So I recently started using Google Music as a trial to see if I could get off of Spotify. I liked the idea of Google music for a few reasons because unlike Groove my 10,000 songs does not count towards my space on my OneDrive or in Google’s case Google Drive. Google Music just like Microsoft Groove or Spotify you don’t need a subscription to listen to your own music.
One thing about Google Music that really caught my attention is the extra benefits you get from a Google Music account which I feel is a lot. When you sign up for a Google Music account you automatically get a YouTube Red account with not addition cost.
YouTube Red Includes
- Offline Videos
- Ad Free YouTube
- Original shows
- YouTube Music App
- YouTube Kids App
This is all on top of the Google Music Service offerings which I thought was a lot of value for $9.99 a month for an individual and $14.99 for a family plan.
The Google Music user experience I thought was a little weird it has that very “Were Google were different feel”. While most services like Spotify, Groove and iTunes have the same simple layout for their interface, I found Google Music at times weird to use and a little unorganized even on the iOS and Android App. The way Google separates your personally uploaded music from the subscription part of the service is nice and makes find personal MP3 files easier then searching the entire library for music you know you purchased.
Google Music radio is really the shining light here, Google does a great job of building out a great playlist for you to consume on any device. Since Google knows your search history and music information they can pick great songs for you to listen to on your device. We all know anything Google does with search is great it’s their main business. Finding songs in their library is very easy as well I had no issues finding songs and their library of song rivals that of Spotify and their search is, of course amazing.
Google Music does offer the ability to buy songs through their shop just like iTunes and other and has added podcasts to the service as well. Google Music does do a better job of offering trending information like
- Today’s Best Music
- Top On Charts You May Like
- Top Albums
- Fans of this Band Liked This As well
- Get Moving With This
Since Google does search the best the choices I got were great for the most part. The one thing I do have to say about Google Music is I wonder if the majority of their users are there just because they like the music service or just because there account came with their YouTube Red subscription.
YouTube Red has only picked up 1.5 million subscribers in the last year. According to The Verge, paying subscribers only total 1.5 million as of late summer, despite having a billion monthly users of the broader service. For $9.99 per month, subscribers get an ad-free YouTube experience, background play and offline access to songs, and original content. The subscription also provides free access to Google Play Music’s catalog of 35 million songs.
So what I wonder is if Google Music and YouTube Red are actually making money and which service are users interested in are they signing up for YouTube Red or Google Music. For the most part, I have to say Google Music is a great service but I think the user interface does need some work to make it more appealing. Their library of songs is on par with competitors like Spotify, Apple, and Napster. I think with a little more tuning the service would be great I would recommend the service just because you’re getting a lot of value for $9.99 a month. I think for a person who spends a lot of time listening to music and watching YouTube it’s worth the value.