I have been waiting to access Google Music since I’ve heard of its beta launch. That was available only in the US and Alas the final release is also still available only in the US. But I got around the country limitation by using TOR and selecting a US node to sign in. Google it seems to check only the IP where the request originates. You can get a step-by-step tutorial on engadget here.
Once you get your account what’s left is to upload your existing music collection to Google music. Unlike other music services Google doesn’t give you a fixed amount of space to upload your music instead you get space for 20,000 songs. All for FREE. Music purchased from Google will not count towards this 20K limit.
Next download the music manager and get started with uploading your existing library. Google music manager software is available for Windows, Mac &Linux. The setting process is hassle free and the music manager wizard will guide you. Upload is a pain and will depend on the speed of your internet connection. I use BSNL 512kbps home connection (used by the majority in India). And it takes several days to upload your entire library to Google music. It’s taken me almost a week to upload some 4000 songs.
Google Music supports most common file formats including MP3, AAC, WMA & OGG. More on supported music formats here. Google uploads songs and maintains their original bitrates. So it you have songs at low bitrates then that is what you will get on Google Music.
Once done you can listen to your collection from any PC or device that’s equipped with a browser. Google states that enabling JavaScript and flash are a prerequisite to using Google Music. I have not had an opportunity to test it in environments where JavaScript and flash are missing.
Now if you have an android phone you can download and install Google Music App. Again if you’re not in the US the marketplace will not let you download the App but a Google search will lead you to plenty of places where you can find and download the App from. What Google Marketplace disables Google search enables. :-)
I’m listening to my library on my Google Nexus One. It is recommended to use a 3G or Wi-Fi connection to listen to music as some large files can take time to download and play on a conventional 2G connection. You can also pin some music to make it available offline on your phone so that you can play it later when no data connection is available.
All in all a good service. If you like your music then Google will give you all this for FREE. Of course, there are lots of areas where it needs to improve and hopefully it will and sooner rather than later.
In my next article I’ll compare it to some other music services and see how it fares. Till then Happy Listening.
Next download the music manager and get started with uploading your existing library. Google music manager software is available for Windows, Mac &Linux. The setting process is hassle free and the music manager wizard will guide you. Upload is a pain and will depend on the speed of your internet connection. I use BSNL 512kbps home connection (used by the majority in India). And it takes several days to upload your entire library to Google music. It’s taken me almost a week to upload some 4000 songs.
Google Music supports most common file formats including MP3, AAC, WMA & OGG. More on supported music formats here. Google uploads songs and maintains their original bitrates. So it you have songs at low bitrates then that is what you will get on Google Music.
Once done you can listen to your collection from any PC or device that’s equipped with a browser. Google states that enabling JavaScript and flash are a prerequisite to using Google Music. I have not had an opportunity to test it in environments where JavaScript and flash are missing.
Now if you have an android phone you can download and install Google Music App. Again if you’re not in the US the marketplace will not let you download the App but a Google search will lead you to plenty of places where you can find and download the App from. What Google Marketplace disables Google search enables. :-)
I’m listening to my library on my Google Nexus One. It is recommended to use a 3G or Wi-Fi connection to listen to music as some large files can take time to download and play on a conventional 2G connection. You can also pin some music to make it available offline on your phone so that you can play it later when no data connection is available.
All in all a good service. If you like your music then Google will give you all this for FREE. Of course, there are lots of areas where it needs to improve and hopefully it will and sooner rather than later.
In my next article I’ll compare it to some other music services and see how it fares. Till then Happy Listening.
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