I live in a small town in Texas, which is about 45 minutes away from Fort Worth. My commute to work is around 20 minutes of solid thinking time by myself in my car. Recently, I purchased a Droid Incredible and I download and test music apps for easy listening. What seems to be the best option is subscription services like Rhapsody so I can stream and download songs to my phone for a small monthly fee. Otherwise, I am at the mercy of Last.FM and Pandora’s picks for my playlist. It can be dangerous to expose my good mood to music I would rather not listen too.
One option I have been waiting for is Google Music. I love using Google for their Gmail, Reader, and Docs. However, after reading updates from the rumor mill, Google Music plans to be Google’s answer to iTunes. According to TechCrunch, Google Music will be a browser-based web store with the option of having a cloud “locker” to access and stream music from any computer and phone for an additional fee. This means you would have to purchase an album, purchase locker space, and hope that the full song preview does not kill your appetite to fork over your money.
I think that at this point, Google Music is going to take a bit longer to launch than I have hoped for. Right now, I pay eleven dollars a month to stream Rhapsody from my phone and any computer. Over the last few months, Rhapsody rolled out a download feature for subscribers to their iPhones and Droids for no extra fee. I think that Google has a good plan to combat iTunes but not such a good plan to compete with the subscription and free music providers. Here’s to hoping Google Music will rethink their strategy.
Interesting post about the various music services and the upcoming Google Music service. "Providers" are still figuring out how to properly distribute and monetize music. If any company can figure it out, Google can. But I'm still skeptical.
ReplyDeleteWho would have thought that a computer company and a search engine company would be more powerful in the music industry than record labels themselves.
Keep up the great insight!