Google Play Debuts Free Music Streaming Service Ahead of Apple Music Launch

By Dondi Tiples, Christian Post Contributor Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Google Play Music launched its free ad-supported tunes streaming service a week ahead of the much-touted Apple Music debut.

Just seven days before Apple Music's much-advertised launch, Google Play Music launched an aggressive promotion of its free music streaming service offering curated playlists.

Designed to accompany users throughout every moment of their day, users can opt for music based on their day-to-day activities, from workouts to office mode.

The ad-supported streaming service features handpicked stations, with playlists copied curated by music experts from Songza, the free music streaming recommendation service the company acquired in July last year.

Users will receive playlist suggestions based on the time of the day, the day of the week, and even on the device where they have the app running. Subscribers also have the option to search the curated playlists using keywords, such as their current activity or their preferred artists.

With curated playlists made available online and on Android, Google has announced an update for iOS to be release in the near future.

Google is continuing to stick to playlists instead of on-demand and ad-sponsored music from rivals like Spotify. In going the way of "music radio," Google will be able to offer a wider music selection for its users, who however get no control over what songs will play.

The company's product manager Elias Roman said Google Play Music consumers will have a more laid back music listening experience as Google Play provides a useful and deliberate soundtrack for their day-to-day and moment-to-moment lives.

"They want the music to be awesome. They want it to be contextually relevant, but they don't want to tweak a lot of knobs," he told The Verge.

Users subscribing to Google's music streaming service can listen sans interruptions, take their favorited playlists offline, and stream any song from Google Play's 30 million track-catalogue. The service will also provide a free cloud locker and a regular MP3 store, all of which are reportedly similar to the same service Apple will be launching at the end of the month.