Apple’s dominant iTunes music service has a brace of new competitors Down Under with the launch of two new music streaming services: Rara.com and Rdio – the latter the latest lovechild of former Skype entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis.
The move will put pressure on JB Hi Fi and their new Music Now sercice that is still the cheapest at $7.99 a month Vs $12.99 a month for Rara.com/
Rdio – backed by wireless music systems provider Sonos – launched simultaneously in Australian and New Zealand, offering monthly subscriptions at $8.90 for net-only access via Windows and Mac desktop apps.
For mobile use on iPhone and iPod Touch, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, iPad, and Sonos in-home devices the price is $12.90 a month.
Apple iPad users can sign up for unlimited access via a free app at $20.99/month.
A seven-day free trial subscription is available at www.rdio.com. Rdio subscribers can play any of 12 million songs from major labels and “thousands” of international and domestic independent labels, without any limits and without advertisements, the service says.
Rara.com, a new global player with operations in US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden, has also launched in Australia but offers access only via Android devices.
The first month costs $2.99, but rises to $12.99 a month thereafter.
The newcomers are soon to be joined by Spotify, a Swedish-based streaming service.
