It looks that Google is not content with dominating the search industry and rivaling Facebook with Plus; now they want to take the Internet music scene by storm and compete against Apple and Amazon with their release of Google Music.
Discover, buy and share music – 24/7, from your computer or mobile device. It is Google’s motto. Google Music is an online song streaming service and digital music store with up to 13 million tracks, available to the US public for the moment.
Google Music Signup Process
Browse @ music.google.com with your Google account (e.g. Gmail, YouTube, etc) and jump in. You will need to enter your credit card details for free track download or song purchase.
[box type=”note”]Watch out for the license agreement, you need to have rights to upload a song, or Google will close your account.[/box]
Google Music Features and Advantages
- Integrates with Android Market to offer personalized recommendations based on users collection. No sync, all music files are online. Automatic file storing. Offline playback
- option.
- Add 20,000 free songs to your library with Music manager. They support more song
- format choices than iTunes or Amazon which only supports MP3s and AAC files
- 320Kbps high quality songs/MP3s
- With Instant Mix, users can create their own playlists
- Google+ integration (share your playlists with friends on the network)
- Artists can create their own “hub” pages (think YouTube for songs!); indie talents will be able to take advantage of the increasing exposure, get their name out and build their tribes
Google already closed deals with major labels and studios, including Universal, Sony and EMI.
Rolling Stones, Coldplay and other popular artists like Shakira and Busta Rhymes plan to offer live concerts, new albums and fresh interviews exclusively for the Android platform – through Google Music.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lv1xras-zM]
Google Music Cons
- It requires you have an Android phone running Android version 2.2 Froyo or higher.
- Users say that deleted tunes still persist.
- There is no subscription service available like for example Rhapsody, who offers streaming for a monthly fee.
- Users need to upload songs themselves, which takes time if their library is sizable.
The Question is…
What do you think about Google Music?