T-Mobile Music Freedom adds Google Play Music and 13 others

Earlier this year T-Mobile revealed their Music Freedom program, which essentially made it so customers could listen to as much streamed music as they wanted without it affecting their allotted amount of data. The only catch was that only specific music services would be exempt from using data, and while T-Mobile has continually expanded this list, Google Play Music has been left out of the fun — until today.

T-Mobile has announced that Google Play Music no longer uses data on T-Mobile’s network (as part of the Music Freedom plan), and is joined by 13 other new members to the list: Fit Radio, Digitally Imported, Live365, Mad Genius Radio, Saavn, Radio.com, RadioTunes, Xbox Music, Fresca Radio, JAZZRADIO, ROCKRADIO, radioPup and Soundcloud.

What do you think of T-Mobile’s Music Freedom program, like the idea? Conversely, do you feel that giving unlimited data access to certain apps/services is unfair for businesses, even if it might be a major advantage for consumers?

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BELLEVUE, Washington — November 24, 2014 — T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS) today announced a major evolution of its groundbreaking Un-carrier 6.0 program (Music Freedom), with the addition of 14 new streaming services, more than doubling the number of providers currently in the program. Today’s additions include names like Google Play Music, Xbox Music and SoundCloud as well as a diverse range of specialty services to suit all tastes − whether you’re into EDM, Jazz, Caribbean, Bollywood or all of the above. (See below for a full list of the newly added services.)
With Music Freedom, T-Mobile Simple Choice™ customers stream all the music they want on T-Mobile’s Data Strong™ network − data charges do not apply. And, not only is Music Freedom available for T-Mobile customers at no extra charge, it’s also completely free for music streaming providers. No backroom deals. No paid prioritization. Just you and your music − unleashed.
“Music Freedom is pro-consumer, pro-music and pure Un-carrier,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “And today we’re taking another huge step toward our ultimate goal of including every streaming music service in the program. Anyone can play. No one pays. And everyone wins.”
Music Freedom has been wildly popular since its launch this summer. The number of T-Mobile customers streaming music each day has jumped nearly 300%, and they’re streaming a whopping 66 million songs per day − or roughly 200 terabytes of data per day − on T-Mobile’s Data Strong™ network.
Music Freedom has also become a major draw to switch to T-Mobile. In a recent survey of U.S. wireless users1, 1 in 4 said that Music Freedom alone is a key reason they’ve switched or would switch to the Un-carrier.
New services added today include:
Google Play Music− Winner of the popular vote among Un-carrier customers
Xbox Music − ‘All the Music You Love’ on all your devices
SoundCloud − Provides access to the world’s largest community of music & audio creators
RadioTunes − Features a wide variety of free streaming radio channels
Digitally Imported − The first service in Music Freedom devoted entirely to electronic dance music
Fit Radio − A wide selection of great workout songs for the gym
Fresca Radio − Delivers 40 channels of the best Latin, Hispanic and Caribbean music
JAZZRADIO − Enjoy endless hours of the best jazz music around
Live365 − Thousands of internet radio stations featuring music in every style
Mad Genius Radio − For those who like a lot of music and who like their playlists fresh
radioPup − Featuring 300+ local radio stations streaming the best music available
radio.com − Original programming including streaming music and more
ROCKRADIO − 100% rock, streaming the most diverse variety of rock music online
Saavn − All the best Bollywood and Indian music, online and on the go
These join 13 other services previously part of Music Freedom, including Rhapsody, Pandora, AccuRadio, Black Planet, Grooveshark, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Samsung Milk Music, Radio Paradise, Rdio, Slacker, Songza and Spotify.
Music Freedom now covers 27 music streaming services of all sizes and musical genres. Three of the new services added today – Google Play, Xbox Music and SoundCloud – were voted for by close to one million people in an online poll. Three were submitted directly by T-Mobile customers, and the other services responded to T-Mobile’s open invitation to join Music Freedom.
T-Mobile has a vision to add every possible music streaming service to Music Freedom, and any music streaming provider can be part of Music Freedom by applying through T-Mobile’s open submission process. To learn more about Music Freedom, please visit t-mobile.com/musicfreedom.
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