I love listening to music and spend a lot of time seeking out new songs or old favourites. I’ve used most of the sites out there (Spotify, Grooveshark etc) so when I was given the opportunity to review another service, I quickly agreed – just how does it match up?
The service I was asked to review was Rdio and I was given a complimentary 3 month subscription in order to test it out. Now that my complimentary paid subscription has ended, I thought it high time I gave it a review.
Once logged in, this is the screen you will be greeted with. There are a number of different subscriptions to choose from – free (where you have to listen to ads), Web for £4.99 (ad free radio streaming), Unlimited for £9.99 (can be tried for 30 days for free but also enables listener to listen to albums and playlists) and Unlimited Family for £17.99 per month (this is two unlimited subscriptions together). Now that my subscription has ended, I am currently using just the free option – until payday that is!
What I love about the site is that although similar in layout to other music streaming sites, the layout is so clean and fresh, everything is easy to find and there are a number of different subscriptions to choose from – something I haven’t really seen before, I particularly love that the homepage greets you with a ‘personalised mix of music stories’ – it shows me playlists and albums I have recently listened to. Yes, my music taste is a little random – who would normally lump Black Label Society and Kisstory together?
Should you choose to stick with the free sub, you can expect these to pop up often:
Like most ads, they can be a little intrusive but are soon over and the music continues. I much prefer ad free streaming so will be purchasing an ad free sub as and when I can.
In the majority of the features, Rdio is much like any other music subscription service. However, when they offer the ability to download unlimited mobile downloads to your phone or tablet, then that really sets them apart from the rest.
This will probably be the thing I use the most – I’ve got the same old music on my phone that I’ve had ages and I refuse to pay per song or for an album where I may only like one song. This is perfect for fussy people like me and means I can only download those songs I want to listen to!
Would I recommend Rdio? Definitely. If you are used to other subscription services, you may not see much of a difference at first. However, what swings it for me is the ability to download an unlimited amount of tracks to your mobile device plus the vast number of different subscriptions available with something to suit every budget.
What is your favourite music service?
I received a complimentary subscription to this service for the purpose of a review