Yet another music streaming service has arrived on iOS devices, primed to duke it out for the top spot against Pandora and iTunes Radio. That service is Google Play Music, which has been available to Android users for years, but finally launched on the App Store on Friday. Google Play Music differentiates itself by allowing users to access up to 20,000 songs from their personal music collections over the cloud and even store their favorites for offline listening. The app also has a monthly subscription service dubbed All Access, which gives users unlimited access to millions of songs and custom radio stations based on their favorite artists, albums or songs. Everyone who signs up for All Access is entitled to a 30-day free trial. Once that expires, the service will cost $9.99 per month.
Interestingly, users will not be able to purchase songs from the app, which is a feature included in other similar services. As The Verge points out, Apple typically skims 30% off of all in-app purchases. Google reportedly “didn’t even try to negotiate with Apple over its commission — and as a result, you can’t buy music through the app as you can on Android, nor can you subscribe to All Access through your smartphone.” It was an unfortunate compromise, but a necessary one in order for Google to get the app on Apple’s storefront.
