Radio was not - is not free just spend 10 mins listening to it and you hear the not free part every other song they are called advertisements. I'd pay $10 a month for free from adverts with out question. in the age of $5 coffee $10 a month for all the music you can stream is a very good deal IMO.
once your streaming equipment is the same quality as your CD player I think you'll hear they are the same or better if higher rez files.