With all the online music choices out there it is no surprise that Google has jumped into the mix. But Google differs itself from popular services like Pandora and Spotify. Those services provide online music streaming while Google Music simply allows you to put your collection online. The service is currently in Beta and I recently got my invite to check it out. Here are my thoughts on it so far.
Online Radio vs. Google Music
The key difference of online radio and Google Music is that Google Music is your music collection on the internet. Google allows you to upload your entire collection online and then gives you access to it from the internet anytime, anywhere. Online radio services, like Pandora, provide music that you do not own in a radio like format. You can setup stations based on specific artists or genres of music.
Installation:
The invite came in my email and directed me to the log in with my google account. If you don’t already have an account you will need to set one up. After getting past the login I was surprised the first thing it asked me was about free songs. It only listed genres, so I picked a few to see how it worked. I was then directed to download the “Music Manager” application. A few minutes later I was starting the installation and it was very simple. At the end I was asked where to pull my music from. I was able to select from my iTunes or Windows Media libraries, My Music, or browse to a specific set of folders. From there it proceeded to upload any music found from the selection to the “cloud.”
Music Manager:
In classic Google fashion the actual Music Manager interface is very basic. Going through it I was easily able to navigate through songs. The initial view had all songs including the new free ones that Google gave me. Of the basic controls for views of my music is a filter to sort out the free ones from my own. I was also able to quickly figure out how to delete free music that I didn’t want.
Overall:
So far the service works great and I have been enjoying easy access to my music collection through a web browser. Initially, the lack of features seemed odd, but the more I use it the more it just makes sense. I just want to play music, stop music or maybe shuffle it. Nice and easy. There is a link for an Android app that allows you to use the service with your Andriod device, but no sign of iPhone support. I also did not see a way to download my music back to my PC. That would be a nice feature if I for data loss and recovery. Overall, I like it and hope it sticks around.