COULD RDIO’S $3.99 PRICE POINT CHANGE THE STREAMING LANDSCAPE?  

Streaming service Rdio is rolling out Rdio Select, a new tier between free and premium that offers commercial-free listening for $3.99 per month.

The offering—with high-fidelity, unlimited, ad-free streaming radio (featuring unlimited skips), curated playlists (from the likes of Mumford & Sons, Best Coast and Hot Chip) and up to 25 downloads at a time—represents the firm’s belief that consumers are likelier to embrace the subscription model if introduced via a less expensive option.

To further sweeten the deal, Rdio is offering a 60-day free trial. A year’s subscription at the reduced rate would equal the average consumer “spend” on music.

Listeners can access it via Android, iOS, desktop and apps such as Chromecast, Sonos and Roku, with more promised.

With a prevailing belief among several label leaders that “freemium” doesn’t represent a sustainable model (though WMG CEO Stephen Cooper recently defended its prospects), Team Rdio feels it can aid in the migration to monthly payments with this intermediate price point. Once acclimated, more active users may well want to move up to the $9.99 premium tier.

“We’re excited to reach a new group of price sensitive music subscribers with Rdio Select and have designed the service to appeal to a wide audience,” says Rdio CEO Anthony Bay. “Rdio Select joins our premium Rdio Unlimited package and reflects our commitment to offering customized streaming options tuned to different listening audiences.”