How to download music on Android: complete guide

Today, smartphones replace music players. We listen to songs on the run or workouts, on trips, or turn to playlists with favorite tracks when we just need to take our mind off. And you’ve probably wondered how to download music on Android.

To download songs or albums on an Android device, you can use streaming services or send files from the computer by connecting devices via the USB cable. However, unlike Windows, it is somehow difficult when it comes to how to transfer music from Mac to Android. But thanks to the dedicated apps you can do it hassle-free and easily copy music from Mac to Android device.

There are plenty of mobile apps, including streaming services, players, and downloaders, you can rely on for listening and downloading music to Android phones. If you want your favorite songs available offline on your Android, here are the best music apps.

YouTube Music is a kind of analogue of Google Music. It stores a huge collection of songs, albums, music clips, live concerts, cover versions of songs, and much more. With YouTube Music, you can access any song you want, anytime and from almost any device.

YouTube Music has a premium subscription which costs $9.99 or $4.99 per month depending on your plan. If you’re a YouTube Music Premium member, you can download songs, playlists, and albums for offline playback on your device. So, if browsing YouTube Music you came across the tracks or album and wonder “how to download songs to my phone”, follow the steps below:

Just take your Android phone and do the following.

Open the YouTube Music app.
Find the song or album you want to download.
If you want to download a song, play it and tap the three-dot menu icon. Next, select “Download” from the drop-down list.
To download the album, select it and tap the “Download” button.
When the download is complete, the music file will appear in the Offline Mixtape and will be available for offline listening.

There is also an option of smart downloads. When turned on, your favorite songs will be automatically downloaded every night if you’re connected to Wi-Fi. What’s more, in settings you can configure how many songs you want the app to download.

Additionally, YouTube Music allows uploading your personal music collection to the app. However, it can be done via a web browser. To get started:

Open your browser and navigate music.youtube.com.
Click on your profile photo and select “Upload music”.
Find and select music you want to upload and click “Open”. Music files will be moved to the cloud.

If you often wonder “how to download free music my cell phone”, then you can opt for music downloader apps. There are quite a lot of mobile apps available that allow downloading music from SoundCloud, YouTube, etc, to your Android devices.

For example, SONGily – a free web-based mobile app with a wide range of music to download. It provides access to millions of songs of various genres and lets you both download and listen to them on your phone. The app saves the downloaded music directly to your phone creating a folder.

To start using SONGily, you first need to download the app from Google Play. Once installed, open the app and enter the name of the song you wish to download into the search bar. The list of songs matching your request will appear and you’ll see two icons opposite songs: Download and Listen. Generally, SONGily offers various versions of the song, including cover, live, and remix, so that it is recommended to listen to the song before downloading. After that, select the song and click “Download”.

That's how to download music on Android phone.

While many people prefer to listen to their favorite songs on music services, downloading music on a desktop and further transferring to a phone never gets old. This method is well-known to every Android user since it allows getting favorite tracks hassle-free. Sometimes it is much faster and convenient to download music on the computer and then transfer it onto your phone or other devices.

Furthermore, there are plenty of browser extensions, downloader software, torrents to help you with downloading.

As you know, Windows and Android are natively compatible, so the transfer process is really straightforward and doesn’t involve any complicated steps. The quickest way to transfer tracks from computer to Android is via USB cable. If you have your music collection on a computer and want to transfer it on Android, here is a brief guide:

You'll need only you phone and USB-cable.

Connect your phone to the computer with a USB cable.
On your phone, tap the “Charging this device via USB” notification and select “File transfer”.
On your computer, go to File Explorer and select your Android device.
Find the music files on your computer and drag them into the folder on your Android device.
Wait until the file transfer completes.
Disconnect the USB cable.

Designed for Mac, MacDroid is a dedicated Android file transfer app that makes exchanging music from Mac to Android easy and fast. The app lets you mount Android as a disc and access files in a few clicks. MacDroid is available in two versions: Free and PRO.

With the Free version, you can transfer files from Android to Mac, while PRO allows moving files in both directions. On top of that, there is a 7-day trial version so that you can try out all the features of the PRO version for free.

We bet you'll continue your subscription after those 7 days.

So, to transfer music and other files from Mac to Android, you’ll need to upgrade to the PRO version, which costs $19.99 per year. MacDroid comes with Single-Operation Mode or Multi-Operation Mode to suit your needs. Stream your favorite music on your Android device while jogging, or move your music collection to Mac to listen to while working at home – with MacDroid makes it easier than ever.

Well, to get your favorite songs on your Android device, walk through the following steps:

1. Download and install MacDroid, and upgrade to the PRO version.

2. Connect Android and Mac via USB and open MacDroid.

3. On your Android device, select “File transfer”.

4. Your device will appear in the MacDroid devices list.

5. Now mount your Android device by clicking “Mount”.

6. The device is successfully mounted! Go to Finder and start transferring music between Android and Mac.

To sum up, you are not limited in the choice when it comes to how to download MP3 to Android. Google Play Store offers a wide variety of third-party apps that allow you to download music to your Android. These apps are quick and easy to use, all you need to use them is an Internet connection. You can also download and listen to your favorite tracks via streaming services like YouTube Music.

However, such services are usually subscription-based. If you don’t want to pay, USB file transfer is the way to go. Using this method, you can easily move your music collection from computer to Android. MacDroid, as an Android file transfer app, has been designed to simplify this process for Mac users. Downloading music with MacDroid is the easiest and fastest way to save audio files from Mac to your Android device.

Downloading music on your Android phone can be done in several ways. You can download a music app from Google Play Store, or use subscription-based apps like YouTube Music. Use YouTube Music or just transfer music to Android from your computer via USB cable.

You can get your favorite songs for free through mobile apps. To get started, you need to download the app from Google Play Store and once the installation is completed, you can start listening to and downloading your favorite songs to your phone. Additionally, you can transfer music to Android from your computer using the USB cable.

Unfortunately, Google Play Music is no longer available. It was fully replaced by YouTube Music. This service lets you download and listen to music, share it, create playlists, as well as explore new tracks.

One of the easiest and fastest ways to download music on Android is to transfer it from your computer using the USB cable. If you have a Mac, you will need a third-party app for this purpose. MacDroid is a good option for file transfers. It allows you to transfer music from phone to computer, and vice versa.

How to download music on Android: best ways of 2025

How to download music on Android phone: music services and downloaders

Subscription-based apps

Downloaders

Downloading music onto Android using computers

Windows -> Android upload

Mac -> Android upload

Frequently Asked Questions

Brands of supported devices

Android smartphones

Other compatible devices

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