As music streaming services continue to "take over" our listening habits, the battle for dominance becomes not just about their catalogue, but also their availability in specific regions and countries. Spotify has done a stellar job with expanding its reach, but Google Play Music and All Access are slowly catching up. They've added 13 more countries that can now access their extensive offerings, bringing the total to 58 countries (well, 57 for All Access).
Music lovers from the following countries can also now purchase and store music through Google Play Music and listen to unlimited music streaming through All Access: Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Romania, and Slovenia. For some reason, these services are still not available in any Asian countries, but we're pretty sure that they will eventually open their doors to the region, especially since Japan and South Korea are some of the highest music-buying countries in the world and several Southeast Asian countries are part of the emerging mobile market.
Users from the new European countries added will be able to enjoy the new features added to the Google Play Music app recently. The app has been tweaked to match the Material Design that is being pushed by Google and to match the imminent arrival of the Android 5.0 Lollipop. It has also integrated the "radio stations" or playlists to fit your mood through Songza, another curated music service which they acquired earlier this year. The Listen Now page has also been updated to make it easier to discover new music.
If you're in any of the countries listed that have access to Google Play Music and Music All Access, you can download the app for free from the Google Play Store. But you would need a $9.99 per month subscription for All Access' unlimited music streaming.
SOURCE: Google