Nearly two years ago to the day, Google introduced Music Beta at I/O 2011. But in reality, it was little more than a gigantic cloud to store 20,000 of your favorite tracks. Despite a plethora of rumors that the search giant would beat Spotify to the punch by launching a subscription-based music service in the United States, we got a digital locker that has done little to distract most listeners from giving Rdio, Pandora, iTunes and other like services at least a piece of their heart. Fast forward to today, and Google’s finally joining the bandwagon… in majorly limited fashion.

Google Music All Access is presently only available as an Android app, and only to users in the US. Moreover, it costs $9.99 — the exact same sum as practically every one of its rivals. Rivals that have multi-year headstarts in terms of mind and market share. Google has landed deals with the same “major labels” as everyone else, but even product manager Paul Joyce affirmed to us here at I/O that All Access doesn’t have access to any exclusives. In a post-keynote meeting with Joyce, he noted that this is only the start for the product. Naturally, Google’s going to do its finest work on its own platform, but it’s certainly odd to see iOS users left out in the cold given Google’s acknowledgement of its importance just minutes earlier.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Google

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Source: Google Play

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Google Music All Access: Android / US-only rollout is just the start

Nearly two years ago to the day, Google introduced Music Beta at I/O 2011. But in reality, it was little more than a gigantic cloud to store 20,000 of your favorite tracks. Despite a plethora of rumors that the search giant would beat Spotify to the punch by launching a subscription-based music service in the United States, we got a digital locker that has done little to distract most listeners from giving Rdio, Pandora, iTunes and other like services at least a piece of their heart. Fast forward to today, and Google’s finally joining the bandwagon… in majorly limited fashion.

Google Music All Access is presently only available for mobile as an Android app, and only to users in the US. Moreover, it costs $9.99 — the exact same sum as practically every one of its rivals. Rivals that have multi-year headstarts in terms of mind and market share. (Yes, it’s $7.99 per month if you sign up prior to June 30th.) Google has landed deals with the same “major labels” as everyone else, but even product manager Paul Joyce affirmed to us here at I/O that All Access doesn’t have access to any exclusives. In a post-keynote meeting with Joyce, he noted that this is only the start for the product. Naturally, Google’s going to do its finest work on its own platform, but it’s certainly odd to see iOS users left out in the cold given Google’s acknowledgement of its importance just minutes earlier.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Google

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Source: Google Play

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Google Play Music All Access: Android / US-only rollout is just the start

One of Engadget’s must-have Android apps of 2010 is about to make its exit — soon Audiogalaxy will be no more. The music streaming app’s team announced that it has been acquired by Dropbox and will be sunsetting the service during the transition. Rather than streaming music from an anonymous server in the cloud, Audiogalaxy piped music (including playlists and album art) to your smartphone from your own home PC — all this after returning from the ashes of its previous iteration as the best music file sharing service ever. Sound nifty? It is, but don’t rush off to Google Play — Audiogalaxy is no longer accepting new users. The details of the hire / acquisition haven’t been laid bare, but the Audiogalaxy blog promises that service will continue for at least a few more weeks, with mixes getting the axe at the end of the year and personal streaming surviving for an undetermined period. Dropbox hasn’t announced anything either, but if it finds its way into the cloud-based music space, we won’t be too surprised.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Gigaom

Source: Audiogalaxy

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Audiogalaxy acquired by Dropbox, announces end of streaming service

Rumors of a music streaming service from Apple have been circulating since the dawn of the iPod age. Bloomberg is reporting that an internet radio platform from Cupertino is nearing reality, as talks between Apple and the major music labels have “intensified.” The negotiations center around how to share revenues from an ad-supported service that, according to reports, would pose more of a threat to sites like Pandora than it would Spotify. In fact, after Bloomberg reported that the new Apple service could launch during the first quarter of 2013, Pandora stocks plummeted over 17 percent and trading of the company was briefly halted. According to sources Cook and co. are seeking much more flexibility than its potential competitors enjoy and earlier access to new releases. The shift towards ad revenue and a new platform for helping listeners discover music is considered by most involved to be an essential evolution of the iTunes ecosystem as sales of digital downloads have slowed. For more, hit up the source links.

Filed under: Internet, Apple

Apple nearing deal with labels for internet radio service, says Bloomberg originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rdio has spent a large part of 2012 revamping its mobile app, and a new beta shows that it’s still full of ideas with two months left to go. The 2.3 test version makes the ubiquitous hidden sidebar even more unavoidable than we’ve seen before, but those not irked by UI homogeneity will be happy to see Rdio gain some multi-device harmony: along with syncing whatever’s being played from desktop to mobile and back, the beta introduces a remote control that lets Android gear either serve as the remote or as a target for other devices. A play-later queue persists across devices, too. Although we haven’t been given a timeframe for the finished version pushing out through Google Play, there’s nothing stopping avid subscribers from taking a slight risk with the beta and getting a taste of their musical future.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile

Rdio posts Android beta app with new sidebar UI, unified playback and remote control originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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