Google has updated its Google Music product to include free, ad-supported radio stations. T
he streaming radio service is offered at no cost and has a number of pre-set stations and mixes. Google says many of its stations are hand-curated and developed by the team at Songza, which Google purchased last year. Customers who upgrade to the paid version will be able to save their playlists for offline playback, as well as save up to 50,000 songs in their own library.
The paid version does not include ads and costs $10 per month. Google said its free radio service will reach the web starting now and Android and iOS devices through an app update in the coming days.
Google’s new music model mirrors that of other streaming services that provide ad-supported playback for free and premium features to paying customers.
