Google Music Goes Live With Google+ Integration 240
angry tapir writes "Google Music, the company's cloud-based online music service, is now available to all users in the US and includes song and album sales, as well as an integration with the Google+ social networking site. Introduced in test form and by invitation only in May as a cloud-based song storage and playback service, Google Music will also let users buy albums and songs from all major music labels, except Warner."
Just what market needed... (Score:4, Interesting)
The collection is impressive, as is the freedom (yes, it will also work with iOS devices), along with integration with Android.
I have two sources for digital music - Amazon mp3 and now Google Music (not counting other channels). More choices, more competition.
And good to see a better alternative to itunes (yuk!).
(Now get on with your Google hate - that's the flavor of the month here on slashdot these days)
Re:US Only :-( (Score:4, Interesting)
Proxies and VPNs are a pain in the arse to use, and I certainly don't want to be buying music only to lose access to it because Google closes the loophole. (It's like a game of whackamole sometimes, as many services will block known proxies and VPNs to stop this happening).
I presume once it's out of Beta they'll work at bringing it to other countries, so here's hoping it eventually makes it to Australia.
Re:Copy-and-Paste (Score:5, Interesting)
Gee, that's nice (Score:5, Interesting)
Google Music will also let users buy albums and songs from all major music labels, except Warner.
Will they let users buy albums and songs from other Google+ users who record their own albums and songs?
Fucked again (Score:5, Interesting)
Spotify, Amazon mp3, Google music; all not available in Australia. iTunes charging so much that it's usually cheaper to buy the physical CD from America and have it shipped across the friggin' ocean. Well, at least there's Grooveshark ... until SOPA closes it down.
Re:Just what market needed... (Score:5, Interesting)
Your entire collection of music available, browser based (no installation needed), no ads, unlimited streaming, mobile access on android and iphone with offline listening, and it's FREE!
Umm, didn't you already have the ability to sync your music files to your phone? How many gigs of music do you really need to carry around? How much is just packrat/hoarding mentality? ("omg, what if I want to listen to my Englebert Humperdinck albums while taking a long walk alone on the beach, even though I live in Wyoming?") If you're a luddite and have an iPod instead of an Android phone, is there any benefit at all to letting Google scan your hard drive?
Google Music requires me to install a program that scans my hard drive looking for music, and it seems to keep a list online somewhere of the music I have. Is this not asking for trouble? Is this not asking for abuse by the RIAA's goon squads? Is this not going to open the door at least to the possibility of a major abuse of privacy with legal and financial implications? "Don't be Evil" isn't reassuring enough for that kind of risk, especially when the only benefit from the risk is the convenience of sharing music with an Android phone (which I don't have).
Re:US Only :-( (Score:2, Interesting)
Really? I thought it was Chinese. Isn't that why they spelled Googol wrong?
Re:US Only :-( (Score:5, Interesting)
Let's be clear here. Google has introduced features higgledy-piggledy into Canada, and presumably the rest of the world. Can I hide search results in Canada? No. But I _do_ have to suffer through "auto-complete" and site preview on their search engine. Giving us half of the features is worse than none at all, because it makes things slower without making them better.
But hey - Google doesn't give a shit, because they're working towards two goals: Market domination and stock price.
Re:Just what market needed... (Score:3, Interesting)
Umm, didn't you already have the ability to sync your music files to your phone? How many gigs of music do you really need to carry around? How much is just packrat/hoarding mentality?
At any one time, I might only want a few songs from my collection. The thing is that list will change from day to day. Now with Google Music on my Xoom, my cellphone and my desktop, I don't have to worry about the hassle of "syncing" between them all. It just works.
Google Music requires me to install a program that scans my hard drive looking for music, and it seems to keep a list online somewhere of the music I have. Is this not asking for trouble?
Are you going for the Glenn Beck rhetorical question award? He probably has that patented you know. Good thing you logged in AC.
the only benefit from the risk is the convenience of sharing music with an Android phone
And your tablet, and your pc, and your tv if you have more than a cable box attached to it. It also syncs with all of your devices automatically with no further intervention. Why are you so against this? It seems like the logical conclusion of my data being every I want it to be without me having to worry about it.
The way they'll kill the dinosaurs (Score:5, Interesting)
A lot of people have missed one of the most important things about this announcement. Indie musicians, without a label, can sign up, sell their music, and keep 70% of the sales revenue.
For years, we've bemoaned the RIAA and the giant labels for screwing artists out of their fair share. They're parasites controlling the distribution channels and deciding what pop-artist of the year they'll be pushing down our throats. Artists are lucky to get into the double digit percentage of sales revenue for their music, instead of pennies for a $20 disk.
If a talented indie artist or band can put their music on Google Music and get comparable exposure to the artists pushed and promoted by the large labels, it will drastically change the dynamics of the artist/label relationship. Evaluation of music by merit instead of marketing might. There will be a viable way to make a living without signing over one's soul and rights to a label.
This cuts out the traditional middle men in the music production process, and that's what terrifies the RIAA.
Google has the money to buy out the major labels, but instead of doing that, they made a very shrewd strategic decision to instead use the advances in technology to democratize music distribution. That's big, and that shouldn't be underestimated.