Google Play Music now available in South Africa & Serbia

Hot off the heels of Apple launching its music streaming service offering in June – Apple Music, Google will try to regain market share from local industry leader Simfy Africa and the UK’s Rara.

Today marks its arrival in two new countries in opposite hemispheres of this planet: South Africa and Serbia. Until now. That’s because Google has now made its streaming music service Play Music available in South Africa.

Subscriptions to Google Play Music All Access are available at an introductory price of R49.99 a month. Considering that the trend of online streaming is on the rise with services like Spotify and Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Apple Music; it was inevitable that Google would roll out its own streaming platform to remain active against competitors.

I would love to be able to buy Nexus devices in South Africa straight from Google, or even Android One handsets as I’m now slightly obsessed with budget phones. “We are pleased to be an integral part of the launch of the Google Play service and look forward to our composers and publishers benefitting from this world-class platform”. They can add, remove or re-order your station and see what’s coming next.

Google Play Music also lets users combine the built-in collection with their own collections.

Though Google’s announcement only mentions Android and the Web for the launch, it appears that the iOS app is also available to download in South Africa. To facilitate its users, the tech giant’s “expert music team” will also compile a list of recommendations, while the “Listen Now” tab shines a spotlight on various radio stations and artists selected on the user’s prior preferences.

Uploaded songs and albums, as well as tracks available through the subscription service, may be pinned for offline listening.

Google Play Music offers three main ways to listen to tunes.