Rdio rolls out six months of free streaming in 15 countries
The online music service expands its reach and looks to entice new users by offering free streaming internationally.
Rdio announced today that it is offering the majority of its international customers the same deal that people get in the U.S.: six months of free music streaming.
The online music service lets users access its library of more than 18 million songs that come without ads or interruptions and can be listened to and shared across the Web, social networks, and mobile devices.
"The countries that will have free access to Rdio are the United States (where it's been free since October 2011), United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden," a Rdio spokesperson told CNET in an email. It is not yet available in Brazil or Germany.
According to PCMag, a Rdio spokesperson said that the expansion is meant to "attract international users and to heat things up competitively as we expect this will drive a lot more users."
Rdio launched in the U.S. in August 2010 as an alternative to other music streaming services. It has since rolled out its service to Facebook. Last October, Rdio founder Janus Friis launched the Rdio Artist Program, which is designed to give musicians better commission rates by removing the idea of payment-per-song that some other services use.
As of now, new users in the 15 countries that get the six months of free streaming can upgrade at any time to one of the service's subscription plans. In the U.S., the plans are $4.99 per month for unlimited Web streaming and $9.99 per month for unlimited Web, mobile, and offline listening. Prices differ by country.