Rdio Launches Free Music Streaming In Australia

• Limited allowance for six months
• Without ads
• Subscription to paid plans will be required after

Streaming music service Rdio has finally launched its free-streaming option in Australia, finally taking its services outside of the United States.

• Limited allowance for six months
• Without ads
• Subscription to paid plans will be required after

Streaming music service Rdio has finally launched its free-streaming option in Australia, finally taking its services outside of the United States.

From 8am tomorrow Australian Rdio users will be able to stream music for free at rdio.com or through the desktop app on a PC or Mac, with no credit card details or payment required. The free service will offer a limited allowance of streaming music for six months, without ads, after which a subscription to one of Rdio's paid plans will be required.

A meter at the top of the Rdio Web page will let users of the free service know how much music they have available to stream each month. When you get cut off, Rdio in the U.S. costs $5 a month for web streaming, $10 a month for web and mobile apps, and $17 a month for family pricing. Pricing in other countries varies.

Services like Rdio and Rhapsody have struggled during the past few years to get as much attention as Spotify, which has offered users a free version of its product for quite some time, helping it get to 20 million users around the world. Rhapsody has more than a million paid users in the U.S. Rdio doesn’t disclose its user numbers, but it is at least available in 17 countries and needs more exposure.

Rdio will now offer up to six months of free streaming in the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Interestingly, Germany and Brazil have paid Rdio service but will not get a free option.