Google Music (Beta)
 

Anyone else using Google Music yet?

For those that haven't heard yet, Google Music allows a person to upload their music library (up to 20,000 songs) and then access it from any number of devices.

For those that have a smartphone you simply download the free google music app and now you can stream your entire library to your phone...

Works great for those that work on multiple computers but want to listen to music ... you now have access to all your music at any time.

And of course, tablets and other portable devices is exactly what this is geared for...

You need to request an invite (just Google: "Google Music") to start using it and I got an invite after about a 2 week wait ...

I've just started using it, but am very impressed with it so far... uploading does take forever, but streaming to my phone is smooth.

I think the best part is that there is a place you can store your music and access it from virtually anywhere now ... for free. Once 3rd party developers fully develop these features, the players and ancillary products will be off the hook.

How is Google planning to monetize? Or do the start charging after 20k songs?

I am a Pandora guy myself. For $36/year I get high quality music all day, and listen to any genre I like. And for those not interested in paying can listen for free via the web and listen to an advert every once in a while -- like one an hour or something.

Nick

I think Google is making its money by selling its client software to equipment manufacturers. Since wifi is becoming more and more accessible and cell phones already able to stream to almost any place in the U.S., the biggest market is portable devices that provide a wide range of functionability.

A person can now watch a movie, listen to music, surf the internet, watch tv, youtube, skype, etc...and any number of other things all on a device that is the size (of once) a pocket calculator.

Smart TV's, which haven't really taken off yet, but with the Roku boxes and all the internet streaming channels now, having your own internet music library is a smart move for Google because they are tapping into a realm that is growing and giving the person the ability to, literally, upload their own content and then access it from any number of devices is a perk that is of high interest for early adapters.

exactly, I think Google is doing what Google has done before...give up some revenue on the surface early on in order to capitalize on a larger scale as a new technology evolves

...another thing multi-billion dollar companies can do that smaller companies cannot......which, then, becomes another reason they do it

I mean I understand them giving away stuff for free [see google.com, mail.google.com/mail, etc], but they can monetize all of that stuff. It will be interesting to see how -- in addition to monetizing the provider side -- they also monetize the consumer side.

Nick

I think Google's business plan is a key to how and why they are a successful internet entity and have been for some time now.

Google knows that it's power is the sheer numbers of 'users' that use their products, most for free. I don't think Google would want to jeopardize the number of users they currently retain by beginning to charge for services, but they already own their own, very popular, internet ad/revenue sharing service and, obviously, could implement advertising into any or all of their products, but I really don't see that being forced onto people either.

I think, for the most part, Google tries to keep their products as free as possible. I am sure Google sees an opportunity to make money right now, but will give up the consumer dollar right now in exchange for development rights money down the line. Especially with the economy the way it is, Google will certainly attract those that want nice, clean and free services.

I've also advocating (with no authority or credentials what-so-ever) that internet companies with, literally, no assets other than some computers, need to tread lightly on 'fees'. Because, as we have seen more than once now, how a large "multi-million dollar" internet company become virtually worthless in zero time. If your companies "power" is the amount of users you have, then keeping those users should be pandamount and charging fees would be the first step towards losing that "power".

Again, with portability and internet streaming becoming even more prevalent (more mobile devices now use wifi more than computers) I think Google is just getting a fast start into a realm that is growing at an extremely fast rate and consumers are craving more.

completely different scale, of course (at least currently :p ) but similar mindset as I've always had here.........generate as many users as possible and the options for gaining revenue multiplies significantly

Google Music is out of beta and now available to everyone for free.

For me, it has been fantastic. Sure there is Pandora, Radio.FM, Slacker, Tune-In and so many other web based sites that will deliver you music but you never get to fully control what content is delivered to you...just honed to your tastes. If I want to hear some new music or something different, any of those will be fine, but what if I want to hear my music from my library? Well that's where Google Music comes in...

I have well over 5,000 songs/titles uploaded (out of 20,000 limit)...set up a few different playlists and now, I can listen to the music I want to hear whenever I want to hear it from any device that can get the internet. It streams flawlessly to my phone and doesn't use a lot of battery so is a great substitute for an MP3 player. Came in really handy on some long road trips this past summer...no commercials and only my favorites as I drove for hours...made the trip fly by!

Google also announced a deal with a lot of the large recording labels and is integrating it into Google Music (ala iTunes) and now you will be able to purchase music and have it in your Google Music account available for you to enjoy.