There’s a string of new services, apps and features emerging from the music cloud, Songza’s free streaming apps for iOS and Android marking the latest.  With large and small players beefing up their tactics, it’s becoming increasingly clear that this industry is primed to be a highly competitive one.  Now that the music cloud has reached the point of mainstream offerings, it’s the monetization methods that are getting worked out.  But everyone likes free.  And In one way or another, “free” is being used as a means of attracting new users to these cloud services.  Here’s some of the latest developments in the space.

Mog, a cloud-music service that previously required all users to subscribe, is launching a“Freeplay” scheme that provides a limited number of tracks playable per month, and allows users to earn more play hours if they are active sharers.  The strategy aims to entice more listeners to subscribe to the paid version.  What differentiates this from Spotify’s free version is that it is ad-free.

Next month, Rdio will also be launching an ad-free, free version of the service that differs from Mog’s, as the company won’t prompt users to take certain actions to keep the free version going.  Rdio will decide how long they will extend the free version to entice more subscribers.  Those who are interested should head to their site and submit your e-mail address so you could be one of the first to enjoy their free service.

MyMusicCloud is also offering a free 2 GB version of their service.  You can upgrade your account with an additional 5 GB by paying $10 per year, or if you buy 10 songs from the service, or if you “Like” their Facebook Page.  The best thing about this service is “that it provides a seamless solution that may be used across multiple devices simultaneously,” TriPlay CEO Tamir Kochsaid in a statement.

The upcoming Facebook music streaming service is also up for competing with other services, as it is rumored to have a free version and a paid version for unlimited music access and sharing.

Although Spotify also has a free version, it is laced with ads, which is a bit annoying for some music lovers.  So if $4.99 per month sounds like a pretty good deal, download the ad-free premium version.

Pandora also has a free version but just like Spotify, is comes with ads but it only cost $36 per year for the unlimited and ad-free version.

This one is not entirely a cloud music player but I thought it was worth mentioning, especially for Android users who were once or still using iTunes for storing their music.  DoubleTwist is a free Android app that lets you sync your iTunes music library to your Android device via a USB cable and through a Wi-Fi connection by purchasing the DoubleTwist’s AirSync app for $5.

We always want free stuff but it doesn’t always mean that it is the best thing around.  If you’re too cheap to shell out a few bucks per month, then you’ll generally have to put up with those ads that come with the free version.