As expected, Google today announced its new Music Beta service, offering users the ability to upload their music libraries to Google's servers for cloud-based hosting that allows users to access content from any device. The offering competes against Amazon's Cloud Drive and Cloud Player services, as well as Apple's expected MobileMe revamp.
Music Beta is currently available via invitation to U.S. users and will allow users to upload up to 20,000 songs using software for Mac or Windows. The service then offers a web-based interface and initial app support for Android devices. The service is free while in beta, and Google has yet to announce pricing for when the service exits beta.
Like Amazon's cloud-based system, Google has yet to achieve the cooperation of major music labels, forcing the company to rely on a "passive" system in which users are responsible for uploading their own content. Google had been working to reach agreements with record labels to roll out a more robust service, but those talks had stalled with the two sides at an impasse. With Apple reportedly having its own service ready to go and finalizing deals with record labels, Google has apparently shifted gears to more quickly launch the scaled back service without label support.
Top Rated Comments
Maybe I am now an old man, because I SIMPLY FAIL to see the point in either Amazon or Google's offering.
1. Streaming all media in an age of mobile data caps? Not cute.
2. 8GB, 16GB, 32GB etc. is a ton of space to house thousands of songs locally. No network connection required. Will it hold your entire music collection? Probably not. But you don't listen to your entire music collection all the live long day.
3. If you want access to your entire collection, stream from your own computer via AudioGalaxy or whatever other programs there are out there. AudioGalaxy works very well. Yes, your computer needs to be on. Big deal.
So to recap, use local. If you want to stream, stream from your own computer, but keep in mind your data caps.
Why does a third party need access to all of my files? F that. Google and Amazon are not game changers here. People are flipping out like they're doing something impressive. Keep in mind, I actually really like Google and Amazon :)
Really? Is anything that Google announced today shocking or revolutionary? So far they have announced they are trying to cure fragmentation which they announced last year and still hasnt worked. Movie rentals and clould storage is old news and they are finally catching up. So far there is nothing surprising to me.