Rdio ramps up streaming music effort

Music-streaming service Rdio on Thursday ramped its offerings with a subscription that allows people to keep a selection of songs for off-line listening.

The San Francisco-based start-up created by Skype co-founder Janus Friis nearly five years ago made Rdio Select subscriptions available in a half dozen countries including the United States, Australia, and India.

Rdio Select costs $4 monthly and lets subscribers stream ad-free music and pick as many as 25 songs that they want to keep for enjoying on-demand, according to the company.

The price is less than some rivals which charge up to around $10 per month for streaming subscriptions.

Rdio Select works on gadgets powered by Apple or Android software and on a range of other devices, including Chromecast and Roku.

"We're excited to reach a new group of price sensitive music subscribers with Rdio Select and have designed the service to appeal to a wide audience," Rdio chief executive Anthony Bay said in a release.

"We remain committed to offering customized streaming options tuned to different listening audiences that includes the free listening experience."

Rdio, which faces competition from rivals such as Spotify, Pandora, and Apple, bills itself as one of the world's largest licensed music services.

Rdio boasts a catalog of more than 35 million songs and is available in more than 85 countries. Options at the service include traditional radio style free streaming of music supported by advertising.