Hands-on with Google Music MP3 store for web and the new Music app
By now, most of us are familiar with Google Music, but as Mountain View just outed its new tunes purchasing platform, we had to try it out for ourselves. It's a painless process, particularly for those who have used the Android Market and already have a credit card in Google's system. To grab songs or albums through the new service, you simply go to the Google Music page and click on the "Shop" link in the upper right hand corner. That'll bring you to the music section of the Android Market, where you're then able to purchase individual songs or entire albums to find your personal sonic bliss. Pricing's pretty much identical to what you've seen elsewhere: songs are either 99 cents or $1.29, and albums are around ten bucks. Once you've made a selection, you'll be prompted to log into the Market if you haven't already to complete your purchase. After doing so, it also asks if you'd like to share your new tunes on Google+, and lets you choose who gets to see (and listen to) the musical post on your profile. Easy peasy.
Shortly after buying the album, it showed up in the Google Music app on our Android device and we were listening to Jay-Z's lyrical stylings in no time. While doing so, we poked around the updated app and found a few new features in the update. The UI has been tweaked slightly, as you can now scroll horizontally through the categories up top, which makes sifting through your library by title, artist or genre easier than ever. Users can also create instant mixes from playing songs and the player itself has gotten some sprucing in the looks department. Unfortunately, the Market app doesn't enable music purchases on phones just yet, but Google said it's in the pipeline, and we'll be letting you know all about it when it arrives. Until then, let us know how Big G's new music store is treating you in the comments below.
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