized recommendations based on user preferences.
2. Internet Radio Stations
These apps mimic traditional radio by offering streaming channels where music is played continuously. Users don’t select specific songs but choose stations or genres. Pandora is a well-known example, providing an easy listening experience with the ability to discover new music.
3. Cloud Storage Music Apps
For those who own a collection of music files, cloud storage apps allow users to upload their music to a server and stream it anywhere. This type is great for listeners who prefer to purchase music and want to access it across all their devices without using up device storage.
4. Social Music Streaming Apps
These platforms integrate social networking features with music streaming, allowing users to share playlists, follow other users’ musical choices, and discover music based on social interactions.
5. Hi-Resolution Music Apps
Targeting audiophiles, these apps offer high-resolution audio streaming that promises better sound quality than standard streaming services. Tidal HiFi is an example that provides lossless audio, appealing to users who prioritize sound quality over everything else.

How Much Does It Cost to Build an App like Spotify?

The answer to ‘How much does it cost to create a music streaming app?’ can be found in the analysis of a number of factors like the features that it will be included in the music streaming application, the platforms on which it would be launched, and in the end the region your music streaming app development company belongs to.

Now, as revealed earlier, the cost of creating music streaming apps for Android and iOS can vary between $45,000 and $250,000. The cost can increase or decrease based on many related factors like the app’s feature-list, tech-stack used as well as the overall complexity. Now, let us explain all these factors in detail below.

1. App Complexity

The overall complexity of the app directly impacts its cost. For instance, a highly complex app with an extensive feature-list will cost you more as compared to the one with a minimal feature list and lower complexity index. Let us try and offer you a quick cost estimate for the music streaming apps for Android and iOS as per their overall complexity.

2. UI/UX Design

A well-defined UI/UX design is one of the most important parameters that affects the app success by increasing the overall engagement as well as the retention rate. Since offering a seamless user experience to the target audience requires the app’s design to be tested multiple times, the overall cost of app development can vary.

3. App Platform

Choosing the appropriate underlying platform to create a music streaming app is another factor that defines the overall app development budget. For instance, you can either choose between iOS or Android platforms for your app or go for cross-platform app development.

Even though there is negligible cost difference between Android and iOS app development, it is usually recommended to choose a single audio streaming platform initially while progressing slowly as the app gains traction.

[Also Read: Android vs iOS: Which Platform is Better for Mobile Startups?]

4. Team Size

The team size hired for creating music streaming apps for Android and iOS directly impacts the cost of music streaming apps. Since growing an in-house team for app development is a daunting task considering the overall hiring processes and managing everything from scratch, it is usually recommended to outsource your project to a dedicated app development team. The latter can offer you complete professional expertise at a reduced cost.

The minimum team requirements to create an app like Spotify:

• 1-2 project managers
• 1-2 business analysts
• 2-3 frontend developers
• 2-3 backend developers
• 1-2 designers
• 1-2 quality assurance analysts

5. Location of the app development agency

The location of the app development agency will impact your overall app development budget. For instance, if you wish to hire an organization in regions like Asia or Africa, the hourly cost of development will be comparatively less compared to the organizations in the US or UK. Here is the estimated rate of development in various regions of the world.

6. Maintenance

The app development process doesn’t end with launching the app over the app space. You have to make considerable efforts to ensure that the app runs smoothly and is bug-free. In addition to this, integrating modern technologies as per the market requirements is one of the fool-proof ways to ensure app’s success in the future. Thus, the overall maintenance costs directly impact the total cost of music-streaming app development.

[Also Read: How Mobile Application Maintenance is a Key to Your App’s Success?]

7. Tech Stack

A robust tech stack for your mobile app defines the app’s overall success in the competitive ecosystem. Backing up the app with modern technologies can help you put your business on the pathway to success while ensuring maximum ROI.

The technical stack of the most popular music streaming apps for Android and iOS are made of some of the easiest to learn technologies and frameworks.

8. Feature-List

The features integrated in your music-streaming app will directly impact its budget. A mobile app with an extensive feature list can offer you a much-needed edge while ensuring better user engagement and satisfaction rate.

[Also Read: How Much Does it Cost to Build a Music Streaming Platform Like Deezer?]

Other Hidden Factors Affecting the Music Streaming App Development Costs

When estimating the cost of developing a music streaming app like Spotify, it’s crucial to consider not just the obvious expenses but also the hidden factors that can significantly influence the final price. Understanding these hidden costs is essential for planning a realistic budget for your project. Here are some of the often-overlooked aspects that can affect your development costs:

1. Licensing

Before you can offer music on your platform, you need to secure the rights to stream artists’ music. This usually involves negotiating licenses with record labels and music publishers. Licensing fees can vary widely and are a critical cost that can escalate quickly depending on the breadth of your music library.

2. Data Compliance and Security

Music streaming apps handle a lot of personal user data, which makes them subject to various data protection regulations like GDPR in Europe or CCPA in California. Ensuring compliance with these laws requires additional security measures and potentially legal counsel, which can increase the development cost.

3. Scalability Costs

While initial app development might cater to a smaller audience, you need to consider the infrastructure costs associated with scaling the app as your user base grows.

4. Advanced Features Integration

Incorporating advanced features like voice control, high-quality audio streaming, or AI-driven music recommendations can significantly enhance user experience but also adds to the development cost.

5. Marketing and Launch

Often, the cost to market and launch the app can match or exceed the development costs. This includes everything from promotional activities and advertising to beta testing and feedback loops with early users.

Features of Music Streaming App and their Development Hours

Now, when we talk about music streaming apps’ features to be included in your brand’s app, it would help to know the ones that are there in the leading mobile apps in the music streaming app category.

Here is the list of features that should be made a part of your music streaming app –

*Bonus*: We have also added the hours that it would take to develop the individual app features, which would ultimately help you get a cost estimate that you should expect as a quote from a music app development company.

1. Registration

Inclusion of a registration feature would depend entirely on your business model. While you can opt for giving your users a free, open service, which won’t call for asking your app’s listeners to log in with their credentials, more often than not, businesses follow a freemium model.

And for a freemium model to function, it is important to get sign-ins from the users in order to convert them from free users to premium ones.

Development of Registration Feature Takes Somewhere about 40 – 60 Hours

2. Search

The whole idea of a music streaming application is to give the listeners the freedom to search for their kind of music which is set according to their mood. To make this possible, it is important for businesses to add a Search feature in their app.

Through this feature, users should be able to search for their favorite singer, albums, movie tracks, etc.

Adding a Search functionality in the music streaming app services would take somewhere around 110 – 140 hours.

3. Playlists

What is better than partnering with your mobile app development company and giving your listeners a platform where they can save all their favorite tracks in one place, categorized according to their mood.

This is where a Playlist feature comes into the picture.

Development of Playlist Feature takes approximately 70 to 100 hours.

4. Social Sharing

The saying that the success your app gets is directly related to the promotion that it gets on social media stands true for music streaming apps as well. By giving your listeners an option to share their favorite song or the whole album on social media or with someone on a more one-on-one mode like WhatsApp or Instagram Direct Messages, your brand will only get a good share of the mouth of word advertising.

It takes a music app development company approximately 65 to 70 hours to add in the social sharing option in the mobile app.

5. Offline Mode

Through this feature, you give your listeners the option to hear songs on the go without any dependency on the internet connection. Offline mode makes use of the device’s local storage to cache audio data of the song.

Development of Offline Mode takes somewhere around 60 to 70 hours.

6. Recommendations

The users will be able to receive various recommendations of the music and songs based on their downloading history as well as the playlists. The new recommendations of music genres and various other suggestions will further help in increasing the overall app engagement and user retention.

Development of recommendation features takes somewhere around 100 to 150 hours.

7. Lyrics Display

It is one of the most viable features to keep the users hooked to your music-streaming application. The app will be capable of showing the para verses of the songs to the users in the background thereby increasing the user engagement. Integration of lyrics can be handled by dedicated AI technologies.

Development of lyrics display features takes somewhere around 80 to 90 hours.

8. Push Notifications

The push notifications feature is capable of increasing the overall user engagement by offering the users timely notifications of the new songs added, new music genres and video available in the app, even when they are not using it.

Development of push notifications features takes somewhere around 80 to 90 hours.

Now that we have looked into the present and future market scenario of the music streaming apps for Android and iOS and the features that should be present in your Spotify like apps along with the development hours that would go behind the creation of each, let us now move ahead and discuss how to make money with a music streaming app like Spotify.

How to Make Money With a Music Streaming App Like Spotify: Understanding the Monetization Strategies

No matter your app idea and how it was processed to deliver great results, it is of no use if it doesn’t add profit to your business. In order to make money from your music-streaming mobile app, you need a definitive revenue stream and a dedicated business model that will further help you gain maximum ROI.

Since developing an app requires a huge investment in terms of money as well as efforts, a well-defined business model will help you mitigate the risks while ensuring a sustainable revenue for your business. Here are the various monetization strategies you can implement for your app:

1. In-App Ads

You can monetize with the help of in-app advertisements that will be showcased to the user using an audio-streaming server in the form of an image or a video while switching between the tracks. Allowing users to advertise their services on your audio streaming platform is one of the most effective ways of increasing your overall revenue.

2. Paid Membership

You can use a paid membership revenue model to increase your user base as well as the ROI. The users can buy a subscription of your app on a monthly or yearly basis. It is one of the most sought-after revenue streams that ensures customer retention and recurring profits.

3. Premium Model

If you are offering your app to the users for free, one way to increase the overall revenue is offering a premium subscription to them. The users will be able to download or listen to a few of the famous music genres only with a subscription package, thus, allowing you to monetize from the blockbuster content.

4. Coupons and Promotions

Users can avail multiple seasonal coupons and use promotional codes for availing a wide range of services. You can further offer various discounts on your services in the festive season which will increase the number of subscriptions gradually.

So, these are the various ways by which you can earn money from your Spotify-like music streaming ad. Now, let us move ahead and help you understand how Appinventiv can help you leverage innovative ideas for your app success.

Summing Up

We hope the article summed up your questions related to music streaming app development cost and the various factors that can influence it. A well-defined strategy for audio streaming app development can help you put things into perspective while making way for ensured success.

So, it is now the right time to hire a dedicated entertainment app development services organization that can help you leverage the right technology in creating a robust music-streaming app, right from scratch.

Get in touch with our team of entertainment app developers to get an effective solution today!

FAQs

Q. How much does it cost to build an app like Spotify?

A. The cost of creating an app like Spotify varies between $45,000 and $150,000. The various factors that further affect the overall budget includes the location of the app development agency, features to be integrated into the app, the technology stack used, the UI/UX design, etc.

Q. How to develop a music streaming app like Spotify?

A. Creating an audio streaming app like Spotify requires you to carry out the following steps:

• Analyze the target audience and understand the market requirements
• Choose a relevant business model for your music-streaming app
• Hire a dedicated entertainment app development team
• Create the app wireframe
• Finalize the feature list to develop the app MVP
• Finalize the UI/UX design
• Complete the coding process
• Deploy the app in the market
• Maintain as per the emerging entertainment app trends

Q. How long does it take to create a music streaming app like Spotify?

A. The time frame for Spotify like app development depends on the overall complexity of the app. For instance, for creating a simple app, the time frame required to complete the entire development process is 3 to 6 months. On the other hand, a highly complex app with an extensive feature list can take more than 9 months for completion.

Q. Is it beneficial to create a music app in the current market?
A. Yes, creating a music app can be highly beneficial in the current market. The music streaming app market is expected to reach $35.45 billion by the end of 2025, indicating strong growth and substantial demand. This trend suggests that there is a significant opportunity for new businesses to capture market share and cater to evolving consumer preferences in music consumption. Developing a music app now can position you advantageously within a thriving industry, allowing you to innovate and meet the diverse needs of music enthusiasts globally.