TMCnet Feature Free eNews Subscription
May 15, 2013

Google Rivals Spotify with 'All Access'

By Nicole Spector, Contributing Writer

Take that, Spotify! Google (News - Alert) is all over your turf.



At this very moment, at the world-watched Google I/O, the company is showing off its new Spotify-like streaming music service, “All Access.”

If you're a Spotify (News - Alert)-addict, chances are you will get the same fix from All Access. The functionality, Business Insider reports, is “tremendously comparable.”

As with Spotify, subscribers can look up a specific song or artist and stream entire albums. Users can add the albums to their devices to listen to offline, or they can automatically generate a Pandora (News - Alert)-style radio station designed according to what they are listening to. All Access will also allow users to combine their music libraries with the millions of songs to which Google has obtained rights.

Spotify offers a few different pricing fixtures: one can listen to it for free, and be inundated with ads (really, like three songs max and then a minimum of seven hours of ads), or they can upgrade to unlimited listening for $4.99 per month. Lastly, Spotify users can go with the “Premium” package at $9.99 a month.

Whether there will be a pricing hierarchy for Google's All Access has not yet been detailed.

The company has stated at Google I/O that it will cost $9.99 a month in the U.S. (unless users buy in before June 30 – then they can snag the service for $7.99).

Those intrigued, but not ready to commit, can get a free 30-day trial. But that price is as much as Spotify's top model, so either it will have to be in some ways better than Spotify's Premium deal, or Google will need to create a more competitive price range.

All Access launches today in the U.S. and in time will be offered across the rest of the world.

The subscription service will be accessible from Android (News - Alert) devices as well as the Google Chrome browser.




Edited by Alisen Downey
» More TMCnet Feature Articles
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]
SHARE THIS ARTICLE

LATEST TMCNET ARTICLES

» More TMCnet Feature Articles