Google is finally launching a family plan priced at $14.99 for six people. With this move, Google also ended one key advantage Apple Music had over Google Play Music.
Google Play Music gets more attractive
With the new plan, Google offers ad-free access to its 35 million audio tracks to Play Music subscribers. Users can make use of the Android and iOS apps for listening to the music, or they can use the Play Music website. Playlists of family members and favorites will be kept separately.
“You’ll unlock all of the same features you’d get from having individual subscriptions, including ad free, unlimited access to more than 35 million songs and the ability for each family member to stream simultaneously on any device, all for one low price,” the Internet firm said in a blog post.
For songs not in the Play Music library, Google is offering a great feature that allows up to 50,000 songs to be uploaded to the cloud. This feature is also available even to free users. The new Play Music Family Plan has already been made available to people in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, France and Germany, while in other countries, it will be made available soon, Google informed users.
Good answer for rival services
Earlier this year, Apple launched its music service with a monthly family plan priced at $14.99. It was considered to be the most disruptive feature as it represented a reasonable cost savings from individual subscriptions priced at $9.99 a month.
At that time, there were few music services that could match it. But now Google is not only matching it but is exceeding it in the U.S. by including YouTube Red as part of the Play Music Family Plan. The plan offers ad-free music videos that can be watched both on or offline. On the other hand, Apple Music includes free access to music videos.
Spotify is the leading streaming music service, but its family plan comes at a higher charge. However, it has informed users of its plans to reduce its price to match those of Google and Apple. There are rumors that only select artists will be allowed to stream their music exclusively on the paid subscription tier of Spotify. This might address the problem of major albums showing up on competing services.
