Google Play Music was a music and podcast streaming service and an online music locker operated by Google as part of its Google Play line of companies. Users with standard accounts might retailer up to 50,000 songs from their private libraries without charge. A paid Google Play Music subscription allowed users to on-demand stream any music within the Google Play Music catalog and in YouTube Music Premium catalog and in a number of territories in YouTube Premium catalog. Also, customers may purchase extra tracks from the music store section of Google Play. Google Play Music cell apps additionally supported offline playback of tracks stored on the device. Google Play Music supplied all customers storage of as much as 50,000 information at no cost. Users might hearken to songs through the service’s internet player and cellular apps. The service scanned the person’s assortment and matched the information to tracks in Google’s catalog, which could then be streamed or downloaded in as much as 320 kbit/s quality.

Any recordsdata that weren’t matched had been uploaded to Google’s servers for streaming or re-obtain. Songs bought by means of the Google Play Store did not rely towards the 50,000-song add limit. Supported file codecs for add included: MP3, AAC, WMA, FLAC, Ogg, or ALAC. Non-MP3 uploads could be transformed to MP3. Files may very well be as much as 300 MB after conversion. Songs could possibly be downloaded on the mobile apps for offline playback, and on computer systems via the Music Manager app. Standard users situated within the United States, Canada, and India may also listen to curated radio stations, supported by video and banner ads. Stations were based on “an exercise, your temper, or your favourite standard music”. As much as six songs per hour might be skipped when listening to curated radio. Podcasts were additionally obtainable without spending a dime to hearken to for normal customers in the US and Canada. A one-time 30-day free trial for a subscription to Google Play Music was offered for brand new users.

Paid subscribers also received entry to YouTube Premium (including YouTube Music) in eligible international locations. On computers, music and podcasts might be listened to from a devoted Google Play Music part of the Google Play webpage. OS operating techniques, while podcasts have been only supported on Android. Up to 5 smartphones could possibly be used to entry the library in Google Play Music, and up to ten devices total. Listening was restricted to at least one system at a time. In April 2017, stories surfaced that the default music player on the then-new Samsung Galaxy S8 can be Google Play Music, persevering with a trend that began with the S7 in 2016. However, for the S8, Samsung partnered with Google to incorporate further exclusive options into the app, together with the flexibility to add as much as 100,000 tracks, a rise from the 50,000 tracks customers are normally allowed to upload. Google also stated that it could develop different “special features in Google Play Music just for Samsung prospects”.

In June, Google Play Music on the S8 was updated to solely characteristic “New Release Radio”, a each day, personalized playlist of new music releases. Google noting in a press release that the exclusivity on Samsung gadgets was a part of an “early entry program” for testing and suggestions functions. Google first hinted at releasing a cloud media player during their 2010 Google I/O developer conference, when Google’s then-Senior Vice President of Social Vic Gundotra showed a “Music” section of the then-called Android Market throughout a presentation. A music service was officially announced at the next 12 months’s I/O convention on May 10, 2011, below the identify “Music Beta”. Initially, it was solely accessible by invitation to residents of the United States, and had limited performance; the service featured a no-cost “music locker” for storage of up to 20,000 songs, but no music store was present during the beta interval, as Google was not yet ready to reach licensing offers with main report labels.


After a six-month beta period, Google publicly launched the service within the US on November 16, 2011, as “Google Music” with its “These Go to Eleven” announcement occasion. At launch, Google had partnerships with three main labels – Universal Music Group, EMI, and Sony Music Entertainment – along with other, smaller labels, although no settlement had been reached with Warner Music Group; in complete, thirteen million tracks had been coated by these deals, eight million of which had been accessible for purchase on the launch date. To promote the launch, a number of artists launched free songs and exclusive albums via the store; The Rolling Stones debuted the live recording Brussels Affair (Live 1973), and Pearl Jam launched a dwell concert recorded in Toronto as 9.11.2011 Toronto, Canada. In January 2012, a feature was added to Google Music that permits customers to obtain 320kbit/s MP3 copies of any file in their library, with a two-download restrict per monitor through the online, or unlimited downloads by way of the Music Manager app.