Google Play Music takes another step toward the grave
Tech Industry
Welcome to Alphabet City, I'm your guide, Iyaz Akhtar, and you are still the most amazing audience in the world.
Google is still working hard to kill off Google Play Music for the benefit of YouTube Music.
What are the latest developments?
YouTube announced that the YouTube Music app will come preinstalled on all new devices launching with Android 10 and android 9.
Including the pixel series.
Before, if you wanted YouTube Music, you'd have to download it separately from the Google Play Store.
YouTube also said, quote, YouTube Music is your personal guide through the complete world of music, end quote.
It is?
Since when?
That's news to me.
Anyway, let's talk about Google's obsession with killing off Google Play Music.
Product teams were playing music and YouTube Music were merged in 2017.
A new version of YouTube Music was announced in May of 2018.
Once YouTube Music reached the level of Google Play Music in terms of features, Google Play Music was going to sleep with the fishes.
That news happened in May of 2018 as well, what's so great about Google Play Music anyway?
Well, it has a cloud locker.
So in theory, If you have some music ripped from your collection of Beatles bootlegs you can upload it to Google Play Music and hear it anywhere you have service.
No one I know would ever do anything like that, bootlegs are illegal.
The Cloud Lockers also useful for when music services loose rights to certain artists for a time.
You can plug holes in libraries if you really, really wanted to Using a cloud locker, let's go back to May, 2018, the head of music at YouTube twitted, that if you're migrating from play music over to YouTube music, your collection, playlists, and preferences will be preserved and migrated to YouTube music for a soft landing Guess what?
It's late 2019.
And there's not a way to go from play music to YouTube music, maybe forcing YouTube music on Android nine and 10 devices will help.
Yeah, right.
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get the latest versions of Android on Android devices?
Non Google, of course, check out a previous episode where I explained what takes so long.
Essentially There are a lot of cooks in the kitchen.
If Apple pushed, let's say, its own Maps app in an iOS update, almost every iOS user would have that new Maps app pretty quickly.
Google, on the other hand, is incapable of that level of control beyond its Pixel phones.
While I'm nitpicking, let's talk a bit about the YouTube Music app on Android.
I searched for apps on my phone unless they make it to the home screen, and I am a ruthless Home Screen manager.
when things don't get used, they go back to the app for maybe to see occasional use.
When YouTube Music was revamped, I downloaded it.
I search for YouTube music on my phone.
What It didn't show up.
Why?
Because it's listed as YT music in the app store.
Now why?
Why would you do that?
Maybe it was my wacky Samsung phone that caused the issue.
I also installed YouTube music on my Pixel 3a XL.
If you do a search for YouTube music within this stock] version of android.
You get no results.
Why?
Because of the operating system.
It's YT music.
The app is even called YouTube Music in the Play Store.
I railed on Google for its bizarre relationship with an S brand in the past.
It's this kind of inconsistency, They can undermine adoption even if YouTube Music becomes the world's greatest music app how do you find the dang thing.
Now maybe I'm biased I've been using Google Play Music for years now I spent a lot of time comparing Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, and Google Play Music.
Apple Music had a cloud locker, but Google Play Music won because it had a cloud locker and it came with YouTube Red, now known as YouTube Premium.
For around $10 per month, I got a streaming music service with a locker, along with ad-free YouTube, that's a good deal.
Nowadays, that's not the case, the bundles have changed.
I get that Google wants one approach for music, that makes sense.
From a consumer standpoint, I do not see why Google Play Music just did not get rebranded as YouTube Music.
Instead of trying to cram lots and lots of features into YouTube Music, just put a few features in a pretty mature music service like Google Play Music.
Now, this is pure speculation ahead.
But I would bet There's some kind of internal struggle at Google.
Look people know the YouTube brand.
Slap that name on a music service and bingo!
Here's hoping all of this gets fixed by 2020, maybe 2025.
Guys let me know what you think.
Also What's your favorite service that Google killed off?
Thanks to everyone for watching.
If you've enjoyed your stay in Alphabet City, please like and subscribe on my as actor and I'll see you online.
[MUSIC]
