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Google’s take on digital music distribution — which very well could end up being called simply Google Music — may make its way to the public by the fall, according to a report at CNet News. Sources within the music industry are talking up that time frame for the launch of Google’s answer to iTunes, a move that is sure to deepen the Google/Apple rift and add fuel to an already raging feud between the two technology giants.
The music service was shown off at Google I/O, where its integration with Android was emphasized. “Google Music” will have both a push component that directly sends song downloads to your handset as well as a desktop streaming portion thanks to the acquisition of Simplify Media that will allow users to stream their stored media libraries to their phones without the need to sync between devices.
Of course, don’t think Google plans to put all of its music eggs in the Android basket, as they are looking beyond smartphones to creating a truly formidable music retail outlet. The folks in the music industry couldn’t be more pleased, as many see the one-sided dominance of iTunes creating stagnation in the marketplace.
It remains to be seen if Google also plans to launch a desktop client similar to iTunes, or if the entirety of Google Music would take place in the cloud. Apple, too, is gearing up for a cloud-based iTunes, so the race is on. Does Google have what it takes to be a true competitor, or will they be just a little too late to the game?
[via cnet]
Until they produce a music player with a graphic equalizer there’s not really much point. For crying out loud, I owned SoundJam (which became Itunes) at least 10 years ago and it had one.
Let me just take a moment to share my opinion. iTunes sucks. I hate using it, period. It has nothing to do with Apple either. I just hate the interface, I find it confusing, and it’s hard to do what I want to do. For example, once I connected my wife’s ipod nano to the PC and iTunes immediately synced to it and deleted all the music that was on it. OOPS! I think it’s a joke when it seems that your computer library has to match the device in some way. (I prefer a nice simple drag and drop, or a folder that I can say, go here). For being “Apple” I certainly do not find iTunes “intuitive”, rather I find it “infuriating”. Just ask my wife sometime how many cuss words flew out of my mouth last time we were trying to prepare music for a dance using iTunes to sort the music. I hate it. And forget about being able to export MP3 easily to put it on another player other than an iPod. Everything is such a pain in the ass.
Plus it’s bloated and slow on windows sytems as well.
-Brad
I am confused why we would want a graphics equalizer. Anyways my understanding is that all music will be held in the cloud and will be streamed to a device or desktop and will be available for download.
I think this is also looking into the future with ChromeOS. Google Music could be the official cloud/media player that is on the OS rather than like amaroK, iTunes, WMP whatever
Apple software sux, let alone iTunes with it’s updates and constant QuickTime updates etc, without any real increase in functionality other than more CONTROLS over what you can and cannot do.
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Competition will do well for the industry, but mostly consumers! :) Can’t wait…
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One of the cloud/music ideas I read was that the software will scan your PC for audio files and keep a record of your library, it will then make those same files available to you from Goggle Servers via streaming. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, as privacy issues will undoubtedly come into play.
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If you ALLOW and KNOW that you are permitting them to scan your files, you thereby remove your expectation of privacy… and that’s not a good thing. I can see the RIAA suing for copies of those records and prompting users to PROVE their ownership of those songs, etc., or face lawsuits. A ridiculous intrusion, but, not that crazy of an idea as they have exhibited in the past, i.e., suing Grandmothers and such.
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I like Winamp’s Orb, which I used in WinMo platform, I haven’t tried the Android app yet, but will get around to it someday… Go GOOGLE! lol…
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My $.02
@ Brad….I couldn’t agree with you more. Definately not user friendly and by no means quick on a Windows system.
I’ve never owned a Apple product but unfortunately some of my friends and family have and they all seem confused about syncing it and all that jazz..
What I don’t get is why is it if I buy a tune and lose my ipod or whatever gadget you have I dont get those back? I have to buy them again really?
Maybe I am missing some magical setting but its happened to people I know and its like they are just out the music.
Is that how its suppose to work?
Bring on the Google Music. I absolutely REFUSE to install the horrid software called itunes on my hardware. Give me Amazon right now. and the MP3 Store integrated in the N1 made my purchase of an album this morning painless.
The first thing I check when I’m looking for a new phone is that it doesn’t require iTunes. iTunes is probably the main reason I always stayed away from the iPhone, I used it on an iPod and it was so damn confusing and I’m the person in my family who knows about all the new tech. Google making an “iTunes” like music store sounds kinda scary to me but after using Android for 18 months I think they will do a good job.
I guess I can see where the iTunes hate comes from, but I never found it to be particularly unintuitive. The auto syncing issues you guys mention, is an easy option to disable, and it wasn’t even a default option for my ipod nano when I set it up. If iTunes was really as bad as you guys make it out to be, the whole iTunes/iPod ecosystem would not be so dominant.
Granted, I’m not crazy about how only ipods can work with it, and that I have to use the super laggy doubletwist to get songs from iTunes onto my HTC incredible.
i HATE itunes… I use a Zune for an mp3 player. Zune’s very easy to use and it has a manual sync setting which is what i use..
And best of all it keeps all my mp3’s in folders so i can easily drag and drop them to other devices..
I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what Google has to offer.
I would like to point out that Google needs to stop focusing so singlemindedly on music services and focus moreon video services. We have a method to buy music over the air from Amazon…why not integrate with amazon unbox to allow for mobile video download and watching!!!! I love Android….but we need to start looking at the whole picture now in version 2.2 and beyond!
I hope whatever Google develops for Android is compatible with Apple Lossless. Pretty much done buying iPods/Phones, but I really like Apple Lossless.
So is this just going to be another app where I can only “stream” my music from my computer to my phone.
I hate the idea of having to leave my laptop on all day just so I can listen to music on my phone.
@Wilco
FLAC?
Google music? Are you kidding? It’s going to suck. Hard. Just like Buzz and Wave and everything else Google tries to do that’s social or media related. Come on, they do search and maps very well… everything else is mediocre. They are a tech company with engineers running the place and if it’s one thing engineers don’t understand well, it’s media.
@Michael you bring up a good point….I mean with the 4.3 inch screens Google has dived into watching movies on them makes sense…oh wait the Droids have brought forth the Blockbuster app my bad. That’s gamma be one of my favorite Apps I am sure
So let me get this straight. You all can deal with Android and all the Linux stuff but a simple program like iTunes confuses you all? When you connect and iPod/iPhone to it,check the box that says manage music manually. Then you can drag and drop your content. Getting music ready for something. Simply make a playlist. Its not that difficult.
@Matt
It don’t work that way. Contact apple and they make it so you can download it again for free. You will get the advice of backing up your music. If you buying it off the device then make sure you sync with itunes to transfer the purchases.
Yay, go Google. Boo to Apple.
Apple is the new Microsoft – a terribly aggressive company that has a “winner takes all” attitude. Apple’s take on anything they do is “you do it the Apple way or you don’t do it at all”. I hate this “Steve Job’s knows best” thinking. So far Google appears to be taking a more open approach.
Of course, at some point Google will become overly aggressive – but then we’ll hopefully have a new contender.
@ NRB…it has a 10-band EQ..what’s the problem?
@Alex Youtube?