For some time now I’ve been on the lookout for a cloud music service.

Essentially what I want is to be able to upload all my music there, and then be able to play it from anywhere I happen to be. The most important thing is that the service offers an Android app that lets me stream any of my music I want and locally download select albums or playlists that I listen to frequently so I can play them without chewing through my data (or when an internet connection isn’t available).

In most of the world (or so it seems to me, anyway) Google Play Music offers this functionality for free – but not here in Canada. I’m hoping Play Music comes to Canada in the not too distant future at which point I will almost certainly use it, but in the meantime I’m prepared to pay no more than $25 a year for an alternative.

It’s been tough, but I think I’ve found what I need.

10tracks is a Russian start-up that offers everything I have in my requirements. They offer 3gb of music storage free and you get more space either by promoting their service or paying 750 rubles a year for unlimited storage. They also offer features similar to my current go-to streaming service Grooveshark, whereby you can search music that others have uploaded and add it to your collection on the site too, make playlists with it, etc.

750 rubles is $23 at the time of writing, so despite being nervous about sending them the money using a Russian payment provider I’d never heard of and weary of an unestablished service, I signed up today. My collection of around 8,200 tracks is in the process of uploading. I’ll let you know how I get on.

10tracks — Cloud Music Storage