When it comes to picking a music provider, like in the mobile phone world, we’re fairly spoiled for choice.
You can pick between Spotify, Google Play, Pandora, Rara, Xbox Music, Samsung Milk, Guvera, Deezer, and Rdio, and that’s not even including the lossless services Deezer Elite and Tidal.
We’re sure we’ve missed some, but what we do know is that while many offer slightly handicapped or ad-based services, if you want any without ads, the cost is roughly the same: between $10 and $20 per month.
Unfortunately, that’s not to everyone’s liking, and while we all like music, and many of us can’t live without it, but we don’t always want to fork out a lot of money for it.
In an attempt to understand and cater for people with that mindset, Rdio has found what might appear to be a middle ground, offering a six dollar “Rdio Select” service for mobile users providing ad-free listening with up to 25 new songs being able to be streamed daily.
Essentially, you’re getting an all-you-can eat on-demand music service, but you can only download 25 songs at a time, replacing 25 daily if needed, but still only keeping 25 at the one time on your smartphone.
“We’re excited to reach a new group of price sensitive music subscribers with Rdio Select and have designed the service to appeal to a wide audience,” said Anthony Bay, CEO of Rdio.
Beyond the 25 downloadable songs, you’ll also find personalised radio through the service, with unlimited skips in a station you’re essentially making by catering to your listening history. If that doesn’t work for you, an editorially controlled set of digital stations can also be heard curated by artists and labels, as well as some set out by mood.
From what we can see Rdio Select almost feels like the introduction to mobile streaming for people who hate ads enough to try something relatively low cost, without going the full hog, which in the Rdio Unlimited plan costs $11.99 per month for unlimited songs, similar to the other music subscription services out there.
“Rdio Select joins our free tier of ad-supported Internet radio and our premium Rdio Unlimited package,” said Bay.
“We remain committed to offering customised streaming options tuned to different listening audiences that includes the free listening experience. We believe in a free tier that is fair to artists, labels, and consumers alike.”
Rdio’s Select subscription goes live this week with a 60-day free trial, with the app available on iPhones (iOS) and Android.
