Streaming music service Rdio launched its free Internet radio service in the U.S. and Canada on Thursday.
The move is a smart way for the digital music service to push the company back into the spotlight and steal back some of the audiences from the industry’s two largest streaming music services, Spotify and Pandora, as well as Apple’s new-kid-on-the-block iTunes Radio service.
Rdio previously offered only an on-demand music service. For now, the app that works on Apple and Android devices won’t play ads between the songs that are randomly picked based on genres, artists, songs or albums.
The company hopes non-paying listeners will sign up for a $10-a-month subscription that adds features like the ability to pick and choose exact songs and albums.
