Have you heard of the app Current Music that pays you to listen to songs and are curious
about how it works?
Well in this video, we’re going to take a closer look at the app, including the pros
and cons.
Hey everyone this is Kyle from Money@30 and on this channel we look at personal finance
from a Millennial perspective, including app and tool reviews like this one.
A few months ago, I came across the app Current, which advertised that you could earn money
by listening to music.
Of course, that sounds too good to be true but I decided to give it a shot.
So, is Current Music legit and can you make money with it?
Let’s take a look at my experience with the iOS version app including the good and
bad aspects of the platform.
The first thing to know about Current Music is you’ll need to invite three friends to
the app before you’ll be able to start earning.
While you can start listening to music after downloading Current and signing up with either
your phone number or email address, you’ll need to unlock the earning feature.
To do this, you’ll need to invite three friends to sign-up for the app.
This also requires you to give Current access to your contacts so that it can text the people
you select to invite.
What’s more, you don’t actually get to see or customize the message before it’s
sent.
Luckily, your friends won’t need to sign up to unlock your earning, but you’ll earn
bonus points if they do.
Honestly, I almost tapped out of Current Music when I reached this step but proceeded after
giving my selected friends a heads up that they’d be getting a link.
While it could be worse, this is easily one of the biggest downsides of the app in my
opinion.
Next, one of the things I like about Current is the variety of stations available — although
there is a lack of search function
On Current, you’ll find stations for all types of musical genres, decades, artists,
and more.
There are even comedy and NPR stations available — and many stations are commercial free.
Plus, when you find a station you like, you can save it for easy access next time.
That’s actually key as Current doesn’t employ any sort of search feature.
Because of this, you may need to browse the homepage for stations as well as explore related
stations once you’ve made a selection.
Meanwhile you can also record songs on the app - but this literally means recording them
as their air live, so you may miss the beginning of the track if you’re not quick.
Still it’s a nice option for capturing your favorite songs and earning points by listening
back to them.
You can also listen to these recorded tracks when you’re offline, but won’t earn points
for these spins.
When listening to music on Current, you’ll earn points for each song, but will need to
keep your phone active in order to continue earning
As you listen to stations, you can see the points you’re receiving by visiting the
Earnings History tab.
While the points you earn per song seem vaguely based on length, other unclear factors also
play a role.
Additionally, in order to keep earning, you’ll need to prove that you’re actively listening.
Thus, if your phone hasn’t been unlocked for a certain amount of time, you may get
a push notification to check in and may need to watch a short video ad before earning is
reinstated.
In addition to the music function, Current also offers other ways to add points such
as taking surveys, downloading other apps, and more
Truth be told, listening to music isn’t the main way of earning points with Current.
Instead, those looking to score reward quickly may want to look to what the app calls Mega
Offers.
By tapping the Tasks & Offers, you can a variety of point-earning opportunities, such as downloading
a gaming app and reaching a certain level.
While some of these aren’t too appealing, I actually discovered a couple of fun games
through this portal and was indeed awarded my points when I completed the task.
Meanwhile, there are also surveys you can take to earn points, but I haven’t done
any of these.
If you’re bored, these might be an okay option, but I think that the Mega Offers and
Music are probably better.
Finally, when it comes to cashing out your points, you can choose from a selection of
gift cards or PayPal
Between my Mega Offers and music listening, I managed to earn enough points to purchase
a $4 amazon gift card.
After submitting my order, I received an email from Current saying my reward would be emailed
in a few days.
Indeed, the next day, my digital gift card arrived and I was able to easily redeem it.
Along with the gift card, Current also included what they call a Bonus Bucks reward, allowing
you to earn 50% more points on music streams for 30 days.
This came in handy but, as we’ll discuss next, it may not make as big of a difference
as you’d think.
Still, given this experience, I’m inclined to say that Current Music is legit and does
indeed pay out — although I’m curious how much data the app has captured and still
haven’t heard back in regards to my data request.
Overall, I think current music is a fun app and I’ve enjoyed listening to some of the
stations available.
However, given the low and varying number of points per play, it’s definitely not
going to make you rich and the app has a few quirks.
Personally, I’ve enjoyed listening to music on Current and have even discovered new songs
as a result.
In that aspect, it could be a nice stand in for Spotify or Pandora, although the lack
of a search feature can be annoying and the audio quality isn’t always the highest.
Also, I’ll note that some of the stations don’t exactly play the music they advertise,
so you may need to experiment a bit before finding the right station for you.
As for the earning component, while I was indeed able to score a small Amazon gift,
it’s hard for me to imagine ever getting to the $600 a year Current suggests is possible.
That’s partially because the points you earn per song can vary widely.
For example, while I used to average between 6 and 10 points per song when I started, lately,
i’ve only been seeing 3 to 4 points per song — and that’s with the Bonus Bucks
activated — although this does fluctuate so im hoping it will return to quote unquote
normal.
Still, this coupled with the high point pricepoints means that you won’t be making a fortune
with Current music.
Plus, the app has some strict rules you won’t run afoul of.
Nevertheless, if you enjoy the music and don’t mind needing to annoy friends with invites,
then I think Current could be a fun app.
Hopefully this gives you a better idea about what Current Music is all about but for more
on the app, ill have a link to my full written review in the description box down below