Rdio, the digital music service created by the founders of Skype, announced the launch of the first ever free, on-demand music offering featuring zero ads. The free service doesn't offer unlimited streaming; a meter at the top of each user's page indicates how much free listening time remains. This amount is dynamic, and will be based on each user's personal use.
U.S.-based entertainment-seekers who sign up for Rdio's Web streaming music service can also access over 12 million full songs, and share them with friends. Rdio's full integration into Facebook's Open Graph platform lets anyone on Facebook instantly share and play any song in the News Feed, Ticker, or Timeline feeds.
Rdio and MOG announced plans for ad-free streaming last month; interestingly, both use the same "fuel gauge" approach to indicating how many songs a user has left.
"We’re proud to be the only service in the U.S. to offer everyone the opportunity to listen to millions of songs for free, without the distraction of a single ad,” said Drew Larner, CEO of Rdio. “With free access to Rdio, now everyone has the freedom to discover what our fans already know – we're the best service for listening to and discovering music.”
Free access users can stream music via their Web browsers or Rdio's Mac and PC desktop apps. Besides listening to free music, users can:
- See and hear what their friends and other influencers are listening to in real-time.
- Share tracks on Twitter and Facebook.
- Create custom and collaborative playlists.
- Build a personalized profile and digital music collection.
- Get music recommendations based on their tastes.
- Listen to artist and label radio stations.
Rdio users have the option to upgrade to one of Rdio’s subscription plans, which offer unlimited music streams and Rdio’s mobile apps. Plan options include:
- Rdio Web, $4.99 per month: Unlimited access via a browser or desktop app.
- Rdio Unlimited, $9.99 per month: Unlimited Web streaming, and unlimited mobile streaming to smartphones, iPads, and Sonos and Roku devices. This package also contains wireless synching so that user may listen offline.
- Unlimited Family: This includes two unlimited subscriptions for $17.99 per month, or three unlimited subscriptions for $22.99 per month.
New users can sign up for free access immediately at www.rdio.com and through Rdio's mobile apps.
For more, see PCMag's full review of the Rdio and the slideshow below, as well as our look at Rdio rivals like Spotify, Slacker, and Pandora.