Why download music for offline listening?

Downloading music for offline listening is an essential feature for anyone who wants to listen on the go without using data. Whether you are traveling, working out at the gym or simply want to save your data plan, offline music ensures you always have access to your favorite songs. In this article, we explain how to download music on the three most popular streaming services: Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer.

Requirements for offline downloads

Before you can start downloading, you need to meet a few requirements that apply to all services.

Premium subscription

With all major streaming services, you need a paid subscription to download music for offline listening. Free versions don't offer this feature. Invest in Premium if you regularly want to listen offline.

Enough storage space

Make sure your phone or tablet has enough free space. An average album takes up 50-100 MB at standard quality, more at higher quality. Check your available storage before you start downloading.

Wi-Fi connection

It's a good idea to download over Wi-Fi to save your mobile data. Most apps have a setting to download only over Wi-Fi, which prevents unexpected data usage.

Downloading music in Spotify

Spotify makes offline listening easy with a Premium subscription. Here is exactly how it works.

Downloading albums and playlists

Open an album or playlist you want to download. Tap the download button at the top, recognizable by the downward arrow. A green icon appears when the download is complete. You can download up to 10,000 songs on a maximum of five devices.

Setting the download quality

Go to Settings, then Audio quality. Under Download you'll find options for Low (24 kbps), Normal (96 kbps), High (160 kbps) and Very high (320 kbps). Higher quality sounds better but takes up more space.

Automatic downloads

Spotify can automatically download songs you listen to often. Go to Settings and turn on Offline mix. The app then automatically creates an offline selection based on your listening habits.

Managing downloads

Go to your Library and filter on Downloaded to see only music that is available offline. To remove a download, open the album or playlist and tap the download button again. In Settings you can remove all downloads at once.

Downloading music in Apple Music

Apple Music integrates seamlessly with your Apple devices and makes offline listening easy.

Downloading songs and albums

First add music to your library by tapping the plus sign. Then tap the download icon (cloud with arrow) to download. You can also download entire playlists by tapping the download button at the top.

Turning on automatic downloads

Go to Settings, then Music, and turn on Automatic Downloads. All music you add to your library is then downloaded automatically when you are connected to Wi-Fi.

Choosing the download quality

In the Music settings you can set the download quality. Choose between High Quality, Lossless (CD quality) or Hi-Res Lossless. Note: lossless downloads take up considerably more space, up to ten times as much as standard quality.

Finding downloaded music

In the Music app you can filter on Downloaded to see only songs that are available offline. This is handy when you have no internet connection and want to know what's available.

Downloading music in Deezer

Deezer offers flexible download options for Premium subscribers, with handy automatic features.

Downloading content

Open an album, playlist or podcast and tap the download icon. A progress indicator shows the status of the download. Downloaded content gets a green check mark.

Using smart downloads

Deezer has a Smart downloads feature that automatically makes your Flow and favorite songs available offline. Go to Settings, then Downloads, and turn on Smart downloads. Set how many songs should be downloaded automatically.

Setting download preferences

Choose the audio quality for downloads: Standard, High or HiFi (only with a HiFi subscription). You can also set whether downloads may only take place over Wi-Fi, which is recommended to limit data usage.

Managing storage space

In the Deezer settings you'll find an overview of your downloads and how much space they take up. Here you can remove individual downloads or clear all downloads to free up space.

Tips for offline listening

Optimize your offline music experience with these practical tips that apply to all streaming services.

Plan ahead

Download music before you go on a trip or to a place without internet. Create a dedicated offline playlist with enough music for your entire journey.

Quality versus storage

Choose an audio quality that fits your storage space and listening equipment. If you use cheap earbuds, you probably won't hear a difference between normal and high quality. In that case, save space instead.

Clean up regularly

Remove downloads you no longer listen to. Most apps show when you last listened to a song, which helps when clearing out old downloads.

Test with airplane mode

Put your phone in airplane mode before you leave to check that all your music has downloaded correctly. That way you avoid unpleasant surprises on the go.

Limitations and points to keep in mind

Keep in mind a few limitations that apply to offline downloads from streaming services.

Offline validity

You need to go online regularly to keep your downloads valid. With Spotify, this is at least every 30 days. If you are offline for too long, downloads can become temporarily unavailable until you reconnect.

Device limits

Most services limit the number of devices you can download on. Spotify allows five devices, Apple Music ten. Manage your authorized devices in your account settings.

Subscription required

If your subscription expires, you lose access to all your downloads. The files stay on your device but can no longer be played until your subscription is renewed.

Frequently asked questions

How many songs can I download for offline listening?

With Spotify you can download up to 10,000 songs on five devices. Apple Music has no explicit limit but is limited by your storage space. Deezer allows up to 2,000 songs per device with a maximum of 10 devices.

How much storage space do downloaded songs use?

A song in standard quality (128-160 kbps) uses about 3-4 MB. High quality (320 kbps) is about 7-8 MB per song. Lossless can go up to 30-50 MB per song. A playlist of 100 songs therefore takes up 400 MB to 5 GB.

Do my downloads stay available when I'm offline?

Yes, but you need to go online regularly to keep your downloads valid. With most services this is once every 30 days. After this period, downloads are temporarily locked until you connect to the internet again.

Can I transfer downloads to another device?

No, downloaded music is tied to the device you downloaded it on because of digital rights management (DRM). You need to download separately on each device. Your account does remember which music you have saved.

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