Google Play Music Adds Free Streaming Tier

Ladies and gentleman, despite Apple's best efforts to kill it, freemium music is not dead. Google today added a free streaming tier to its subscription Google Play Music offering.

Ladies and gentleman, despite Apple's best efforts to kill it, freemium music is not dead. Google today added a free streaming tier to its subscription Google Play Music offering.

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Google Play Music has added a free ad supported Pandora-like tier to its subscription music service. Powered by Songza, which Google bought last year, users can select a playlist by mood, activity, genre or artist, but beyond a thumbs up or down and skipping have little control over exactly what is played.

The new free, ad-supported version of Google Play Music is launching first in the U.S. It’s available on the web today, and is rolling out this week to Android and iOS.

Google's move comes at a time when the best way to attract new users to streaming music is being hotly debated, and just a week before Apple launches its first streaming service , as well as, a live radio-like broadcast dubbed Beast1.