Google Launches Music Streaming Service 'All Access'

As it has been anticipated before, Google has launched its very own music streaming service as part of Google Play at yesterday’s I/O conference. As Billboard points out, the service is called Google Play Music All Access. An access that comes with a price tag — the service, which debuts Wednesday in the U.S., costs $9.99 per monthly subscription and a 30-day free trial. A discount of a monthly rate of $7.99 has been offered to those that join the service until June 30. Hence, no free, ad-supported, long-term version of the service, like rivals like Spotify, are expected to follow.

The announcement, made at the conference, came soon after the Google finalized licensing deals with Warner Music Group in March, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, which enables them to offer “millions of songs” for the service. In addition, deals with Merlin Network, which represents independent labels such as Rough Trade, Beggars Group and Warp Records, has also been cleared.

A radio streaming feature, similar to Pandora, has also been added to the service. Thus “each song can with one click be turned into a radio station with ‘a neverending list of tracks.” The “Explore” tab offers recommendations for users while the “Listen Now” tab formulates “new releases, recently added tracks, and automatically generated radio stations.”