Rdio Social Music Service Leaves Beta, Now Open For All In The US & Canada

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The social music service Rdio has officially left the beta status behind and is now available for those in the US and Canada. The good news here is that the service works with a wide variety of devices and has two monthly plans available.

First and foremost, the pricing. As I mentioned there are two plans available, which means you can pay either $4.99 or $9.99 per month. As for the plans, both are ad-free and both include an unlimited amount of streaming from the web. And in addition, the $9.99 plan also includes mobile access which comes in the form of an app for Android, iOS or BlackBerry smartphones. Bottom line here, if you want to listen on the go, expect to pay $9.99.

And given Rdio has just come out of beta, I decided to give it a listen today. By the way, each new user will get an unrestricted three day trial for free. You can get yours by heading to www.rdio.com.

Otherwise, so far I have been impressed. Granted I have not been able to check out the social aspect as much yet given I am a new user with no friends on the service. But that aside, the web interface is easy to use with music very easy to find. I have listened to a variety of tracks today both in album form and on shuffle using what Rdio calls “Artist Radio.” As for the quality of streaming, bit rate aside, I have not had any issues and the sound is more than comparable to the other big players in the streaming music game.

Aside from unlimited streaming, other features of Rdio include the ability to discover new music by social networking or by using “Artist Radio.” There is also options to search by new releases, top charts and recommended. In short, music discovery is easy enough. In addition, you can manage and access your music collection from any internet connected computer.

As for the mobile access, again, that is only included in the $9.99 per month plan but this plan includes the ability to stream an unlimited amount of music to your phone using the cellular (3G/4G) connection as well as Wi-Fi, and also download tracks to the device for offline listening. Good for when in areas of spotty coverage or traveling.

In the end, I am really enjoying my first trial day with Rdio. So much so that I am considering becoming a subscriber. In fact, the only real issue that is holding me back at the moment is my love of Slacker. Granted Rdio has more features than Slacker, especially with the ability to play on-demand (including full albums) but it is also slightly more expensive. That aside though, two issues for me personally, I have already committed to a year with Slacker Plus and at present Rdio does not have a webOS app and in addition to my Droid Eris I also carry and use a Pre Plus.

That said, if you listen to a lot of music, I would highly suggest at least checking out Rdio.