--- title: Streaming Music Won't Count Against T-Mobile Data Plans description: T-Mobile will soon begin allowing customers to stream as much music as they want from services like Spotify and iTunes Radio canonical: https://time.com/2900974/t-mobile-streaming-music/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-19T15:44:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:30:54.302Z article:section: World og:title: Streaming Music Won't Count Against T-Mobile Data Plans og:description: T-Mobile will soon begin allowing customers to stream as much music as they want from services like Spotify and iTunes Radio og:url: https://time.com/2900974/t-mobile-streaming-music/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08f873ab33c7c3c9/69869849169ab001d5279fa4/t-mobile-music.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: T-Mobile and Macklemore og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Streaming Music Won't Count Against T-Mobile Data Plans twitter:description: T-Mobile will soon begin allowing customers to stream as much music as they want from services like Spotify and iTunes Radio twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08f873ab33c7c3c9/69869849169ab001d5279fa4/t-mobile-music.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Streaming Music Won't Count Against T-Mobile Data Plans by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Jun 19, 2014 3:44 PM CUT  Macklemore of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis performs on stage as T-Mobile Un-leashes Music Freedom at Paramount Theatre on June 18, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. Macklemore of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis performs on stage as T-Mobile Un-leashes Music Freedom at Paramount Theatre on June 18, 2014 in Seattle, Washington.Mat Hayward—Getty Images for T-Mobile by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Jun 19, 2014 3:44 PM CUT Wireless carrier T-Mobile will soon begin allowing customers to stream as much music as they want from services like Spotify and iTunes Radio. The company announced Wednesday that it will no longer count music streamed from select services towards customers’ monthly data usage limits. The services currently included in the program are Pandora, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Rhapsody, Slacker, Spotify and Milk Music. These options comprise about [85 percent](http://recode.net/2014/06/18/t-mobile-offers-music-streaming-free-of-data-charges/ "undefined") of the music streaming traffic on T-Mobile’s network, the company said. Customers can vote via social media on other services they’d like to see included as well. The move will allow avid music listeners to do considerably more with their monthly data allotment. A person that streams music for 50 minutes a day uses about 1.5 GB of data per month just for that task, according to T-Mobile’s own data calculator. If unchecked, such use can lead to huge overage charges on competing carriers’ networks or throttled speeds on T-Mobile (the carrier eliminated overage charges earlier this year in favor of slowing down service for people who use more than their allotted data). The new feature has similarities to AT&T’s Sponsored Data plan, which alllows companies to pay AT&T to let customers use apps or websites without eating into their monthly data allotment. Some [have said](http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/18/5822996/t-mobile-music-freedom-net-neutrality "undefined") that these concepts violate the ethos of net neutrality, which discourages companies from granting preferential treatment in the way they deliver certain types of data across the Internet — though net neutrality rules have not previously applied to mobile Internet use. Unlike AT&T’s Sponsored Data program, though, T-Mobile will collect no fees from the streaming services that are granted unlimited streaming. In addition to lifting data caps on music streaming, T-Mobile also announced a new streaming service of its own, called unRadio. The new, on-demand service, made in partnership with Rhapsody, has a catalog of 20 million songs and no ads. It will be free for T-Mobile subscribers with an unlimited data plan and $4 per month for subscribers with more limited plans. The new programs are the latest steps in T-Mobile’s “Un-Carrier” initiative, which has introduced several disruptive concepts to the wireless industry, such as the elimination of two-year contracts and international data charges. The cost-cutting measures are making T-Mobile bleed money, but they also helped the carrier gain more new subscribers in the first quarter than AT&T, Verizon and Sprint [combined](http://time.com/84468/t-mobile-uncarrier-first-quarter-earnings/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2900974/t-mobile-streaming-music/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2900974/t-mobile-streaming-music/"},"headline":"Streaming Music Won't Count Against T-Mobile Data Plans","datePublished":"2014-06-19T15:44:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:30:54.302Z","description":"T-Mobile will soon begin allowing customers to stream as much music as they want from services like Spotify and iTunes Radio","url":"https://time.com/2900974/t-mobile-streaming-music/","keywords":["Telecom","Spotify","T-Mobile","music streaming"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08f873ab33c7c3c9/69869849169ab001d5279fa4/t-mobile-music.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08f873ab33c7c3c9/69869849169ab001d5279fa4/t-mobile-music.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"T-Mobile and Macklemore","caption":"T-Mobile and Macklemore","creditText":"Mat Hayward—Getty Images for T-Mobile","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/telecom/","name":"Telecom"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2900974/t-mobile-streaming-music/","name":"Streaming Music Won't Count Against T-Mobile Data Plans"}}]}] ```