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Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

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Re: Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

#71

Post by ewmiller »

graeme wrote: post #60
wil421 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iTunes evolved into Apple Music because most people aren’t downloading MP3s or ripping their CDs anymore.

No it didn’t. Itunes music still exists as a separate service and you can still buy music there. Apple Music’s streaming service is a separate offering that has grown larger than iTunes.

What the person you’re replying to means, is that Apple Music was added on top of iTunes as a new service rather than iTunes being scrapped completely. If Google were to do the same thing, then google play music would still be around and not be getting killed in favor of youtube music.

Re: Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

#72

Post by shajznnckfke »

ewmiller wrote: post #59
Vermeulen wrote: post #21

They've had years to fix all the issues people have had with this - and yet everyone still hates it (based on Reddit / App reviews). Playing music offline is broken, browsing playlists is insanely slow, and it lacks so many basic features of GPM/other services (like actual random shuffle and not a smart radio that plays the same 10 songs). Combining Youtube Likes with the music thumbs up makes no sense - I now have l…

I haven’t heard a single consumer express enthusiasm for the switch to YouTube music. Anyone I’ve casually talked to about it is dismissive and doesn’t really understand what it's even trying to be. If anybody has heard anything from a user's perspective that is in favor of this, I would love to hear that argument. Otherwise I can only assume that this was a typical Google move where product people internally pushed…

The story I’ve heard is that way more people are using YouTube for music listening than ever used Play Music, and that didn’t seem to be changing any time soon, so it doesn’t make sense to put any more resources toward Play Music.

Re: Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

#74

Post by rtsil »

dlandis wrote: post #18
xiphias2 wrote: post #7

I'm a Google Play subscriber, and I'm pissed, because YouTube Music was always forcing videos on me, and was harder to use for offline listening (stopping music when I locked the screen, like other people). What is better to switch to right now, YouTube Music, or Spotify?

If you watch YouTube, then probably it's best to stick with Google since you get ad-free YouTube with your subscription (I think?) . Otherwise probably Spotify is better.

Over here (France), ad-free Youtube comes only with Youtube Premium, not Youtube Music Premium (great branding!).

Re: Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

#75

Post by ewmiller »

necubi wrote: post #15

This is a bummer. I gather that I'm one of the few users of Google Play Music, so it's not surprising it's being killed. But it was one of the few streaming services that had the ability to upload your own music, a good catalog, and widespread device support. YouTube music is OK, but worse in a bunch of respects. It separates out your uploaded music into a separate library (admittedly the matching in Play Music was a…

Same boat here. I was a Google play music user for a long time, but switched to Spotify for good as soon as they announced YouTube music. The writing on the wall was there.

Re: Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

#76

Post by xiphias2 »

kyrra wrote: post #14
ozmbie wrote: post #6

How is it that Google create/rebrand/close so many music and chat services over the years. While Apple have a single message service (iMessage) and a single music service (Apple Music) that have been consistently branded with constant growth and show no signs of being shut down? As a consumer I have no idea what’s going on with some areas of Google’s products. It’s a major turn off.

(Googler, opinions are my own) Agreed that it is annoying, but its interesting to look back at how we got here. Google Play Music (GPM) launched in 2011. To get music on here, I'm guessing that team had to sign contracts with the various publishers and record studios. The onboarding and licensing terms of those were likely entirely around this music streaming service. Then you have Youtube. It's been a video hub for…

I just read that YTM has only 256 bit AAC just like YouTube. Going down in audio quality is a step in the wrong direction. There's just no point in installing 5G in so many countries when the encoding bit rates are going down for services.

Re: Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

#77

Post by filoleg »

graeme wrote: post #56
makecheck wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has had iTunes, and for a time a music “social network” Ping. The original messaging tool was called iChat before it was iMessage. Apple has also had multiple Internet services that were more or less the same (iTools, .Mac, iCloud). Even Contacts used to be called Address Book, and Wallet used to be called Passbook. Google still does worse but renaming things is pretty common.

That’s not quite right. Messages on iPhone was always messages. Mac’s version was called ichat and was separate. Apple then cancelled it and merged it into messages. Messages itself never had a name change and was always larger than ichat. Likewise, the itunes music store still exists! It is a place where you can buy and download music. It’s not the same service as Apple Music, which is a streaming music service.

>Likewise, the itunes music store still exists! It is a place where you can buy and download music. It’s not the same service as Apple Music, which is a streaming music service.

That's actually an interesting point that I've never considered before, even though I was aware of it.

iTunes has always been kept separate from Apple Music, with no evident plans to merge those in sight, while Google Play Music was used for both streaming and purchasing music. I don't think it ultimately affected the demise of GPM, but it is still an interesting topic to ponder.

Re: Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

#78

Post by xiphias2 »

ghego1 wrote: post #35
xiphias2 wrote: post #7

I'm a Google Play subscriber, and I'm pissed, because YouTube Music was always forcing videos on me, and was harder to use for offline listening (stopping music when I locked the screen, like other people). What is better to switch to right now, YouTube Music, or Spotify?

Third option: Tidal, better sound quality, huge library and awesome playlists. Based on my own personal experience of course :-)

I tried Tidal, but the UI was much worse for me. I'm thinking of trying Amazon HD as well, as it has great reviews.

Re: Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

#79

Post by rtsil »

dragonwriter wrote: post #19
bla3 wrote: post #5

Google Play Music wasn't very popular, but it was surprisingly good. YouTube Music is ok, but it lacks that quality without a name and has many small glitches that make it much less pleasant to use.

> YouTube Music is ok No, its quite bad. In addition to being flat-out buggy (I've had it multiple times in the last week just decide to switch to a playlist it invented rather than the one it was directed to play), it doesn't support basic music playing functionality like song or playlist repeat, and (surprisingly) its Google Assistant integration is awful, forcing you to use casting from a different device for basi…

And you cannot play a single song that you've just searched, everything is in an auto-generated playlist. Including normal YT videos that it detects as music just because there are some music playing in it. It's awful and I won't make the switch. My subscription ends when GPM dies.

Re: Google Play Music, Music Play Store and Music Manager are going away

#80

Post by xeromal »

ewmiller wrote: post #70
xeromal wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by background? Like play in the background?

I assume so. Spotify has a feature somewhat like this, but I keep it turned off because I find it annoying and distracting. It’s a bit silly to try to justify a huge move like this based on such a trivial feature, in my opinion.

I'm not sure I follow really. Any music player I've used plays in the background. I throw in some headphones and it plays without the screen being on. I'm not really sure how else it can go in the background but I know I'm missing something. lol
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