Google Bolsters Music Beta With New Magnifier Blog
by Craig Getting on August 19, 2011 10:03 AM EST- Posted in
- Cloud Computing
Google Music Beta, the search giant’s music streaming service, launched earlier this summer to tepid reviews before drifting into the background after the much-ballyhooed release of Spotify in the United States. While garnering praise for its audio quality and Android connectivity, it was knocked for lacking an iOS app and, perhaps more importantly, the ability to purchase music.
While there’s still no music store, Google’s hoping to renew your interest in Google Music with Magnifier, a new music discovery site curated by the Google Music team. Not only does Magnifier offer daily song recommendations, it can download those tracks for free into your Google Music account.
Like most of Google Music, Magnifier’s smooth. It took just a few seconds for the song to appear in my library and then just a handful more for the song to start playing. While Magnifier hasn’t been around long enough for me to know if my tastes match up with those of its editors, I can see myself checking back regularly based solely on the ease of use.
If Google could only secure the rights to actually sell music, a stream of interesting free music coupled with Google’s generous cloud storage (roughly 20,000 songs for free compared to $20 for 10GB on Apple’s iCloud service) could put Google Music on equal footing with iTunes and Amazon’s Digital Marketplace.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
12 Comments
View All Comments
Kelemvor - Friday, August 19, 2011 - link
My optimus is one that has the playback issue it's had since launch. Some songs, it plays through twice and then just keeps counting as I get dead air. I have to manually skip to the next song when that happens.Maybe I'll check out Magnifier.
Craig Getting - Friday, August 19, 2011 - link
Is that an optimus playback issue or a software issue with the Music Beta app?Kelemvor - Friday, August 19, 2011 - link
It's listed as a Known Issue on the google music page. They say they're working on it...http://www.google.com/support/music/bin/static.py?...
Craig Getting - Friday, August 19, 2011 - link
At least they're not sweeping it under the rug, however vague the phrase "certain Android devices" is.jebo - Friday, August 19, 2011 - link
I have had zero issues with it and I have been using it extensively on my Evo, my PCs, and on my Transformer since I gained access.Craig Getting - Friday, August 19, 2011 - link
how've you found the instant playlist feature? i'll admit i haven't spent too much time with it.steven75 - Friday, August 19, 2011 - link
It's only known to be free during the beta period.Kelemvor - Friday, August 19, 2011 - link
Notice how GMail was in "beta" mode for like 5+ years...Craig Getting - Saturday, August 20, 2011 - link
I doubt they'll move it out of beta anytime soon. Without any major rebranding, I think an actual storefront would be a requirement for moving past beta.KZ0 - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
Any word on when it'll be available outside of the US?And is it possible to use the service outside of the US if you sign up from the US?