The digital music service Rdio is hoping to jump the music cloud curve with its first ever free, on-demand music offering.  Best of all, it’s ad-free.  Users only need an e-mail address or a Facebook account to enjoy the free service, no software downloads or credit card information is needed to enjoy listening to music.

“We’re proud to be the only service in the US to offer everyone the opportunity to listen to millions of songs for free, without the distraction of a single ad,” said Drew Larner, CEO of Rdio. “With free access to Rdio, now everyone has the freedom to discover what our fans already know – we’re the best service for listening to and discovering music.”

The free music access enables anyone to share free, on-demand music with their friends on Facebook via the new Open Graph platform.  The service features streaming full songs on-demand, the ability to see and hear what your friends and other influencers are listening to in real-time, options to share on Twitter and Facebook, custom and collaborative playlists, a personalized profile and digital music collection, and music recommendations based on your tastes.  There’s also artist and label radio stations for additional music discovery options.

The new free offering comes at the height of Spotify’s unceasing buzz, as the music industry turns to the cloud and social mediums for wider distribution and revenue opportunities.  Combining free with a handful of premium options, Rdio diversifies its monetization with three different subscriptions to supplement its music cloud service.  Paid services range from $4.99 to $29.99 per month.

As connected devices enable anywhere access for more and more content, music also becomes a ready media form for set top boxes.  Western Digital launched the new WDTV Live Streaming player, which can be plugged to an HDMI-ready screen to start streaming Netflix, Spotify, Hulu Plus, YouTube, Blockbuster and more.  It doesn’t have storage but comes with a couple of USB ports so you can connect your hard drive or your digital camera or camcorder.

CasaTunes has upgraded its music-server-based multiroom-audio system, making it possible to more easily integrate A/V receivers and third-party music sources such a satellite-TV receivers.