Apple Music has managed to retain its grasp on the headlines this week thanks to a theatrical bout with Taylor Swift, but Google has some music news of its own as well. On Tuesday, Google announced on its Official Android Blog that free, ad-supported radio stations are now available on Google Play Music.
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Google originally added these human-curated playlists last year, but this is the first time they’ll be available for users without paid Google Play Music subscriptions. It’s not quite as extensive or open as Spotify’s free, on-demand service, but it does give users shopping around for a music service a new reason to try Google Play Music.
“Our team of music experts, including the folks who created Songza, crafts each station song by song so you don’t have to,” product manager Elias Roman explains. “If you’re looking for something specific, you can browse our curated stations by genre, mood, decade or activity, or you can search for your favorite artist, album or song to instantly create a station of similar music.”
Google is not going to be able to compete directly with Apple, but as we’ve discussed in the past, Apple hasn’t exactly proven to us that it knows how to curate playlists. On the other hand, Songza’s playlists are some of the most consistently excellent on the Web. You can check them out now (for free) on the Google Play Music website.
The free radio stations will rollout on iOS and Android devices later this week.
