Google Play Music All Access service is now available in the Great White North that is Canada beginning noon of May 5, adding more life to what is already a music-filled, vibrant country.
The announcement came during a press conference in Toronto and likewise posted in the official blog of the company.
"With today's launch, Google Play becomes your ultimate digital entertainment destination, where you can find, enjoy and share your favourite apps, games, books, movies, magazines and music on your Android phone or tablet," Google Play Music's product manager Paul Joyce writes in a blog post.
In a nutshell, Google's music service provides an unlimited pass to 25 million songs from major record companies and local and independent music labels, and best thing is that the subscriber can access the songs on all devices. The subscriber can freely store up to 20,000 songs online as well as listen to them together with the service catalogue on any iOS or Android device or through the web at play.google.com. It allows pinning of particular playlist songs and albums to make these still available to subscribers even they are offline.
It also allows the subscribers to create and manage an interactive radio station with their choice of artist or song, without the irritating advertising inserts. The subscriber can also re-order or remove the created station as well, browse recommendations from the service's music experts and combine personal music collection with the service's own collection, that is if the millions of songs aren't enough already.
"You can try it today for a special launch price of $7.99 a month and you get the first 30 days free. Regular pricing for those who sign up after June 30 will be $9.99 a month with the first 30 days free," says Joyce.
The online music service came late in Canada, nearly three years after it was already being played and now a hit in the United States. Regardless, the company says Canada will have somewhat more available tracks than in the U.S.
Research reveals that copyright laws in Canada are more problematic than in the U.S. Asked about the delay, Google Play's director of global music reveals the reason.
"The licensing is not so straight forward in Canada. It's not just that it is complicated, it's that some of our features have never been licensed before for this territory," says Zahavah Levine, Google plays' director of global content partnerships.
Despite the presence of established competitor, online music streaming Spotify, Google Play Music All Access service was still regarded as the fastest-growing music subscription service in the U.S. in 2013. It was rolled out in the U.S. on Nov.16, 2011 and is now available in 25 countries.
