As promised, Google today began rolling out its Google Play Music family plan in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. Instead of $10 per month for one user getting an “All Access” subscription, the family plan costs $15 per month for up to six users (you can sign up “in the coming days” on Android devices).
The idea is a simple one: As streaming services ramp up, so do your bills. You don’t want to pay multiple times for the same service, and companies don’t want multiple people sharing a single paid account. The solution is then to offer a more expensive account meant for multiple people, which costs more than a single account but still less than the combined price of multiple accounts.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1849865,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,media,","session":"D"}']With the Google Play Music family plan, you’re essentially adding up to five family members (or people who you’re just close with) for another $5 per month. The same features apply: ad-free, unlimited access to over 35 million songs; the ability for each user to stream simultaneously on multiple devices (Android, iOS and the Web); and, because you have separate logins, your song history saved separately so you can get recommendations tailored to the music you like.
The bonus is you also get a family subscription to YouTube Red, which provides ad-free streaming of videos hosted by the service, as well as offline and background playback of videos on mobile devices. Unfortunately, YouTube Red is still U.S.-only for now, though more countries will be added next year.
So how does this family plan stack up to the competition? Strictly from a payment perspective — for we could spend hours debating each of the service’s features — here is what you need to know:
- Google Play Music: $15 per month, up to six users.
- Apple Music: $15 per month, up to six users.
- Spotify: 50 percent off for additional users. $15 for families of two, $20 for three, $25 for four, $30 for five, $35 for six, and so on.
- Rhapsody: 50 percent off for additional users. $15 for families of two, $20 for three, $25 for four, $30 for five, $35 for six, and so on.
- Tidal: 50 percent off for additional users. $15 for families of two, $20 for three, $25 for four, $30 for five, $35 for six, and so on.
- Amazon Prime Music: No family plan.
- Groove (formerly Xbox Music): No family plan.
- Deezer: No family plan.
- Pandora: No family plan.
This puts Google Play Music in line with Apple Music. Everything else is a rip-off.
Keep in mind, however, that Spotify wants to offer a more competitively priced family plan. Furthermore, with Rdio’s assets under its belt, Pandora also wants to join the subscription game.
In short, Google just happened to be launching a family plan in time to price it on par with Apple’s foray into the space. You can expect others will react similarly.