Pros: Bandcamp isn’t a streaming service in the sense of Spotify or SoundCloud, but streaming through its website is a great way to discover—and, Bandcamp hopes, eventually buy—music that’s too far afield for playlist algorithms and even human playlist curators. Bandcamp, which takes a 15 percent cut on digital sales and 10 percent on physical merch, says it has been profitable since 2012 and has helped fans pay artists $186 million to date. Acts nurtured on the platform, including Mitski, Car Seat Headrest, and Alex G, saw new levels of success this year, and the service has added legacy content like the Dischord Records catalog. The site also received a favorable profile in The New York Times as a possible “Holy Grail of online record stores,” and hired an editorial staff to bolt on at least some of that expert-curation component. (Full disclosure: Some of Bandcamp’s editorial staff members are Pitchfork contributors.)

Cons: Digital download sales keep dropping overall. As the Times noted, Bandcamp also faces the risk that, as it helps direct listeners to new music more purposefully, its once-defining pleasure of randomly stumbling across, say, Sebadoh co-founder Eric Gaffney’s unreleased material, or a no-fuss EP by a beloved indie-pop bandleader, could be lost.

What’s Next: The company appears to be hunkering down in its enviable position as, in its apt words, an “alternative” to the subscription-based streaming giants. “As long as there are fans who care about the welfare of their favorite artists and want to help them keep making music, we will continue to provide that direct connection,” Bandcamp wrote in a blog post this year. “And as long as there are fans who want to own, not rent, their music, that is a service we will continue to provide, and that is a model whose benefits we will continue to champion.”

Pros: Google’s parent company Alphabet has two plays on music streaming. One is Google Play Music, which is a full-on music streaming subscription service similar to Spotify. The other is YouTube, the giant video site, which in addition to its free, ad-supported level also offers an ad-free YouTube Red subscription service. Though Alphabet hasn’t broken out subscriber numbers, YouTube’s biggest strength is the sheer reach of the free service. A U.S. survey earlier this year showed more music consumption via YouTube than with any of the music-only services, a finding that was especially pronounced among younger listeners. In September, YouTube named record mogul Lyor Cohen as its global head of music, a move that could help mend the company’s relationship with the industry.

Cons: YouTube, like other streaming services, generates few if any profits. Its battle with the music industry could also weigh further on its bottom line, especially if fed-up artists and listeners move toward less controversial listening platforms. Of course, for as long as the price is free, that’s a big “if.”

What’s Next: YouTube’s chief business officer, Robert Kyncl, told me earlier this year that “what’s next is more ad revenue.” Alphabet has the resources to play a long game here.

Pros: Tidal, like Apple, has largely sold itself on exclusives, including Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and Rihanna’s ANTI; West’s periodic updates to Pablo challenged the definition of the “album” itself. In May, Tidal said it signed up 1.2 million new users during its first week exclusively streaming Beyoncé's Lemonade, adding to the 3 million paid subscribers the service claimed in March. Plus, Prince’s invaluable catalog is, with minor exceptions, Tidal-only. There’s also the matter of artist ownership, not only in the form of Jay Z, whose business group acquired Tidal’s parent company last year, but also its announced co-owners, including Beyoncé, Kanye, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk, and Jack White. Tidal has also claimed to pay the highest royalty rates of any subscription streaming service and, unlike its main rivals, offers a high-resolution audio subscription alongside its standard streaming service. Further distinguishing Tidal, the company has announced donations to Black Lives Matter and other nonprofit social justice groups. And former SoundCloud exec Jeff Toig, who became Tidal’s third CEO in eight months when he was hired last December, has stayed at the helm throughout the year.

Cons: Tidal’s parent company recently disclosed a $28 million loss for 2015, more than double the $10.4 million it lost in 2014. It’s the subject of multiple legal actions. Rihanna’s ANTI notoriously appeared on Tidal early by mistake. And Apple’s Iovine has dismissed reports that his company might be negotiating to acquire Jay Z’s service.

What’s Next: Even if Beyoncé is able to release a headline-grabbing visual album every year, Tidal clearly has some catching up to do if it’s to remain an artist-owned company.

Pros: Amazon has already quietly become a leader in paid music streaming, at least technically. Although the company doesn’t disclose subscriber numbers, customers who sign up for its Amazon Prime service have access to Amazon Prime Music, which arrived in 2014 with a limited catalog. According to market researcher Parks Associates, 15 percent of U.S. broadband households subscribe to Prime Music, versus 7 percent for Spotify Premium, 5.9 percent for Pandora’s paid tier, and 2.7 percent for Apple Music. The new Amazon Music Unlimited service offers an expanded catalog similar to those of its rivals and, for Prime members or owners of Amazon’s voice-activated Echo speaker, comes at a discount to the other subscription streaming services. As for exclusives: Amazon is the only place you can legitimately stream Garth Brooks. “The streaming services so far are doing a really good job of [appealing to] the really engaged music consumer who gets why paying 10 bucks a month for a subscription is worthwhile for them,” says Russ Crupnick, founder of research firm MusicWatch. “Amazon looks like they’re trying to get to the more casual music consumers.”

Cons: Tools like Amazon’s Alexa may not have the greatest taste in music. For example, saying “Alexa, play that song that goes ‘put up a parking lot’” has been reported to result in the speaker playing Counting Crows’ cover of Joni Mitchell’s classic “Big Yellow Taxi.” And Amazon’s lower prices for streaming subscriptions may lead consumers to expect to pay even less than they already do for music, further shrinking the pot that’s left for songwriters and musicians.

What’s Next: If Amazon has its way, Alexa will be taking many more questions. Amazon’s vice president of digital music, Steve Boom, has said that music streaming’s next phase of growth will come via connected smart devices in the home. Alexa, where did we leave our smartphones? Never mind, we won’t need them anymore.

Pros: Napster used to be Rhapsody, which has more experience than anyone else at subscription on-demand streaming music. The company, which had marketed itself abroad as Napster for several years, fully rebranded its U.S. operations as Napster in July as well. The company last claimed almost 3.5 million paid subscriptions. And sharing a name with a famous file-sharing service has its advantages: Metallica’s “return” to Napster made headlines in November, 17 years after the band sued the company’s less legally scrupulous predecessor. Plus, Napster has been on the deal-making prowl, recently announcing partnerships with Sprint, Lufthansa, and grocery chain Aldi. Most importantly of all, the business swung to a surprising $1.6 million profit for its most recent quarter, according to a regulatory filing.

Cons: Napster’s latest subscription figures, which date to December 2015, would still put it far behind Spotify and Apple Music. And in the longer term, it has continued to lose money, posting an $11.4 million loss for the first nine months of 2016.

What’s Next: The grandaddy of subscription streaming services will need to prove it can still compete today. The company named a new CEO in April, and confirmed a round of job cuts in June. As with the old Napster, streaming is a tough business.