Introduction
Google Play Music is an online service operated by Google that allows users the opportunity of streaming music and podcasts online. It also provides an online music locker for the purpose of storing your music files.
Since its announcement in 2011 and its release on the 16th of November, 2011. The process of purchasing and storing music files has been made easier.
Google Play Music is easily accessible as it can be used on different platforms like;
- Users can enjoy listening to music on Google Play Music via the section of the Google Play website.
- Smartphones and Tablets. Users can easily enjoy their music via the Google Play Music app for Android, and iOS operating systems.
Like every other music streaming service, Google Music platform offers different accounts to users. The available accounts are the Standard and Premium accounts, with distinct features;
Google Play Music Standard Account
Users of the standard account are allowed up to 50,000 songs upload, stream and download songs of up to 320kbps quality, and can listen to music using the mobile app or the web player.
Also, standard users located in the United States, Canada or India can listen to curated radio stations which are selected based on your mood or an activity you might be engaging in at that point in time.
Premium Accounts
Users of the paid premium account tend to enjoy a lot more services including those offered in the standard accounts. Some of these services are; a 30 day trial for a subscription, access to over 40 million popular songs for streaming, and an offline music playback feature on mobile apps.
While all of these sounds great, there are other music services like Spotify and the online music store in Apple Music. Which usually brings about the question, is Google Play Music worth it? Here are a few compelling features that could help you make up your mind.
High Quality Music
Google Play Music offers songs of 320kbps on there all access online store which is enough quality of audio for most people. Compared to Apple Music which offers 256kbps and Spotify which offers 320kbps, it offers great audio quality.
Also, in the mobile apps the user has the option of switching the quality between high, low and medium depending on the data connection and location.
Discover Brand New Music
It helps users in discovering new music by making the following available to the users;
Top charts, new releases, Music Stations and sound search.
Google music is daily updated with all genre of music that fit into these categories. There are also options of making your very own curated playlist. All of these services are available without having to deal with the hassle of certain restrictions and ads.
Podcasts
Podcasts are a great way to discuss certain controversial issues and making it available for the public however, there aren’t a lot of good podcast manager apps available.
Google Play Music not only manages your music collection but also provides podcast services to users. There are over two dozen categories and the selection grows every day.
Even though iTunes have been the go-to for podcasts for years now, Google Music platform is constantly improving their podcast services.
YouTube Red
Unlike other services Google Play Music has the addition of YouTube Red and the benefits are endless;
- Exclusive Access to original content for subscribers.
- No ads when viewing a YouTube video.
- Background playback of YouTube videos on Android phones.
These features prove without a doubt that, Google Play Music is slowly catching up with other services and is worth downloading.