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Sonos now works with YouTube Music
If you've been looking for an easier way to play weird covers of "7 Rings" through your Sonos speakers, today's your lucky day -- YouTube Music subscribers can now stream tunes directly through the Sonos app. You'll find your saved music in your library, and you can browse playlists, albums, songs and artist radio stations. There are also sections for recommendations, new releases and YouTube charts.
Google adds more media and messaging options to Android Auto
Google is rolling out media playback and messaging updates on Android Auto to make it more convenient while keeping safety at the forefront. The refreshed media interface should quickly help you find something you want to listen to , while the system can display short previews of texts -- but only when the car is stopped.
YouTube Music is about to get a lot better
YouTube Music launched in May to mixed reviews. Even though its song catalog matches Apple Music and Spotify's (in addition to millions of videos pulled from YouTube) it arrived missing some essential features. Something as simple as sorting out your saved albums alphabetically, for example, isn't an option. You also can't browse by genre or easily see new albums from the week. But Google, which will replace Play Music with YouTube Music, is aware of these shortcomings and plans to address them soon.
Android's Clock will wake you up with tunes from Spotify
Android users' morning ritual might get a bit more musical. A new update to the Google Clock app adds an integration with Spotify so you can wake up with your favorite track or playlist rather than a droning alarm. As TechCrunch points out, this will work with any handset running Android Lollipop and doesn't even require a Spotify Premium account to use. The update begins rolling out this week.
Google's music- and video-streaming strategy is a mess
Today Google announced a major shake-up of its music- and video-streaming services. That should be cause for celebration, since the company's offerings are a convoluted mess right now. There's Google Play Music, a Spotify rival with a robust "locker" system for streaming your personal library. In a handful of countries you can also download YouTube Music, a free app that includes music videos and live-concert footage. It's ad supported, but you can unlock a premium version if you subscribe to YouTube Red, which also comes with a free Play Music subscription.
YouTube Music subscriptions shake up Google Play Music and YouTube Red
YouTube execs have finally announced the long-awaited revamp for YouTube Music that they say will eventually replace Google Play Music. In interviews with Recode, CNET and USA Today, they revealed the new YouTube Music will soft-launch next Tuesday with a $10 subscription packages (you can sign up now for updates right here). Similar to its previous iteration, the focus here will be on personalization that tries to learn what music you like, but this time it's pushing music videos to the background in favor of audio. The personalization will naturally tie into Google Assistant AI, and pull from a subscriber's YouTube history to serve up suggestions. Google Play Music will remain for now, but the plan is to "close gaps" between services like YouTube Music's lack of a music locker for users to upload their tunes before GPM goes away at some unspecified point in the future -- YouTube exec T. Jay Fowler told USA Today it could be as far away as 2019. Meanwhile, the YouTube Red section will transition into YouTube Premium -- a paywalled, ad-free video experience available only as a $2 add-on for YouTube Music. That means accessing originals YouTube is spending "hundreds of millions" on like Cobra Kai, will mean shelling out $12 per month. Update: YouTube officially announced the changes here, confirming its Music Premium service will launch May 22nd at a $10 per month price. Google Play Music subscribers will get access as part of their membership automatically and the blog post said that (for now) "nothing will change -- you'll still be able to access all of your purchased music, uploads and playlists in Google Play Music just like always." It also touts the new app's personalized home screen that "dynamically adapts" to your preferences, history, current time and location (just like Google Play Music). You can still use YouTube Music for free, but Premium enables background listening, downloads for offline and removes the ads. The new service arrives Tuesday in U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea.
YouTube Remix could mean the end of Google Play Music
Google will reportedly shutter Google Play Music as part of a long-rumored audio and video cleanup. According to Droidlife, the subscription streaming service — a rival to Spotify, Apple Music and others — will be replaced by YouTube Remix later this year. The new offering will reportedly offer both on-demand music and video clips sourced from YouTube. In short, it'll be Play Music and YouTube Music (the fate of which is still unclear) mashed together. YouTube Remix has been teased since mid-2017 and was slated for a March 2018 release by Bloomberg last December. (Obviously, that didn't happen.) Droidlife is now reporting that Google Play Music users will be forced to migrate by the end of 2018.
Did you know that Google Search on Android is a podcast player?
Whether you're listening to the newest installment of a daily podcast you're subscribed to or binging the latest true crime series, being able to pause a podcast on one device and pick it back up on another is a useful feature. And according to Pacific Content, it's a feature that Google offers right now. If you start an episode on your Android phone, for example, you can finish it with your Google Home, and Zack Reneau-Wedeen, Google's podcasts product manager, says this "device interoperability" will eventually expand to everything on which you use Google. We asked Google about the feature and were told that it's "not new" but it's unclear how long the ability has been around.
The best smart speakers for music fans
If you're a music fan, the first wave of smart speakers was probably a disappointment. While Alexa and Google Assistant have definitively proven they have a place in the home, the first Echo and Google Home devices were unimpressive when it came to actually playing music. They did the job in a pinch, and being able to command Spotify with your voice is a killer feature, but many longed for better-quality audio. Fortunately, that call has been answered. In the past six months, Sonos, Google and Apple have all released music-first speakers with voice assistants built in. There's no doubt that the Google Home Max, Alexa-powered Sonos One and Apple HomePod all sound far better than just about any other voice-powered speakers out there. If you value audio quality above all else (and have about $400 to spend), what's the right smart speaker for you? Let's break it down.
Google Play sale serves up 99 cent movie and TV show rentals
If you've been putting off renting a film, buying an app, or downloading an ebook, you'll be glad to hear that it's sale time on the Google Play Store (again). That means all movie rentals now cost a buck, and the same goes for three episodes from TV programs, giving you the perfect excuse to watch the stinkers you missed at the cinema (like bonkers sci-fi headrush Valerian), and the shows you've yet to binge. What's more you can dive in to some peak drama with 50 percent off HBO Now for the first three months for new subscribers.
Google Home Mini is crashing when cranked up to 11
The Google Home Mini is a great, low-cost option for putting Assistant all over your house. Like your smartphone, though, its built-in speaker isn't the type of thing you'd want to use for any sort of critical listening. In a pinch it might be better than nothing, though. If you feel like cranking the volume on its diminutive driver, however, consider the following warning: Depending on what you're listening to via Google Play Music, the smart speaker could crash.
Google and Deezer promise to expunge racist music, too
Google and Deezer don't want to be known as home for the hateful, racist music that Spotify started deleting earlier this week -- so both companies have pledged to follow in its footsteps. Spotify began removing racist content after Digital Music News published the names of 37 white supremacy bands you can find on the platform. Most of them are included in Southern Poverty Law Center's list of racist acts you can find on streaming services and digital stores.
YouTube Music adds song and album downloads almost two years later
It's pretty surprising that Google is updating the YouTube Music app instead of scrapping it wholesale. Before the most recent update it mainly served as a way to cast tunes that don't exist on the Google Play Music app to a Chromecast Audio. With the new patch, though, it's getting a little more useful. Now you can download albums, playlists and individual songs to your mobile device instead of a random mixtape based on your listening history. Pretty cool, right? Time to stock up on some obscure remixes for this weekend's camping trip before you leave WiFi behind.
Google Play Music tweak adds a sidebar full of shortcuts
As a music streaming service, Google Play Music works well enough but its user interface leaves an awful lot to be desired. Following the mobile app's update that added persistent navigation buttons, as 9to5 Google spotted, Mountain View has added those to the web version as well. The dedicated icons for your music library, recent listening history and home tab reside on the left rail now, and hovering over the ellipses below those reveals top charts, new releases, radio stations and podcasts.
Apple CarPlay now supports Google Play Music
If for some reason you're an iOS and CarPlay user that also manages your tunes with Google Play Music, you're in luck. Google's music service is now compatible with Apple's in-car system, which means you can control things from the safety of your car's display rather than fiddle with your iPhone while on the road.
Listen to tunes in Google Play Music's search results
If you use Google Play Music on the road, we have good news: you can listen to the latest summer jams faster than ever. In a mirror of an update to the web player from several months back, the streaming service revamped search results field in its Android and iOS apps, centering around "play" buttons for every result it finds. So long as you find what you're looking for, you can start playback the moment you've finished typing instead of visiting a dedicated search results page. Just be aware that it starts a radio station when you hit that button for a song -- you may not enjoy this feature so much if you only wanted to listen to one cut.
Google Play Music's New Release Radio is available for all users
Google has officially announced New Release Radio, a station on Google Play Music that provides users with a daily selection of new songs they may like based on their listening history. The feature has actually been out in the wild for almost a month now, but originally it was positioned as an exclusive for Samsung users (though neither Google nor Samsung made an official announcement).
Google connects Home's voice commands to your uploaded music
A new tweak for Google Home makes it easier to access music you've uploaded, even if you're not a Google Play Music subscriber. While Google Play Music customers could already listen to uploaded or purchased music by either selecting it on another device and using the Cast feature or putting it in a playlist, a new update rolling out means you can ask for your tracks directly by voice. It's not active on my account yet even after a device reboot (although I do see the speaker as an available Bluetooth device), but a post in the Home support forum and updated notes on the support page explain how it all works.
Jay-Z's '4:44' album is no longer a Tidal exclusive
Just a week after Jay-Z released 4:44 as an exclusive tied to Sprint and his music service Tidal, it's now available more widely. iTunes / Apple Music, Google Play Music and Amazon Music are all offering the album for listening now, with some including The Story of O.J. animated video. It has not appeared for listening on Spotify yet, but since most of his catalog is still missing from the service it's not entirely surprising. The album has already been certified platinum by the RIAA, but for many, this their first opportunity to have a legit listen.
Samsung exclusives are the last thing Google Play Music needs
Back in April, Samsung used the launch of its excellent Galaxy S8 smartphone to make a small but important announcement about a partnership with Google. Google Play Music would be the default music player on all Samsung smartphones, and Google would develop exclusive features for the company's devices. That's good for Samsung and its customers: Now the company isn't wasting time building apps nobody wants that simply duplicate ones that Android already has. And it's a win for Google, whose music service is now the default on this top-selling Android phone. But we're now seeing the first signs that deal is going to be a bummer for everyone else using Play Music. Some enterprising Reddit users noticed a new Samsung-exclusive feature called New Release Radio: a personalized station that surfaces new songs every day. It's similar to Spotify's extremely popular Discover Weekly playlist and Apple Music's customized New Music Mix (also updated every Friday). But at least to start, this station appears to be exclusive to Samsung users. (We've reached out to Samsung and Google for comment on this, but neither company has responded yet.)
