Wednesday 11 May 2011

Google Music (Yes it’s a beta)

Yesterday saw the first day of Google I/O 2011, their annual get together with developers where new products and services are previewed.

The biggest announcement was that Google will be shortly launching a music service simply called Google Music. Whereas iTunes and Zune’s business model is to sell music or subscriptions Google is a cloud based music locker.

The current beta version will allow users to upload 20,000 songs and sync playlists over the air.

It even has a handy feature which allows songs that were recently played to be available off line so you still have access to them when you do not have a data connection. The demo also highlights how easy it is to keep your computer, phone and tablet all in sync. Both Apple and Microsoft take note this how it should be done.

Currently for mobile platforms the service is exclusive to Android but some clever folks have already found ways to enable some of the features to work on iOS devices.

Google had planned to launch a music store along with their locker service but were unable to come to terms with major record labels, citing some conditions that they simply were unwilling to agree too. It is not the first time that the music industry has refused to play ball, Spotify is struggling to sign the same deals in the US that they have across Europe. While the world changes the music industry is still fighting tooth and nail to hang on to an outdated business model and draconian business practises.

Cloud based services are the darlings of the moment, Apple is rumoured to be launching a similar service shortly possibly called iCloud. But as much as I love my gadgets I just don’t think I am ready to give up having my music on my physical devices. With mobile phone providers currently enforcing strict fair use policies and most finding it difficult to even provide continuous fast 3G connections, a service like this will eat through your bandwidth in no time.

Currently the service is open to the US and by invitation only, there is no word on when this will become available in other territories.

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