Looks like Rdio is trying to pre-empt Apple’s rumoured music streaming service (expected at WWDC in June) by launching a $3.99 per month lower-cost plan, with limited access, according to what the company has told BuzzFeed News:
The San Francisco-based music service, which is scrambling to compete with the likes of Spotify and a forthcoming service being developed by Apple, told BuzzFeed News that it will offer a significantly limited subscription plan for $3.99 a month. It hopes the price will lure listeners who don’t want to pay the industry standard $9.99 a month for unlimited access to millions of songs.
The limited tier will offer:
Rdio CEO Anthony Bay told BuzzFeed 25 songs “is more than most users download in a day, so we feel it’s enough,” while also revealing the daily limit “allows us to license the product in a way that we can keep the price at $4 a month” and remain profitable.
Known as Rdio Select, it will offer a “coach” version of a streaming music service that the industry lacks, as “We’ve all been flying airplanes that had business class only.”
The rationale is to target potential customers unwilling to spend the industry standard $9.99 per month, but would contemplate the lower $3.99 per month option, set to launch in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa on Thursday.
Last fall, Rdio dropped its family subscription price to match rival Spotify.
Looks like the streaming music space continues to get heated up, which is great for consumers. Would you be willing to pay $3.99 to download 25 new songs per day, on top of the streaming radio option?
Update: Rdio Select is now live in Canada and comes with a free 60 day trial.
“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 Rdio CEO Anthony Bay. “Rdio Select joins our premium RdioUnlimited package and reflects our commitment to offering customized streaming options tuned to different listening audiences.”
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…. Or just stream from YouTube?
Or SoundCloud
Or Songza
Spotify
I like this. $3.99 is a much smaller hit. And I have never listened searched for more than 25 songs in a day.
I was contemplating what deal to sign up to after my 1-month trial ends in a week and considered the $5 Web-only package but this is much better. I’m definitely going to sign up for $4 a month.
Rdio Select is now live, comes with a 60 day free trial. But yeah, $4/mo is not bad if you don’t listen to a lot of music.
I can’t wait to see what Apple reveals with their music streaming options. I’ve used Beats Music, and it was okay… I’ve been using Google Music for a year or two now at $7.99 and really enjoy it, but I’m always a fan when it comes to native apps.