THE STREAMING SERVICE YOU'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR?
As we previously reported, UMG, Sony and WMG are all on board with the service, which observers at the tech giant's confab have thus far described as elegant. Android and computer users' downloaded music will automatically flow into the app's interface alongside music available for streaming, and the service will also have a radio function similar to Pandora.
There's a recommendation engine, of course, including curated playlists from the company's music editors.
But Google's brand was built on search, and its profound capabilities in this arena could give it a decided edge on the competition. Local and streamable tracks will be integrated into one searchable database for users. In the words of engineering director Chris Yerga, who did the presentation, "We set out to build a music service that didn't just give us access to great music but to help guide you to it."
Built on the Google Play store, Music Play All Access will be available at a competitive $9.99 per month ($7.99 for early adopters who jump in by the end of June), and users can take it for a free 30-day trial spin. As CNET and others have observed, if Google's yet-to-be-announced video-on-demand service with YouTube is equally robust, it could obtain a powerful hold on notoriously fickle online consumers--especially young ones.
It remains to be seen whether users take to it, but Google has already scored a major psychological victory by beating Apple to the space.
We'll have more on this story as it develops--and report on our own test drive. In the meantime, here's a hilarious joke from the Google I/O conference:
"Why do all Pascal programmers ask to live in Atlantis?
Because it is below C level."
Hahahahahhaha! Woo! That's good stuff! OK, bye now.
