How To Create An App Like Spotify? A Complete Guide

Spotify is the first name that comes to mind when someone mentions music streaming. A platform that every music lover recognizes all too well. We would go as far as to say, this is the most popular and widely used music app of all time.

There have been many attempts to replicate the success of this app and a few of them like Apple Music, Pandora, & Amazon Music have succeeded to some extent. But this doesn’t end here. There are entrepreneurs and investors in equal numbers who want to create an app like Spotify of their own.

This is where questions like: is it a worthy investment? Should I develop something like Spotify? How to create an app like Spotify? How much will it cost? And so on, come in.

If you find yourself considering this investment and surrounded by the same questions, this blog is for you. Here, we shall be answering all of your questions. To simplify it, everything related to Spotify clone app development will be discussed.

What is Spotify App?

Spotify is a music streaming app that doesn’t need an introduction.

This digital music platform serves the basic function of on-demand music streaming services, letting users play songs, video songs, and podcasts.

An excellent example of an innovative music app, the app is embedded with AI-powered algorithms, predictive mechanisms, and a database of millions of songs, with hundreds of new ones added each day.

As a music streaming service, it is not limited to the mobile app, users can also access their Spotify account on computers, tablets, smart speakers, car multimedia systems, and so on.

The basic features of this platform are more than enough, but if you are looking for it also has a premium subscription, which is something. That’s why Spotify Premium has more than 200 million subscribers, TechCrunch & Spotify.

When comparing it to other music streaming apps in the market, we see the clear magnitude of pure dominance Spotify exercises. In a glimpse of what’s to come, Spotify has more than doubled Apple Music’s subscribers.

In 2024 (source):

• Monthly Active Users grew 11% Y/Y to 640 million.
• Subscribers increased 12% Y/Y to 252 million.
• Total revenue was up 19% Y/Y to €4 billion.
• Gross Margin reached 31.1%.

Amazing, right? These are the reasons why so many people want to build an app like Spotify.

Speaking of which, if you want to experience the true brilliance of this music streaming platform, download it and use it for yourself.

Apart from the web, it is also available on iOS App Store and Google Play Store.

Moving on, let’s look at the features that every app like Spotify should have.

Important Features to Have in an App Like Spotify

“How do I create a Spotify app?” is a common question. But what people should be asking is, what are the features that should be included in an app like Spotify?

Here’s why: developing a mobile app is no big deal, however, what’s difficult is to make an app successful among people. This is where features play a big role.

So, to push you in the right direction, we shall be going through some of the top features that every Spotify clone app should have.

They are, as mentioned below:

1. Registration

Registration is the core functionality of any cross-platform and on-demand app.

Users can register on the platform using their phone number, email, Google Account, or Apple Account. Once they have registered, it will just be a one-click process to log in next time.

Why this is an important feature when creating an app like Spotify, it enables cross-device data synchronization.

When users log in with their credentials to any device, they will find their recommendations, playlists, and favorites, right in front of them.

2. Profile Creation

Registration and profile creation are two entirely different processes, regardless of their inter-relation.

To make it simpler for you, once the user is registered, they may or may not choose to create a profile. If they do, they can set their birthdate, location, profile picture, favorite artists, songs, recommendations, and notification settings.

This helps the music streaming platform make the user experience and personalization a lot better. Thus, making it an important feature of the Spotify app.

3. Authentication

Your music is your own business, and to keep people out of it, Spotify-like apps come with an authentication feature.

Manual or biometric authentication adds an extra layer of security to the music app. Though some might see it as over-the-top, it becomes quite important when the user has paid for a premium subscription.

4. Music Streaming

No music app is complete without this feature.

Music streaming functionality lets users listen to their favorite music without the need to download it.

It’s quite hassle-free and one of the basic functions of every music streaming application for various obvious reasons.

5. Search

As the name suggests, this feature in apps like Spotify enables users to look up new music.

The fun part is that the advanced search functionality makes it super easy to do that.

You can find the particular song with the album name, song title, artist name, and record company, and if you don’t remember either of those, just look up a part of the lyrics.

6. Playlist Creation

Another important feature of every music streaming app is playlist creation. This is an absolute booster of user engagement.

This functionality enables users to create a playlist. Users can either add music to the list as they go or they can use the dedicated playlist creation feature to do it in one go.

Or, they can use a mix of them.

7. Social Sharing

What is social sharing, you ask?

Well, this feature lets users share the music they are listening to on apps like Instagram & post it on their stories.

Social sharing features have become the norm today and are a good way to use the vast user base of social media to advertise the platform.

8. Offline mode

Offline mode is one of the user’s favorite features.

As it is evident, this feature enables the user to save their music offline to play when they aren’t connected to the network or even Wifi.

This lets users access all the offline music and playlists, with the condition that their phone is running. More often than not, this is a feature that is offered in the premium package.

9. Push Notification

This feature enables the app’s team to send alerts and notifications to the user. This isn’t just used for promotions.

It also informs users that whenever there is a new album release, their favorite song is available, or they need to renew their subscription.

10. Recommendations

Based on the preferences that users have fed the app, their music streaming history, favorite artists, listening time, and other such factors, music streaming apps use AI & ML technologies to drive personalized user recommendations.

This is an industry 4.0 level feature that every music streaming app like Spotify should have on their feature list.

11. Lyrics Display

Don’t you hate it, when you can’t understand just that one line of your favorite song? Well, with the music streaming application solution you don’t have to scour the internet looking for lyrics.

Rather, the lyrics display feature will display real-time lyrics of the song within the app. This saves a lot of time and mental gymnastics.

12. In-App Messaging

This is a rather advanced music streaming app feature.

In-app messaging is a feature that has taken place in some of the best music streaming applications over recent years.

As you might have already guessed, this enables the user to chat with others. They can share music, listen to music at the same time, and such things.

This is yet another feature that drives user engagement.

13. Music Event Calendar

Lastly, we have a music event calendar feature.

This is a feature that is more suited for music apps for bands type of solution but can be embedded into music streaming solutions too.

What it does is, it shows the user calendar of upcoming music fests and events based on their location or presence.

These are the important features that you should include when you develop a Spotify-like music app. With this, it’s time to discuss how you can create a music application like Spotify in the section below.

Steps to Create an App Like Spotify

Finally, it’s time to develop a Spotify like app.

So, how do you create an app like Spotify? Well, the mobile app development process is rather simple but for those of you who are new to the concept, here’s an overview.

Therefore, we shall be going through everything that you need to do before app development, during, and after it.

With this being said, let’s get right into it, starting with the first step:

Step 1: Market Research & Analysis

Mobile app development starts with an idea. Once you have that, we need to get a little more technical and start with market research.

Mobile app market research is an essential part of learning about competitors, barriers to entry, market situation, forecast right time to launch the app, and many more things.

The information gathered during the market research phase works as the fuel for the entire development process.

As a general rule of thumb, the more effort and resources you put into research and analysis, the higher the chances you have of creating a successful music streaming application like Spotify.

Step 2: Finalize the App Features

We have discussed the importance of features before, and here we will discuss it again.

So the question is, how do you choose the right feature for your Spotify application? Well, this is where the information about the target users you acquired in the previous step comes in. The platform should have features that cater to your target audience.

In addition to this, for the app to be smooth and innovative, there should be a healthy mix of basic features & advanced features.

Another option is MVP development.

MVP stands for minimum viable product which works as a mockup app. It can be used for cross-checking the concept and getting approval from the stakeholders. Or even generating investment for the project.

Step 3: Choose Platform & Tech Stack

With the music streaming app features done, it’s time to get a little more technical. There are two things we need to deal with, the first one being, the “app development platform”.

There are three major options here.

You can either go for native platforms, choosing between Android app and iOS app or you can go for the cross-platform option to create a hybrid app.

Choosing the right platform is super important as it not only affects the cost of creating an app like Spotify, but also the Look and feel, Performance, and Market Performance of the app.

Done with this, we will move on to the tech stack.

First of all, what is the mobile app tech stack? It refers to the set of technologies used for mobile app development. This covers everything from programming languages and toolkits to frameworks and testing tools.

Again, choosing the right set is super important as it can affect everything related to the music streaming application.

Step 4: Designing an App Like Spotify

When it comes to UI/UX Design, there are hardly any apps that compete with Spotify. If you want to replicate it, you need to hire mobile app developers who are experienced and more importantly creative.

The design of a music streaming app should be easy to navigate most of all. But it should also have the right amount of creative aspects that keep users in awe.

A unique mix of your app’s personality and creativity is what gives birth to the perfect design that represents the platform in full glory.

After all, it is next to impossible to drive user engagement on a music streaming platform without a good design.

Step 5: App Development

It’s time to create a Spotify app clone.

This is the part where dedicated developers will be writing the source code, combining the different parts of the app together, integrating APIs and other third-party components, and making the app as functional as visually appealing.

Due to the amount of work put into developing an app like Spotify, this step is the most time & resource-consuming part of the entire development.

For that reason, it is recommended that you as a client maintain good communication with the development team. This helps ensure the product is turning out how you want it.

Step 6: App Testing

Done developing media streaming apps like Spotify? It’s time to test it.

Mobile app testing is a complex process on its own. Though the testing process walks parallel to the development process, there’s a final round of testing to ensure the quality of the app.

If any inconsistencies, bugs, or errors are found, they are fixed up. This is also the step where final changes are made, if any, from the client side.

Once all of this is done, the app is sent for deployment.

Step 7: Deployment

It’s time to launch your version of Spotify into the market.

Now, this is quite a simple step, but the process to deploy highly depends on the app development platform.

In any case, the time it takes for the app to be approved is 2 weeks. While the Android side is quite lenient on their guidelines, don’t expect any oversight from Apple, they will disqualify the app for even a slight diversion from their guidelines.

Speaking of which, while waiting for the app to be deployed, you can start the mobile app marketing process.

Step 8: Post-Launch Maintenance

Work doesn’t end with deployment.

To make sure your app doesn’t sink to the bottom of the ocean of millions of apps in the market, you need to maintain it.

This is where mobile app maintenance & support services come in.

So, this is the entire process of creating an on-demand music streaming app. And with this done, let’s see how much this product will cost you.

How Much Does It Cost to Create an App Like Spotify?

So, how much does it cost to develop an app like Spotify? Well, much like any other mobile app development cost, it depends on a range of factors like complexity, features, platform, tech stack, and so on.

On average, Spotify-like app development costs range between $20,000 and $60,000. Here, a simple app development is between the range of $10,000 to $20,000. On the other hand, the cost of developing a complex app starts at around $19,000 and goes up to $41,000.

To give you a better idea of it, here’s a table with a breakdown of the cost of developing an app like Spotify.

Moving on, now that we are done with the cost to create an audio streaming app like Spotify, let’s see how you can make money with it.

Monetization Models to Create an App Like Spotify

The main goal of every business is to make money. And it remains the same when someone creates an app like Spotify.

But the question is, how do you make money with a Spotify-like app? Well, the answer is “mobile app monetization”.

Different strategies are used to employ different aspects of the app in revenue generation. Not every strategy is suitable for every platform.

Therefore, to make it easier for you, here are some monetization strategies you can use to generate revenue.

► Paid Membership

Have you ever used Netflix? This OTT app is the best example of a paid membership, or what we call a subscription-based app.

In order to access the content of the platform, you need to first subscribe to one of many plans. In the music world, Apple Music has been employing the model for a long time now.

Moreover, if your platform has a strong user base, this monetization model can be super beneficial.

► In-App Ads

If you have ever used a music streaming app, you already know what in-app advertisements are.

These are the small personal sections you see embedded in the app interface and the advertisements you hear between the songs.

For users, this is a small price to pay, getting a free music streaming app with millions of songs. And for the platform, this is millions made in revenue while keeping the app free.

This is a strategy that every major music streaming app like Spotify employs. Therefore, you must consider including this in your app too.

► Freemium Model

This is a mix between the two strategies we discussed above.

The freemium word stands for half-free and half-premium. In other words, the basic version of the app is free for everyone to use, but they have to endure in-app advertisements.

On the other hand, if they choose to go for ad-free listening and access to the latest releases, they must buy the premium plan.

Done right, the freemium model can be a great revenue generation strategy.

Here’s a report that supports the statement: Ad-free listening is the top reason for paying for a music streaming platform as per IFPI.

In addition to this, people are willing to pay a monthly price of up to $10 as per Forbes for the subscription.

► Coupons and Promotions

Coupons and promotions are a rather fun monetization strategy that adds a lot of excitement to the platform.

What you can do here is: start a referral program where if someone downloads through the user’s shared link, they get credit or some form of reward.

On the other hand, you can charge artists and companies to promote their music on your platform. This can generate a lot of revenue. After all, music streaming is driving the entire industry’s revenue.

► Data Monetization

Lastly, we have data monetization.

So, what does this mean? If you have ever heard of big data that is used in industry-wide research and analysis, how is it generated?

That’s right, through apps like Spotify. With a large user base, these platforms are perfect hotspots to generate data.

So, these are the app monetization strategies that you can use to generate revenue through your app like Spotify.

How Nimble AppGenie Can Help You Build an App Like Spotify?

Are you looking for the right development partner to create an app like Spotify? Nimble AppGenie is here.

With award-winning app development projects, we are a well-known on-demand app development company. Our team of experienced developers has vast experience in music streaming app projects that perform well in the real market.

One of the popular music streaming apps developed by Nimble AppGenie is Nujaxx. It’s a music streaming app that is famous in the UK for taking a unique approach. It comes with amazing features like discovering new music, My Studio – where users can personalize the app, vouchers & deals, and much more.

What makes us the perfect Music Streaming App Development Company for your music streaming app project is our creative approach and dominance over the world of codes.

We also deliver affordable solutions, meaning with us, you can get market-leading apps like Spotify without burning a hole in your pocket.

If you want to create a Spotify app, contact us and we will assign a team to your project within 24 hours.

Conclusion

Music streaming apps like Spotify show us how much potential there is in the industry. This is something that the statistics back, as today, more than 80% of revenue is generated via music streaming.

It shows the growth, revenue generation potential, and big push to create an app like Spotify. And this is what has led people to read this blog. Here, we discuss all you need to know about developing an app like Spotify.

Now, if you want to create such an app, there are a few things that you must keep in mind, the first one being the value proposition, features, revenue generation potential, and development cost.

This will decide whether your solution is the next big thing in the industry or just another addition to the number.

For more help on this, you can contact a vetted mobile app development company, their expertise will give you a pathway for the development of your music streaming app like Spotify.

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Niketan Sharma

Niketan Sharma is the CTO of Nimble AppGenie, a prominent website and mobile app development company in the USA that is delivering excellence with a commitment to boosting business growth & maximizing customer satisfaction. He is a highly motivated individual who helps SMEs and startups grow in this dynamic market with the latest technology and innovation.