

Rdio is Now Free on the Web - oakaz
http://blog.rdio.com/us/2014/01/keep-the-music-playing-rdio-is-now-free-on-the-web.html

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ddt
I can't possibly recommend Rdio enough. The design is simple and intuitive.
State transfers nicely between devices.

Even little things are pleasantly surprising. If I have my laptop hooked up to
speakers at a party playing through Rdio, I can change the song from my phone.

The only thing it doesn't have that I'd like is Grooveshark-esque queue
building. Every music player could just lift Grooveshark's queueing system
wholesale and everyone would be much happier.

~~~
hcarvalhoalves
I'm more critical. The quality of the apps has been going down lately.

The UX of the desktop and mobile apps turned into a mess after they introduced
a bunch of sliding panes, and the iOS app crashes so much I don't bother with
it anymore.

I'm still a subscriber because it's one of the few streaming services
available outside US, otherwise I would be looking at alternatives.

~~~
harlanlewis
This is valid criticism, and shouldn't be getting downvoted just because
people disagree.

I'm a huge Rdio fan and love almost all aspects of its design, but (especially
on iOS) I regularly get confused as to where I am and how to get back. A few
moment's thought (or just fumbling between panels) gets me where I'm going,
but there are simply too many almost-the-same-but-actually-different panels
sliding around to be intuitive. It's particularly messy when trying to juggle
browsing music with a managing a currently playing playlist.

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jlas
Must be in response to Spotify's similar policy change:
[http://news.spotify.com/uk/2014/01/15/no-more-time-limits-
on...](http://news.spotify.com/uk/2014/01/15/no-more-time-limits-on-spotify-
freeyourmusic/)

~~~
kevincennis
I doubt it's purely a response. They mentioned that they're going to be
inserting advertising into the streams now for free users, which isn't
something you build out in a day. I'm sure they've been planning this for a
while. Maybe the Spotify announcement forced them to announce and release it
sooner than they were planning, though.

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michaelmior
Free "in the US" on the Web. Too bad :(

~~~
sergiotapia
Just use MediaHint or Hola. Boom - open web again.

~~~
michaelmior
I assume that's probably against the ToS. If I have to break the law to access
it, I don't consider it very open.

~~~
nl
It's completely unclear if that is actually against "the" law.

I'm in Australia, where a _parliamentary report_ encourages users to use
technological means to bypass geographic restrictions[1].

If I use a service it is true I must agree to their terms of service. However,
if I'm not in the jurisdiction those terms apply to it is unclear if they can
be legally enforced.

Additionally, it is also unclear if those ToS are broken at all by using an
unblocking service. Typically the aim is to restrict serving music to any
client outside the area the music license applies to, and music licensing
companies understand completely that geographic restrictions can be bypassed.

It is actually in the interest of the licensing company that you do bypass the
block. Then they get paid for the stream.

It _isn 't_ in the interest of the license holder in your jurisdiction that
you bypass it, but in most jurisdictions they don't have grounds for a
complaint: they can't actually make you use their service (especially if it
doesn't exist).

[1] [http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-29/geo-blocking-mps-
commi...](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-29/geo-blocking-mps-committee-
price-report-apple-adobe-microsoft/4850484)

------
tptacek
Should I be worried about Rdio? I am happy to pay Rdio a relative pittance for
continued access to music. I'm less happy if they're in a tailspin that is
going to destroy the quality of their catalog.

~~~
stdgy
Unfortunately, worrying seems prudent. While I suspect this move had been
planned for some time, it follows on the heels of a large layoff that
decimated (triple-decimated, if the 30% number is to be believed) the company.

[http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/19/5123004/rdio-lays-off-
emp...](http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/19/5123004/rdio-lays-off-employees-to-
ensure-a-scalable-business-model)

The music streaming business seems like an extraordinarily difficult place to
compete.

~~~
kisielk
That may have to do with their cancellation of the Vdio service. I was a beta
tester of the service but received an email last month that it was being
cancelled.

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prezjordan
Rdio, _please_ release your streaming quality figures. I'll return as a
customer, I promise - please just be more transparent about this sort of
thing.

The reason I say this is because the quality is noticeably worse than Spotify,
and I feel they won't release the numbers because they know they can't
compete.

I just want some transparency. The UI and experience is beautiful, but the
quality is lacking.

~~~
FireBeyond
Last I read (which was this morning actually), it was noted that Spotify’s
“low/regular” quality is 192kbps, and high is 320, and Rdio is at 192.

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dan1234
It's free on the Web… in the US.

With my UK account, I get "You're out of free music. Subscribe now for
unlimited music."

~~~
nettletea
How many plays/mins until you run out?

~~~
dan1234
I got a trial of 7 days unlimited plays.

~~~
nettletea
Where does it state that?

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Void_
> anywhere there’s a computer

In the US.

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xordon
Only Free in the US. I find it super annoying when companies don't realize
that the internet IS global.

~~~
baddox
Most likely, the companies that make this decision are the publishers.

~~~
toomuchtodo
This is correct. At my current place of employment, we have to deal with music
licensing issues from various catalog providers. I mean this with no
hyperbole, it is insanity dealing with music rights.

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nettletea
Just signed up. A couple of weird issues, I was presented with people to
follow. I had no idea who these people were, and wondered what it meant to
follow them. I managed to skip that step. Then I couldn't find a search box to
find any artists or songs to play. It was buried down the bottom left of the
page. I then typed in an artist, then clicked on an album, and got some music.
Then the UI flipped, with a nice big search on top.

Took me a while to find out what a free, unsubscribed account was.

The design is really washed out. Very lightweight grey fonts that are very
difficult to read. It's all a bit white and bright. Stylbot for Chrome helps a
little there as there aren't any user settings to change the colour scheme.

Oh some mystery meat navigation, click on the bottom bar to bring up the
current playlist. Actually you have to do quite a bit of click
experimentation, to find out what the icons do. Would be nice to have some
hover tips.

Oh and you can scroll the playlist, it's not at all obvious!

Gripes aside, quite nice. Will see how I get on with it.

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e12e
Might want to add "the U.S. web" to title...

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MattBearman
Having been a Spotify premium subscriber for over 2 years, I've just decided
to switch to Rdio for one simple reason - Collections.

I've been wishing Spotify had this functionality for as long as I've been
using it. Time to call it a day and go else where for my music.

Also the spotify iPhone app is shit, but I haven't used Rdio's enough yet to
compare.

~~~
jamesmoss
Spotify is about to roll out Collections. Searching for spotify:app:collection
in the desktop client enables it for some people, although it didn't for me.

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jamesmoss
I really want to love Rdio.

I switched from Spotify 8 months ago and at first it was a breathe of fresh
air but I soon started noticing issues with the desktop client. It's just a
UIWebView that loads the web app. Album artwork loads slowly if you've got a
large collection, UI interactions are unresponsive and will often time out.

The other major issue is having albums in your collection become unplayable
due to what looks like licensing issues, only to reappear months later as the
same album, except not in your collection. Spotify doesn't seem to have this
issue.

~~~
FireBeyond
I used to notice the album licensing issue, but it seems to be resolved now
(perhaps it's a flag now, rather than a deletion).

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dorkrawk
So what is going to happen to the $4.99/month "Web only" tier?

~~~
perryh2
I'm on the "Web only" plan. The free tier will have ads.

~~~
pstack
That's his point - what is happening to that subscription level? The RDIO post
only says "we now have that service, but ad supported and if you don't want
that, you can pay $10 for our unlimited service".

So what is happening to the $5/mo service that is the same as the now-ad-
supported service, but without the ads? I listen to an average of less than
one song per day and only need it on my desktop, laptop, ipad, etc -- so there
is no way I'm paying $10/mo for what used to be $5 and if I wanted to listen
to ads, I'd just turn on terrestrial radio.

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jonheller
Sadly, just left Rdio after two years because of the sound quality. I do miss
the interface, though I actually find Spotify's a bit faster.

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jld
How does the Rdio library compare to Spotify's?

~~~
ianhawes
Spotify, I think, has a slightly larger portfolio. But in most cases, if
Spotify doesn't have it, Rdio won't either.

~~~
oakaz
Same

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aristus
...with really annoying ads played at 150% gain.

~~~
nettletea
Like the TV then. Weirdly the ITV player in the UK has completely pathetic
sound on the adverts that you can hardly hear, which makes them a little more
bearable.

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GotNothing
Having the ability to listen to music from one source is important to many and
Rdio has no "Local File" support. This is necessary for artists/albums Rdio
doesn't have in it's library and it's a reason myself and many others won't
ever make the jump from Spotify.

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torbit
I switched mostly from Rdio to Spotify. I used rdio since it started, but
spotify's radio based off a playlist is great. I get more discovery songs this
way. I also have non-english songs that aren't on rdio, but I can add them in
Spotify. I do love rdio's new album page better.

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collinvandyck76
I love rdio, but what is up with the lack of gapless playback? I love
continuous albums, and even for the lack of being able to play these without
the annoying silences between tracks I still prefer rdio, but this is the
biggest issue I have right now with the service.

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Xeroday
In terms of sound quality, Rdio streams at 192 kbps and Spotify Free at 160
kbps.

~~~
pstack
Actually, RDIO has never been forthright about what quality they stream in.

From their customer support in their knowledge-base:

\-------- "We're not currently providing specific bitrate or codec
information. We experiment with different rates and encoding formats in an
effort to provide the best possible listening and user-experience, and stream
CD-quality audio over the web and wifi (for mobile devices), and only stream a
lower bitrate if you’re on a 3G connection.

We realize that is not be as much detail as you’d like, and we apologize for
this — if you have feedback about Rdio’s sound quality as you're listening,
please do let us know." \--------

~~~
Xeroday
Looking at network flows from rdio servers reveals that the mp3 chunks are
actually 192 kbps.

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unicornporn
I can only listen to 30 seconds of the songs. I have not logged in to Rdio for
over a year, so it couldn't be the monthly limit still being in effect.

Anybody else experience this?

~~~
nettletea
If you read the homepage, it suggests free accounts get access for 6 months.

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locusm
Sadly I had to drop Rdio for Google Music as the PiMusicBox couldnt support
their flash only API. They dont provide a stream via API.

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malvim
Went there in a rush, only to find out that "starting today Rdio is free IN
THE US on the web" (emphasis mine). Bummer.

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circa
I love being able to click on an actual Record Label name and seeing what they
have released lately. That is huge for me.

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MrAlmostWrong
I love Rdio. Bought my finacée, my brother, my mother, and my father
subscriptions.

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BadassFractal
What's the difference between this and Spotify?

~~~
nettletea
Spotify desktop app Linux uses about 11% of my CPU, Rdio / Chrome uses a shade
over 30%.

(Having said that the Spotify app's windowing is a bit ugly and glitchy for
me. I think it's a Qt app and I mainly have GTK apps.)

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kraag22
US only. Great :(

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paul9290
can I play and control audio in sync across all my devices with rdio? Is that
a feature they offer yet?

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gol706
Play no, control yes. It's still pretty cool at a party to hook up my laptop
to my speakers, and be able to walk around and queue up songs from my phone.

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ireadzalot
Just subscribed!

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Dewie
I might buy their mid-tier plan and cancel my Spotify subscription. I was
planning on downgrading my Spotify subscription, but it seems that their mid-
tier plan (the one that cost half that of premium) is gone now.

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caipre
I think it's still available, just not advertised on the main page. When
editing my subscription, the $4.99/month option was still there.

