T-Mobile launches Music Freedom, streaming music doesn’t count against data-plan charges

T-Mobile has a big announcements today, beginning immediately, T-Mobile’s Simple Choice customers will now be able to stream all the music they want from all the most popular streaming services, including Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Slacker Radio and Spotify — without ever hitting their high-speed 4G LTE data service.
 
Music services from T-Mobile partners — Samsung’s Milk Music and the forthcoming Beatport music app from SFX — will also stream without data charges for T-Mobile customers. While the old-guard carriers with “music offers” choose a music service for you, T-Mobile is giving customers unprecedented choice with the ability to use all the top music streaming services.
 
“As a committed music freak, I’m personally outraged at the way the other guys are using the music you love to lure you into overpriced plans with sweet ‘promotional offers’ that quickly roll into higher prices or trigger those absurd overage charges,” said T-Mobile CEO and President John Legere. “Music should be free of all that. Music should have no limits. So, beginning right now, you can stream all you want at T-Mobile from all of the top music services — data charges do not apply.”
 
With streaming music seeing unprecedented growth in the U.S. and around the world, Americans are increasingly tuning in through their smartphones and tablets. The old-guard carriers have seen the trends, too, and have responded with a steady stream of programs designed to lock in customers and slam them with overages. Because of this, 37 percent of people say they avoid streaming on their phones — the majority out of fear they’ll use up their data and run into overages.1
 
“Our competitors want you to believe that Internet radio is still free on their networks — but it’s not,” said Mike Sievert, chief marketing officer for T-Mobile. “On AT&T and Verizon, you’re paying for every note of every song you stream. You even pay for the ads. Our goal with Music Freedom is different. We want people to enjoy their music worry-free — the way it’s meant to be.”