Google Play Music makes its African debut, launches in South Africa for ‘introductory’ $3.50 a month

Google Play Music has finally arrived in Africa, as the music-streaming service launches in South Africa for the first time today.

Google Play Music offers three main ways to listen to tunes. Anyone can upload up to 50,000 songs from their personal libraries for free, and they can also buy tracks and albums to download and keep permanently. The third option, a music subscription, is akin to Spotify or Apple Music’s monthly membership, and normally costs $9.99 (USD) per month.

For the South Africa launch, Google Play Music will be available for R49.99 a month, which is roughly the equivalent of $3.50 (USD). It’s not clear how long this introductory price will be available, or how much the service will cost normally.

Though this is the first time Google Play Music has been made available in Africa, other Google Play services are already available. Apps have been available for some time, while Google Books has been open for business in South Africa since 2013. Google Movies, on the other hand, has been open in a handful of African countries but not in South Africa.

Though Google’s launch announcement only mentions Android and the Web, it appears that the iOS app is also available to download in South Africa.

Today’s launch comes three months after carrier billing arrived for Google Play purchases in South Africa. This allows consumers to add all purchases directly to their mobile phone bill rather than paying separate subscriptions or one-off fees.