With the 58th Annual Grammy’s on last Monday, the topic of piracy rose once again.

Not only is piracy illegal, it hurts the artists we love.

If you like the artist enough, you’ll likely buy the album or song, but most people listen to so much music that they don’t purchase all that they listen to.

Music services like Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Google Play Music, Amazon MP3 and iTunes are great for fans and college students alike.

These platforms are just some of the music services to use when studying for tests or doing everyday things.

It’s better and safer for students than illegally downloading the songs from free music sites.

When someone buys a song, it stays in their music library forever. Downloading songs from the internet isn’t very safe, and you risk listening to a track that may be altered or that lacks the quality of the original.

YouTube is a hotbed for music sharing, and while you can find almost any song uploaded there, the same problems listed above are present.

Streaming services take care of those issues, and you can even create your own playlists, follow artists and discover new music as well.

And if you’re passionate about the artists you listen to, know that you’re also supporting them by using streaming services.

According to a 2015 Fortune article by Claire Zillman, artists on Spotify get 68 cents of royalties from their songs being played on the streaming service.

Streaming sites are generally free, but some let you can upgrade to a premium ad-free membership for a monthly fee.

Apple for example offers an individual membership to Apple Music for just $9.99 a month, compared to iTunes, where an average song costs $1.29 each.

For college students it’s essential to save money, and streaming music is one of the little things you can do save a few extra bucks.

That money can be used to buy books; probably the same ones that you’ll be reading while you jam out to music during that last minute study session.