A couple of hours ago Google held its official Google Music announcement live over the web. We tuned in to see what kind of goodies Google would be offering with its new cloud tunes service and whether or not it could potentially contend with the other cloud options that are cropping up everywhere. From what we heard we found ourselves tentatively impressed.
There’s always the impulse to let the excitement of a new announcement run away with you, especially if you eagerly take in every buzz word and clever phrase that’s sent your way. It’s a common theme in just about every big event around, but after all the hype and bluster has died down expectant fans often find themselves with nothing more than a solid, reliable and overall enjoyable experience. That sounds like it shouldn’t be a bad thing and it isn’t, but the over-excitement of an event can often-times lead to disappointment with a product that’s been hyped up too far.
Approaching the Google Music event with that mindset, do we think it has the potential to compete with Apple’s iCloud service, Microsoft’s Zune Pass and Amazon’s new cloud? Yes, we do.
What is Google Music?
Google Music is basically a music cloud service whereby users can have access to their songs anywhere where internet is available. Up to 20 000 songs can be stored online for free, playlists can be saved and even new songs can be purchased. There’s also the option of “pinning” certain songs so that they can still be available on your home computer or portable device when you have no internet access.
Google Music is going live today in the US, but is unfortunately not available to the rest of the world just yet. Something we hope will be remedied in the near future.
Buying Songs on Google Music
Google Music’s store operates in a very similar way to other online music stores we’ve already seen, such as the familiar iTunes, but with a couple of twists.
Much like iTunes, users can search for artists, both professional and unsigned, and gain access to their music at whatever price the seller has specified. Artists can offer their work for free, for a set price, or even offer each user a specified number of free plays before the album must be bought (more on this later).
However, with Google Music users can ‘share’ any purchased song with a friend, giving that friend 1 free play-through of the song on their own Google Music account. This is Google’s way of recognising that the most common way people are subjected to new music is through their friends, so why not add that kind of functionality to the market? We’re not sure how far this functionality goes yet, but a one-off play-through of an entire album could often be enough to convince someone to buy it, if they love what they hear.
For Android users it’s also possible to purchase songs via the Android Market. This will be a helpful on-the-go function for any travellers or workaholics out there.
In the US, T-Mobile customers will even be able to purchase songs via the Android Market and simply have the bill transferred to their monthly T-Mobile payment. There will also be free music available to all T-Mobile Android users which will most likely change in availability from month to month, but further details on that is still yet to be seen.
Independent Artists on Google Music
Google Music offers a one-time signup fee for independent artists who are looking to put their name out there and even make a buck or two. The fee will apparently be quite affordable.
Unsigned artists will have full control of their content and distribution. They will be able to:
- Customize their Artist Page
- Decide which of their own original content is available
- Set their own retail prices
- Choose whether or not they will charge for their music, or which specific albums or songs they will charge for
- Set a certain number of free play-throughs for their work, after which further viewing will require purchase
We think this is particularly good for independent artists for a few reasons:
- Allowing artists to have full control of their own content and distribution can help promote original content, rather than profit-based entertainment
- Giving artists the option to show some of their content for free can build an audience that will then purchase further songs. This can be achieved by providing one free album then charging for others, by setting a limit of free play-throughs of their work for each user then charging for further viewings or by charging for all albums but offering live recordings of concerts for free as a demonstration of their work.
- It's another service that gives unsigned artists a chance to get their music to a huge number of people without the hassle of going through a record label is just what some musicians need. Especially the ones who work full time and can only afford to perform in their off-hours.
Downsides of Google Music
So far there aren’t too many that have cropped up, seeing as the Google Music full-version has only been available for around a day.
One obvious fault is that this service is only available to those in the US with no mention of when the rest of the world will be seeing support which means that not only will those outside the US not be able to get it, but those within the US who have international friends will not be able to share music with them. This is generally what happens with most cloud services that rely on patented content. It’s difficult to conform to each individual country’s copyright laws, but we expect further world coverage to be available with time.
The constant streaming of music could take a huge toll on the download caps of users outside the US. Traditionally in America home-connections have had unlimited downloads, whereas the rest of the world pays more or less depending on how much data they wish to be limited to each month. Users with smaller caps might find themselves suddenly needing to upgrade. This could also take a toll on mobile users, as mobile caps tend to be on the smaller side. This problem could be avoided by pinning specific songs, but that would certainly limit the overall Google Music experience.
Android Phones are currently the only phones that will be seeing Google Music support. It’s not unexpected, as Google needs to contend with both Microsoft’s Zune Pass and Apple’s iCloud, but it’s still disappointing that we’re being forced to choose our hardware based on what cloud we prefer, or vice-versa.
The WhistleOut Opinion
Of course, being based outside the US, we haven’t got a chance to get our hands on Google Music just yet. However, on paper (and from the presentation) Google Music sounds like it should be a competitive product with a few nice perks not seen in the offerings of competitors.
Of course only time will tell when it comes to consumer acceptance, but as always more options means more competition and when companies compete the consumer almost always wins.
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