Google Music. Now Playing
It’s become commonplace these days, but Google has it’s hands in more things than exploring
toddlers. Search was just the beginning, and then with it’s acquisition of youtube.com, the
introduction of Picassa, and now Google+, it look poised to take on Microsoft and Yahoo as the
juggernauts of cyberspace (does anyone use that term anymore? I just did.) Cue Google
Music. With Apple’s dominance over this space in recent history, it seems only natural that
Google would take a stab at stealing some market share. There are definitely pros and cons
about the service, but it is nice to have another music alternative.
The music space has changed dramatically over the days of Napster. Once pay-per-song sites
came out, there were lots of issues with proprietary software, DRM issues, and even user-
friendly interfaces. (For a really cool viewpoint about DRM, check out this article on
defectivebydesign.com.) The most ubiquitous being Apple’s iTunes. iTunes is a store and
application all-in-one. I don’t really like the iTunes interface, as I think the sync button and the
library management’s harmony are never quite on the same page, but that’s just me. Microsoft
came out with it’s Zune player and service in 2006 and it never really took off. This is where
Google will have to be different.
First and foremost, this is a music service. There isn’t a single proprietary device, like Zune’s
first generation player (remember that brick looking device?) Secondly, you should be able to
buy media with USA greenbacks. No need to make a transition to a point system, like we have
to do on XBox Live. I know what Microsoft was doing, but for the more casual consumer, it just
didn’t translate too well. Lastly, you can have a genius idea like music sharing (Zune’s
“Social”), but it won’t work if there’s no one to share with. Zune’s user base was so small,
finding folks to share songs with was virtually impossible. Luckily, Google’s user base includes
any Android device, so that works in their favor. Furthermore, it’s a service, much like Google
Desktop, that will scan your system and back up all of your music, including your iTunes
library. It’s a cloud service essentially and serves to offer Android users an app/service much
like iTunes is to iPhone or iPad users. You do need to know that it is actually, however, two
separate sites. Google Music is both the media player and the library, but if you want to
purchase new media, you do so from the Android Market.
Other key points of interest:
You can’t download music to another computer unless you bought them on Google
Music. Grrrr.
You can only share songs via Google+.
As of press time, no official iPhone app, but music.google.com does work on iOS
devices.
As with any new development, one looks at the promises and sees where it goes from
there. Jessica Simpson after Dukes of Hazard was hotter than two rats making love in a wool
sock, and then that fizzled out faster than flat Diet Coke. Let’s just hope Google doesn’t bite off
more than it can chew and follow the same path. It should do what it has always done, and keep
things user-friendly.
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