how to add music to kodi

Kodi's functionality goes well beyond playing or streaming videos. This application handles just about any file type – and that includes music as well. With that said, you might be wondering which are the best music Kodi addons in 2021. Well, let's find out!

Before we jump to our list of recommendations, let's make something clear. Kodi can be used to play a bunch of different audio file types (it's a very capable music player, in fact). In other words, you're free to add your own music to Kodi – and then play those tracks locally.

If you click on the link provided above, you'll learn about the best method to populate your library with locally stored music. However, in this article, we'll talk about streaming and allowing you to listen to cloud-based music, radio stations, and plenty more.

ATTENTION

How to Find & Install Music Addons on Kodi?

Before we reveal our list of music-focused Kodi addons, we'll show you how to install them. This process is very simple and takes very little time, as you can see just below.

Open Kodi and navigate to Add-ons > Download > Video Add-ons.
Select the add-on you'd like to install (such as Tidal, SoundCloud, MixCloud, or Radio).
At this moment, you should see the addon's overview.
Take a look at the bottom-right corner and use the 'Install' button.
Once the add-on installs, return to the 'Add-ons' section and launch it. That's it!

For more detailed instructions (and if you need helpful screenshots to guide you along), here's our guide to installing addons from Kodi's official repository. Using that guide, you can learn how to install the majority of the addons listed in this article.

Some add-ons (such as Spotify) come from GitHub, which means they're installed a bit differently. To learn how that is done, here's our guide to installing Kodi addons from GitHub. Similarly, you can also install Kodi addons via ZIP files.

In this article, we are talking about Kodi and this application's official and unofficial addons – all of which are based on open-source code. Addons for Kodi can come from the official source (you can install them via Kodi itself), or they can be hosted by third-party sources (such as GitHub, for example). In addition, Kodi and its addons are publicly available and free of charge.

TechNadu doesn't claim any responsibility for how our readers decide to utilize the following software. Please note that we don't condone sharing pirated content and copyright infringement. TechNadu is not affiliated with the software mentioned in this article in no way.

Make sure to carefully read everything said in this disclaimer and ensure the proper use of the software.

Disclaimer

Warning: Why you should ALWAYS USE a VPN with Kodi?

Here are the reasons that you should consider looking at itwithout SKIPPING.

Using ILLEGAL Kodi Addons are Dangerous without a VPN: Most of the Kodi users are installing the ILLEGAL Kodi addons on their system to access all the latest movies, TV shows, sports, music, and much more for FREE, than a legal Kodi addon where it has the least content in it. But do you know what? Thevideo content on illegal addons is scraped and copyrighted material. If you are accessing them on Kodi, thenyour activities will be monitored by your ISP by tracking your IP and gives all the information to the government or companies if they request for it.This will land you in trouble. To stay away from this, you will have to connect to a VPN where it hides your identity by rotating your IP address while streaming Kodi content. This is how you will be safe from the prying eyes.
Bypass Geo-Restriction: As you probably know, some official addons like BBC iPlayer, NBC Sports, Hulu, IceFilms havegeo-location restrictions. This also applies to other addons like Acestream which fetches the data from torrents. To unblock these restrictions, you will have to DEFINITELY use a VPN no matter what.

The above are the 2 reasons that forcing us to recommend a VPN to the Kodi users for safer streaming. In fact, after testing several VPNs for Kodi, we finally came up with a one non-stop solution and that is ExpressVPN, thetop-rated Kodi VPN so far.

Limited Time Offer: For our TechNadu readers, there is a 49% OFF on ExpressVPN which includes3 FREE Months in it.

Best Music Kodi Addons in 2021

Ready to turn Kodi into a music player? We bet you are! These are the 5 best Kodi addons for streaming music in 2021.

Spotify
Tidal
SoundCloud
MixCloud
Radio

1. Spotify

Without any doubt, Spotify is the most popular music streaming service on the planet. In many ways, this platform has pioneered the music streaming industry – and it still makes tremendous progress.

Considering that you can use it for free, it's easy to see why we've decided to mention Spotify first on our list of the best Kodi addons for music streaming. However, there's a catch. Even though you can sign-up for Spotify for free, you can't do it from anywhere – so here's the list of supported countries.

The Spotify addon uses your account to stream music, and it comes with plenty of useful features – normally found in Spotify's native apps. You'll get to search its database, create your own lists, check out what's trending, and plenty more.

Tip

If you live in a country where Spotify doesn't operate – you can still sign up and use this music streaming platform. And yes, you can use Spotify free of charge. However, keep in mind that you'll need a VPN to make that happen.

2. Tidal

Next, we have another popular music streaming service. This one's available in 55+ countries, which is a limitation you can overcome by using one of the best VPNs for Kodi.

Also, you need to know that Tidal doesn't come with a free plan. However, this platform is built for those looking for truly the best music-listening experience. The prices start at $9.99 and go up to $19.99 per month – if you want lossless high-fidelity sound.

To use the Tidal addon for Kodi, you need to have an account first. Download the addon from the official Kodi repository, log in using your credentials, and that's about it. You'll get to unlock the entire Tidal library, sync your playlists, and play anything you can find with this add-on.

Tip

If you're not in a country where Tidal operates, you'll need to use a VPN to bypass this limitation. Based on our experience, ExpressVPN should be your first choice.

3. SoundCloud

We understand that many of you would like to limit your monthly expenses. So, if you don't want to pay for a music streaming service, there are plenty of free options. One of those is SoundCloud, being online for more than a decade.

This is a media streaming service and an online community, giving you plenty of ways to find new artists. In fact, this has been the platform of choice for many independent labels and musicians for a very long time now.

The SoundCloud addon allows you to browse everything available on the online version of the platform. This means you can search for individual artists and musicians, follow your favorites, check out curated playlists, see what others are listening to, and more.

4. MixCloud

In many ways, MixCloud is similar to SoundCloud. Both of these originate from Europe, and both of these have been online for more than a decade. You can access them for free, and they come with fully-functional Kodi addons.

However, MixCloud also offers radio shows, DJ mixes, and even podcasts – so it can serve as a single place for all your audio-related needs. Considering that you won't find plenty of podcast players on Kodi, this one's truly one of the best music Kodi addons right now.

To enjoy everything that MixCloud offers, we recommend signing up for an account before downloading the addon. However, even if you don't want an account, you can use the addon for free. In this case, you'll get to browse curated collections and search for individual artists (and play their tracks as well).

5. Radio

We'll end our list of the best music Kodi addons with something different. All of our previous recommendations were about music streaming – in different ways, of course. However, the Radio addon gives you access to radio stations only (as its name implies). So, if you don't want to listen to music on-demand, this could be an option to consider.

The Radio addon comes with over 7,000 radio stations from various countries. You'll get to browse its database and find radio stations that belong to different genres, topics, countries, cities, and languages. There's also an easy way to find local radio stations – at least those that broadcast their program over the Internet.

Music Kodi Addons Not Working? Try This!

In case you see error messages such as "Check the log for more information" or "Something went wrong," there's no need to panic. You can do plenty to resolve those errors, and here are some of the most effective actions to take.

The majority of installation-related Kodi errors can be resolved by clearing the application's cache files. These are temporary files used to speed up the application – but they are also known to cause issues with individual addons. Use the provided link to learn more.
Then, our recommendation would be to update Kodi. However, keep in mind that since Kodi v19 still doesn't work with many add-ons, you might want to stick to Kodi v18.9 for a while longer.
Quite often, individual add-ons can encounter installation errors if their dependencies are faulty. That means that you should install those dependencies manually, which is the only way to resolve this installation error.
In case you see the "This add-on is not compatible with this version of Kodi" error message, that means that you probably have Kodi 19 on your device. You should see if there's a possibility to downgrade back to Kodi 18, which should resolve your issue.

You should also know that we have our central guide to resolving various issues with Kodi, which is where you'll find plenty of useful information, as well as handy tips and tricks.

Which Music Addons for Kodi No Longer Work (Or Have Shut Down Permanently)?

We can often hear about "unofficial" Kodi addons bring shut down, which doesn't really come as a surprise due to their unpredictable nature. With that said, these are some of the previously popular music addons for Kodi that are no longer available:

NOW Music USA
MP3 Streams
World of Sounds
KNE Rock Videos
All Kinds of Music
YouMusic
YouTube Music
MP3CO
Jango
JukeboxHero

All of the addons listed above used to come from online-based sources (they were never found in Kodi's official repository). That is one of the reasons why we've focused on addons from Kodi's repository, as they're legal, safe-to-use, and they'll be around for quite some time.

Tip

So, there you have it – the 5 best Kodi addons for music streaming in 2021. If you decide to try any of our recommendations, make sure to share your experience with us. And also, don't forget to check our latest Kodi articles. Thanks for reading!