Google Music Launches

Published on Wednesday, 07 December 2011 11:48

	By Charles Mahoney Follow @_AsktheExperts_

Last month saw the launch of the latest enterprise from tech giants Google: a music service in which users can listen to, share and purchase songs either online or through its Android-based software.

A promotional video designed to introduce Google Music begins by asking ‘Remember when your music revolved around you?’ At a time when our collections continue to grow across so many forms: from stacks of compact discs and vinyl records, to vast libraries of digital files and streaming audio playlists, the suggestion that our personal relationship with music is rapidly changing, and that ‘lately it seems to be spinning out of control’ is not entirely invalid. But can it be said that this service offers a truly comprehensive solution to the fact that our means of obtaining and enjoying music are becoming almost as multifarious as the list of genres, artists and trends that comprise the art form itself?

Active only in the US for the meantime, Google Music enables users to upload their digital libraries to a web interface via the ‘music manager’ (though not without a lengthy wait), which in turn allows them to play their songs on any computer or Android device. If they wish to be able to do so without internet access, the ‘pin’ function means that any selected content will be available to them offline through a highly useful, if not entirely exclusive feature.

What sets this service apart from the beta version that appeared earlier in the year is the introduction of the store and its integration with the Android Market, meaning that Google is no longer simply fighting against Amazon and Apple in the cloud music war, but also the digital music world more generally. After securing deals with labels such as Sony, Universal and EMI, the Google Music store boasts over 13 million songs, along with exclusive material from the likes of Coldplay, Pearl Jam and The Rolling Stones.

Though the amount of content doesn’t yet match that of iTunes or Amazon MP3 (failure to agree terms with Warner has left some glaring holes in the range of selection, for example), sharing is what perhaps gives Google Music an advantage over its rivals. Purchase a song in the store, and you’ll have the option to post it on your Google­+ profile, where friends can enjoy one full listen of the track, free of charge. This feature also applies when you download an entire album.

So just how unique a service is this on the whole? We’ve seen that it can give us a considerable amount of our music on the go, along with a decent, if currently limited store and a facility for recommending things to others. Yet all of this had already existed in some form (even the power to share via social networking sites, for instance, has been mastered to great effect by Spotify’s alliance with Facebook), and it is because of this that Google could struggle to surpass the already well established competition.

The project certainly has appeal, and it would be plain stupid to dismiss its potential given the might of those behind it. At this stage, however, it’s difficult to see how Google intend to bring back that sense of simplicity and control that they allude to in their introductory video, and rather than offering the definitive way of experiencing music, it seems that they are only adding to the technological clutter of an ever evolving industry.