Google has rolled out human-curated playlists to all its Google Play Music customers.
The update – which has already rolled out online and via the Android app – allows users to listen to handpicked playlists for free.
An updated Google Play Music app on iOS with the same radio features will follow soon, Google has confirmed.
The Californian internet company originally debuted its online playlist-based radio last year.
However – the functionality was only available to paid subscribers. The latest update offers customers an entirely free tier, supported by audio adverts.
Unlike rival service Spotify, Google Music customers will not be able to pick-and-choose tracks in this free tier.
Instead, they are only able to play through the curated playlists. This should allow Google to avoid the criticism recently levelled at Spotify.
Last year the hugely successful service was forced to remove Taylor Swift’s discography after a dispute over its free ad-supported option.
The preset radio playlists on Google Play Music mean the service will be able to play songs from Taylor Swift’s back catalogue.
Any song currently available to stream within the paid on-demand service can be chosen for a playlist, the internet giant has confirmed.
There are some minor restrictions on those listening for free, including a six skips per hour limit.
Free Google Play Music customers can pause the playlists, but are not able to rewind, fast forward or see a preview of whats queued up next.
Paid customers are offered all of the above – as well as the ability to edit, rename and save the Google-designed playlists for offline listening.
Unlike Spotify, none of the playlists are generated by algorithms.
Instead, users simply pick a mood, genre, or decade and a handpicked collection of songs will start playing. Its a hands-off approach.
"They want the music to be awesome. They want it to be contextually relevant, but they don’t want to tweak a lot of knobs," Google Play Music product manager Elias Roman told The Verge.
The radio functionality is powered by Songza – a popular app acquired by Google last year.
Google Play Music has 30 million tracks at some 320kbps – almost identical to Apple Music and Spotify.
Google has not disclosed how many subscribers currently use its service.
Apple has a similar human-over-algorithms approach to streaming music, but is much more ambitious.
The iPhone manufacturer will launch a global internet radio station with its Spotify-rival, Apple Music.
Ex-BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe is one of the presenters shaping the new station – dubbed Beats 1 – which broadcasts from Los Angeles, London and New York.
However – Apple Music has already hit a stumbling block in the run-up to its release.
The firm dramatically reversed its streaming music policy after Taylor Swift criticised its three-month trail in a public blog post.
Apple Music, which will not offer a free ad-subsided tier to customers, will provide a three-month free trial as a compromise.
But pop superstar Taylor Swift slammed the firm after it was revealed Apple had no plans to subsidise artists’ royalties during the complimentary three months.
“We don’t ask you for free iPhones,” she wrote in a scathing Tumblr post.
The company has since reversed its decision and will pay artists on a per-stream basis during the customers’ complimentary three-months.
Many have speculated the move will allow Apple to obtain the rights to stream Taylor Swift’s latest hit album, 1989.
If the rumours are true, Apple Music would be the only streaming service with the album.
Whether Google’s new update – which currently only applies to customers in the United States – will rattle Apple Music, remains to be seen.
