Does listening to Play Music use data?

[jmrohwer]

I am curious if I have selected to download music from the Play Music app, where is the music stored and also, am I using my current data while listening to the downloaded music?

[Tidbits]

Yes and no. Every time you open the app and something isn't cached(non downloaded things as they revolve) it will eat data. If you just play what you downloaded then you will not use data.

[jmrohwer]

I'm going to assume then that I should never clear the cache on Play Music, correct?  I have the option checked to Cache During Playback and Automatically Cache - I should leave these as-is, correct?  I specifically selected the albums I wanted last night and choose download but I can't find the files on my phone either.  Thanks!

[Tidbits]

cache during playback means that song is technically downloaded, but not really.  It helps when you listen to specific songs/albums.  So your startup page when it changes uses as little of data as possible.

The songs are encrypted and numbered.  It's 287469283940(example) and such only the play app can read it.

[#5 · Accepted solution]

I f you are stream music over Verizon network yes you are using data. If you download a song and do it over Verizon's network that download uses data. If you are just listening to a song that's already on your phone then no.