How to Listen to Music on a Plane

Co-authored by Janice Tieperman Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: December 31, 2024 Fact Checked

Have a long flight coming up? Listening to some of your favorite tunes is a great way to pass the time—the key is accessing them without any data or Wi-Fi while you’re in the air. Thankfully, offline music listening is easier than ever with the help of inflight services, streaming apps, and MP3 converters. Read on for plenty of free and premium ways to access your favorite jams when your device is in airplane mode.

Things You Should Know

Check if your airline includes free music streaming in their inflight entertainment package.
Convert and download your favorite Spotify songs to your phone for free with Sidify Music Converter.
Get a premium subscription with a music streaming service to unlock offline listening privileges.

1

Inflight Entertainment

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Lots of major airlines offer free music streaming to their passengers. Check your airline’s website to see what types of music and entertainment are available. When you’re on the flight, look for an informational pamphlet or ask a flight attendant how you can get the free music on your phone, tablet, or laptop. Here are a few offerings from some well-known airlines:
- American: Free Apple Music^{[1]
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- United: Free playlists and albums via United Private Screening
- Delta: Free playlists curated by Spotify^{[2]
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- JetBlue: Free SiriusXM access^{[3]
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2

Inflight Wi-Fi

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Inflight Wi-Fi gives you online access to music streaming services. Check your airline’s website and see what types of Wi-Fi packages they offer for their flights. If you don’t mind spending a few dollars, purchase a Wi-Fi pass for your flight so you can access your online music streaming services (like Spotify).^{[4]
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- JetBlue offers free Wi-Fi to all of their customers, while airlines like Delta, United, Alaska, and Southwest offer packages for less than $10.^{[5]
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3

Documents App

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The Documents iPhone app lets you download free music for offline listening. Using the app’s built-in browser, enter the URL of an MP3 download site where you can look up your favorite tunes. Once you have a song pulled up, tap the arrow icon on the bottom of the screen to download the music file to your phone.^{[6]
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- When you’re on the plane, just pull up the “Downloads” folder in your app to access your music.
- Sites like MP3 Juice, MYMP3Skull, and Y2Mate can help you download your favorite songs for free. Be careful, though—some of these apps have ads and redirects, so use them at your own risk.

4

Spotify Premium

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This popular streaming service lets you download music for $10 a month. Pull up Spotify on your phone, tablet, or laptop and assemble all of your fave songs into a playlist or 2. Then, tap the arrow button next to the playlist to download all the songs for offline listening. Once the arrow turns green, your music is downloaded and ready to go for your trip!^{[7]
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- If you’re using Spotify on your computer, switch on the green “Download” toggle next to your playlist. Your songs will have a green arrow icon next to them when they’re downloaded and ready for offline listening.
- Looking to save a little money on Spotify Premium? Students can get a premium account for $5 a month, while 2 people in the same household can get premium accounts for $6.50 each ($13 total per month). You can even chip with some friends or loved ones to get a Family account—this allows 6 people to have premium accounts for $16 a month (less than $3 per person).
- Spotify offers new users a 1-month free trial for all of their Premium plans.^{[8]
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5

Apple Music

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Apple Music has a built-in feature for downloading music offline. On your phone or tablet, tap and hold the specific playlist, song, or album you’d like to enjoy on your flight. Then, hit the “Add to Library” button. Once you’ve moved the music to your Apple Music library, tap and hold on the song, playlist, or album again and select the “Download” option to download the music for your flight.^{[9]
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- If you’re using a MacBook or laptop, pull up the iTunes or Apple Music app. Once you’ve found the song or album you like, hit the + sign to add it to your library. In your library, hit the download icon next to the album or song to access it offline.^{[10]
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- To make a playlist in Apple Music, tap the “Library” option, along with “Playlists” and “New Playlist.” From there, hit “Add Music” to fill your new playlist with some awesome tunes.^{[11]
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- Apple Music costs $10 per month for an individual account. If you’re a college student, you can get a monthly Apple Music subscription for $6 a month. If you’ve never used Apple Music before, you can a 1-month free trial.
- You can’t download music for offline listening if you have an Apple Music Voice plan.^{[12]
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6

YouTube Music Premium

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YouTube Music lets you download specific songs, playlists, and albums. With playlists or albums, tap the ⁝ menu button on your phone or tablet and hit the “Download” option. If you’re just downloading a single song, hit the “Download” button that’s directly next to the track. Your music is now ready to go for your flight within the app!^{[13]
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- To make a playlist, simply hit the ⁝ that’s next to the song you’re listening to. Then, tap “Add to playlist” followed by “New playlist.”^{[14]
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- YouTube Music also offers a “smart” downloads feature, which automatically downloads tracks to your device based on the music you’re interested in. To turn on this setting, just tap your profile photo, hit the “Downloads” button, tap the “Settings” button, and switch on “Smart downloads” from there.
- YouTube Music Premium costs $10 a month for an individual account (or $5 if you’re a college student). If you’ve never used the service before, you can sign up for a 1-month free trial.
- YouTube Music Premium works with your phone, tablet, and laptop.^{[15]
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7

Amazon Music Prime or Unlimited

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Amazon offers offline listening for Amazon Music Prime and Unlimited. Pull up the playlist, song, or album that you’d like to download and hit the “More Options” menu button that’s next to it. Then, tap the “Download” option to enable your music for offline listening. On the flight, feel free to access all of your downloaded tunes through the Amazon Music app.^{[16]
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- This works for iOS and Android devices, as well as Amazon Fire tablets.
- To make a playlist on your phone or tablet, open up the Amazon Music app, hit the “My Music” button, and select the “Playlists” tab. Then, tap “Create New Playlist,” which gives you the option to search and select from specific songs, albums, or artists.^{[17]
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- Amazon Prime members get free access to 2 million songs via Amazon Music. For an even bigger 90-million song library, subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited for $9 a month—they even offer a free trial for new users!

8

Pandora Premium

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Premium Pandora subscribers can download stations for offline listening. Open up “My Collection” in the Pandora app and hit the download arrow button next to the content you’d like to download. Some content might not be available for offline listening, but if it has the arrow button, you’re good to go!^{[18]
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- Pandora Plus members get their 3 most-listened-to stations available offline, along with their Thumbprint Radio, but they can’t download specific stations.
- Pandora Plus costs $5 a month, while Pandora Premium costs $10. If you’re a student or military member, you can get a discounted Premium subscription for $5 or $8, respectively. You can also buy a Premium Family plan, which gives you 6 premium accounts for $15 per month.
- Pandora offers a 1-month free trial for Plus plans and a 2-month free trial for Premium plans.
- Pandora’s offline mode only works with phones and tablets—it doesn’t work with laptops.

9

SoundCloud Go

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SoundCloud Go and Go Plus members can download offline music. Just pull up a playlist or your liked songs and tap the arrow icon in the top-right corner of the screen. If you’d like to download your entire SoundCloud Library (all of your Likes and playlists), toggle the “Save automatically” option in your “Offline listening settings.”^{[19]
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- To create a playlist on your iOS or Android device, tap the triple-dot button that’s next to the song that’s playing. From the menu that pops up, hit the “Add to playlist” button—this gives you the option to make a new playlist.^{[20]
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- A SoundCloud Go membership costs $5 a month, while a SoundCloud Go Plus membership costs $10. Go subscriptions come with a 7-day free trial, and Go Plus subscriptions come with a 1-month free trial.
- Soundcloud’s offline listening feature only works with mobile devices.

10

Deezer Premium

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Premium Deezer users can download music for offline listening. If you’re on your phone, tablet, or laptop, tap on the “Favorites” option and go to the “Music” tab. Then, toggle on the “DOWNLOAD” button to make all of your favorite music available offline.^{[21]
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- If you’d rather download your tunes with your phone or tablet’s mobile data, go to the app’s “Settings” page, tap “Audio” and “Download,” and toggle “Download via mobile data.”
- Deezer Premium typically costs $11 per month, but you can get a discount with a Student ($6) or 6-person Family plan ($3 per person). Deezer offers a 1-month free trial for all of their plans.^{[22]
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11

Tidal HiFi or HiFi Plus

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HiFi or HiFi Plus users can download offline music on their phones and tablets. Tap on the “My Collection” button, followed by “Playlists” or “Albums.” Then, open the triple-dot menu next to an album or playlist and tap the “Download” option. To switch your device into offline mode, return to “My Collection,” hit the “Settings” icon, and toggle the “Offline Mode” option.^{[23]
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- To find your downloaded content, go the “Downloaded” section in “My Collection.”^{[24]
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- To make a playlist, tap the triple-dot menu button next to your desired album or song. On the next menu that pops up, tap “Add to Playlist.”
- Tidal HiFi costs $10 a month, while Tidal HiFi Plus costs $20. The company also offers discounted plans for families, college students, and members of the military. All of Tidal’s plans come with a 1-month free trial.

12

JioSaavn Pro

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JioSaavn Pro users can download unlimited songs for offline listening. Using the JioSaavn app, pull up the album or song you’d like to download for your flight. Tap and hold this album or song until a mini menu pops up—from there, press the “Download” button. If you’d rather download an entire playlist, just press the arrow icon on the right side of the playlist.^{[25]
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- You can also press the triple-dot button next to the song you’d like to download. On the mini menu that pops up, tap “Download.”
- To make a playlist in the app, press and hold on the song you’d like to add. Hit the “Add to Playlist” option that comes up, which lets you create a new playlist.^{[26]
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- JioSaavn Pro costs $5 a month or $40 a year. They offer a 7-day free trial for monthly plans.^{[27]
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