Google heats up Brazilian music streaming market
Google has launched its music streaming offering in Brazil and is charging the same amount as competitors as well as two months free use of the service in order to attract users.
The monthly subscription plan for Google Play All Access Music costs R$14,90 ($5,70), the same amount charged by its competitors Deezer, Rdio and Spotify. In addition, a special offer valid until January 7 will give a R$2 discount to new users, as well as 60 days of use free of charge.
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The main difference between the Google service and its main competitor Spotify is that the former offers the integration of various resources, such as radio streaming according to musical taste and cloud storage for up to 20.000 tracks and access to them through up to four registered devices.
Google's music streaming service bills in the local currency, the real, and payments can be made with Brazilian cards. This is something that Spotify had been struggling with since its launch in May, as the company only made the transition from dollar to real payments in August.
Google's music partnerships director Ady Harley told newspaper O Estado de So Paulo that "if you cannot even charge in reais, you are not a product for the Brazilian population" and that the Google Play service is an "unbeatable offer" to people used to paying R$20 ($7) for CDs.
Back in September, the company made its Google Play music service available for free in a pre-launch scheme limited to Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Tab S users, as well as the Galaxy Note 4, for a six-month period.
