The Best Music Streaming Service, Rdio, Is Coming To Europe

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Rdio's interface sure is a refreshing change of pace from Spotify's 1995
Rdio's interface sure is a refreshing change of pace from Spotify's 1995 "Hackers"-esque aesthetic. It looks great on iPad too.

Back when I first moved back from Germany to the United States, one of the things I initially missed most about my previously Euro-centric digital lifestyle was, of course, Spotify. Depressed that the streaming music service hadn’t launched yet in the United States, I tried Rdio, a U.S. only analog.

Over the last year and a half, I’ve completely come around to Rdio as the superior service. It’s got a better interface — one that doesn’t look like it was designed as a Winamp skin circa 1997 — and really makes sharing and music discovery easy. It also, unlike Spotify, has a native iPad app.

The only problem with Rdio was that it was a fantastic music streaming service that I couldn’t recommend to my European friends. But now that’s all changed, or at least in the process of changing, because Rdio is coming to Europe.

Although Rdio is already available in the United States, Canada, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Denmark, it’s making the leap to every country in the E.U. within the “next few months.”

“There are some major competitors in Europe,” Rdio’s partnerships and internationalisation VP Scott Bagby tells paidContent. “We are a couple of years behind others in terms of expansion there.

“But Europe is an immediate focus. We’ll be expanding in all countries in Europe – within the next few months, you’ll see several pop up.”

If you’re in Europe and you’ve previously been using Spotify, you should check Rdio out. It’s got great native clients for OS X and iOS, and I’m convinced it’s got a better indie selection than Spotify. Give it a shot when it hits your shores.

[via Paid Content]

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