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Google Expands Free Google Play Music Storage to 50,000 Songs

This is awesome news. I signed up for Google Play all access when it was beta a few years back, so I'm locked in at the $7.99 per month price.

I'd say that Google Play Music surpasses iTunes and Apples Match service in every single category except for integration into the Apple ecosystem(I can't play my music using my Apple TV). That being said, I picked up a Chromecast for $28 which does all of the things that I can't do from my Apple TV, and I found a used Nexus Player that does some additional things that are pretty neat.
 
CEmajr said:
Considering that Apple charges for iTunes match, it should be light years ahead of Google Music. While it does sync better with iOS and OS X, the fact that Google Music is a comparable alternative but is also free isn't a good look for Apple.
Click to expand...

Um, from what I'm seeing Google Play is $9.99 a month.
 
Does it store your music, or does it allocate a link to your song which is stored on the Google servers already?
 
The article and comments don't make this clear:

If I upload a crappy low-bitrate MP3, does Google fingerprint match it, allowing me to download, e.g., a 320kbps MP3 from their library? Or is it essentially cloud disk storage for music files?

One of the selling points of iTunes Match is its ability to "upgrade" old audio files.
 
I use iTunes Match and have all my iTunes music synced to Google Music. I like having both since I use both Android phones and iPhones.
 
ateslik said:
You do realize that Google can offer it for "free" because they're mining your music preferences and monitizing that data by selling your profile to companies who want to manipulate your perception of their products so that you'll buy them more readily?

Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather part with $25 bucks.
Click to expand...

I normallly agree to this and try to avoid having my habits, personal data and personality mined.

But seriously, $25 a year?!
- A company learning my household has the Frozen soundtrack on repeat is worth (the equivalent of) $25..?!

It's a crazy amount for something so simple.
Perhaps I'm missing something?
I would hardy spend more than $25 on music a year.
 
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ateslik said:
You do realize that Google can offer it for "free" because they're mining your music preferences and monitizing that data by selling your profile to companies who want to manipulate your perception of their products so that you'll buy them more readily?

Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather part with $25 bucks.
Click to expand...

For a large number of people Google already knows all their
  • Location History - Google Maps, and logins.
  • All Search History
  • All YouTube activity
  • Calendar
  • Contacts
  • Email - Gmail
  • Documents - Google Docs
  • Photo history - Google Photos
  • Friends, faimly etc - Google+

Anything I missed?

Gmail tracks users who were signed up with competing social networks. Once spotted, those users received a message suggesting they connect the competing social network’s account with your Google account, which in turns gives Google access to data stored by the other social network.


If you log on to Google Dashboard Google tells me the data then have stored on me in regards to Google Play there is "Nothing interesting here." Thanks.
 
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ateslik said:
You do realize that Google can offer it for "free" because they're mining your music preferences and monitizing that data by selling your profile to companies who want to manipulate your perception of their products so that you'll buy them more readily?

Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather part with $25 bucks.
Click to expand...

I really don't care if Google knows where i hang out with my friends or where I ate dinner Friday night. Google Maps will show me on Android phone every where I go every day of my life. I know I can turn it off but really, what harm is there in leaving it on? I'm not murdering people and my life isn't that interesting anyways.

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ateslik said:
You do realize that Google can offer it for "free" because they're mining your music preferences and monitizing that data by selling your profile to companies who want to manipulate your perception of their products so that you'll buy them more readily?

Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather part with $25 bucks.
Click to expand...

I really don't care if Google knows where i hang out with my friends or where I ate dinner Friday night. Google Maps will show me on Android phone every where I go every day of my life. I know I can turn it off but really, what harm is there in leaving it on? I'm not murdering people and my life isn't that interesting anyways.

It's a nice exchange for getting Google Music and other services for free on my Android phone.
 
danielsutton said:
ICloud Drive is Apple's cloud storage service, though if would be nice if they would lower the prices and offer unlimited storage space for photos and videos
Click to expand...

Yes, but it's clunky-very cumbersome! Try Google Drive. iCloud Drive doesn't have a central app (on iOS or OS X) where one can see everything uploaded to the cloud, let alone upload whatever files you want.

PDFs is iBooks is a disaster in terms of syncing. I left iBooks for Amazon after Apple continued to fail to allow iCloud syncing with PDFs. Amazon makes it super easy, and it's cross-platform! Plus, books are usually cheaper on Kindle.

iCloud has many doors and many paths, but no omniscient viewing option.
 
Derekuda said:
Meanwhile, tim cook still thinks it's a great "value" to charge $25 a year to access your music. Heck, even Amazon offers free music storage. Get with the time apple, and fire cook already!
Click to expand...

Yes. Let's fire the CEO of the most successful company ever (and who's success has only gone up more since he took over)... just because you don't like the fact they charge for a service. I am not saying Apple couldn't choose to make it free... but it's a little overboard to call for a CEO's firing because a few don't like to pay for iTunes Match.

Even so... I do think iTunes Match does offer something over the competition... it's seamless. Your music is there waiting for you on any Apple device. On Mac, they have an actual desktop client. (Google Play on PC/Mac is done though a web browser.) Whether or not that is worth $25 is another story.
 
dgr874 said:
Early adopters were offered it for the 7.99 if you signed up right away.
Click to expand...

Still, adds up to more than $25 a year.

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bushido said:
Play which gives u access to their whole music library (think Spotify) costs money. this part is free
Click to expand...

Yeah but people saying Apple sux because Match costs $25. The free Google Play doesn't match Match. They are comparing Apples to Googles.
 
ateslik said:
You do realize that Google can offer it for "free" because they're mining your music preferences and monitizing that data by selling your profile to companies who want to manipulate your perception of their products so that you'll buy them more readily?

Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather part with $25 bucks.
Click to expand...

Oh noes. Google knows about my rubbish taste in music. What am I going to do with myself now? :rolleyes:
 
Laird Knox said:
Um, from what I'm seeing Google Play is $9.99 a month.
Click to expand...

The $9.99 lets you listen to anything Google has available in the Google Plays store similar to how subscribing to iTunes Match lets you play anything on iTunes Radio that iTunes sells in the iTunes Store.

There are differences in the two services

I don't own Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA album so I don't have it in iTunes Match.

On Google Play, I can search for the title song and play it instantly.

On iTunes Match, I can search for that same song, select that song from the songs list in my search and yet, it still plays a random song from that album and creates a station for it.
 
ateslik said:
You do realize that Google can offer it for "free" because they're mining your music preferences and monitizing that data by selling your profile to companies who want to manipulate your perception of their products so that you'll buy them more readily?

Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather part with $25 bucks.
Click to expand...

You have a credit card - debit, vons card, cable (Comcast), phone service (Att Sprint Verizon)?...... Guess what? You just gave your data to those companies.... Where's your outrage for that? Why aren't you mad when you receive credit card offers or coupons in the mail? Why don't you feel violated when these things are delivered straight to your home? "But, oh no! Google knows that I listen to the Ricky Martin.. Now I'm going to receive a email (which I can delete in 2 seconds) about his other albums." You have been giving out your personal data since you've been a teen....Why cry now?
 
Derekuda said:
Meanwhile, tim cook still thinks it's a great "value" to charge $25 a year to access your music. Heck, even Amazon offers free music storage. Get with the time apple, and fire cook already!
Click to expand...

Why would they do that? He has increased the company's value more than Jobs ever did and has record breaking sales.
 
JackieInCo said:
The $9.99 lets you listen to anything Google has available in the Google Plays store similar to how subscribing to iTunes Match lets you play anything on iTunes Radio that iTunes sells in the iTunes Store.

There are differences in the two services

I don't own Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA album so I don't have it in iTunes Match.

On Google Play, I can search for the title song and play it instantly.

On iTunes Match, I can search for that same song, select that song from the songs list in my search and yet, it still plays a random song from that album and creates a station for it.
Click to expand...

That may be but my point was that people were complaining that Google was free and Apple was $25. They are comparing two different services.

Clearly the $25 account offers more than the free account and the $9.99/month account offers more than the $25 account. Saying that the $25 option is bad because you can do a portion of that same thing for free makes no sense.

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EddieDeez said:
Uploading your music to Google Play and streaming in to your device is free.
Click to expand...

Yes but the $25 account does more than just that. It is kind of like saying beer sucks because you have to pay for it because you can get water for free.
 
Derekuda said:
Meanwhile, tim cook still thinks it's a great "value" to charge $25 a year to access your music. Heck, even Amazon offers free music storage. Get with the time apple, and fire cook already!
Click to expand...

Amazon's free music storage is virtually the same as Apple's: Any songs you purchase through Amazon are stored for free. But, if you want to be able to upload more than 250 of your own digital files to Amazon's music library, you've got to pay for their premium music service, which costs the same amount as iTunes Match.

One advantage to Amazon's Music offering is that they will let you import 250,000 songs (10x as many as iTunes Match) for that $25/year price. Unfortunately, the matched versions on Amazon's service are streamed back to you in MP3 format, rather than AAC like iTunes Match. This has a detrimental effect on battery life on any iOS device as they support hardware decoding of AAC. This is also true of Google's music matching service, as well.

The big advantage to Google's new initiative is that it makes iTunes Match look antiquated. 25,000 tracks for a fee is a lot less appealing than 50,000 for free. iTunes Match's strongest suit remains its integration into the iOS and OS X ecosystems. But, I can certainly see users being willing to jump through a few hoops to get access to their music via Google's music service to save $25 a month, especially if their library is larger than 25,000 songs.
 
ateslik said:
You do realize that Google can offer it for "free" because they're mining your music preferences and monitizing that data by selling your profile to companies who want to manipulate your perception of their products so that you'll buy them more readily?

Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather part with $25 bucks.
Click to expand...

Google doesn't sell any profile
 
ateslik said:
because they're mining your music preferences
Click to expand...

How do you think match functions?

monitizing that data by selling your profile to companies who want to manipulate your perception of their products so that you'll buy them more readily?
Click to expand...

They don't sell "your profile to companies". Stop lying dude.

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Laird Knox said:
The free Google Play doesn't match Match.
Click to expand...

In what way?

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isomorphic said:
If I upload a crappy low-bitrate MP3, does Google fingerprint match it, allowing me to download, e.g., a 320kbps MP3 from their library?
Click to expand...

Yes, they do this.
 
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