Tag: google play music

The online marketplace has released its full on-demand service called Amazon Music Unlimited.

It feels as though rumors about an Amazon streaming music service have been around forever. As of this week, the company launched Amazon Music Unlimited. It is meant to function as a rival to Google Play Music, Apple Music and Spotify. That said, Amazon has worked hard to make its offerings stand out.

There are many ways in which Amazon Music Unlimited is different from other options on the market.

That said, the price of a subscription is likely what makes this streaming music service the most different. In the U.S., it has launched at $79 per year or $7.99 per month for Prime members. This is notably less expensive than the premium Spotify and Apple Music options. Moreover, customers who own an Amazon Echo voice-controlled gadget will be able to subscribe for music at only $3.99 per month.

That said, at the very heart of the service is one that is quite similar to the competition. It has an enormous catalog of songs. It also includes a recommendation engine to help users to discover new music. The service has a contract with the three largest music labels in addition to a solid number of indie labels. It can allow users to create their own playlists though algorithmic playlists are also available.

The Amazon streaming music service is available for Android, iOS, Sonos and desktop users.

Naturally, it is also available through the Amazon set-top boxes as well as its Fire tablets. The company’s new Music apps have been entirely recreated and overhauled. They have new navigation, typography and place a greater focus on album art and imagery.

These applications also offer a number of interesting features. For instance, users can automatically download music the company’s algorithms think they will like. This function occurs in the background so users can benefit from offline listening, too. Lyrics integration has also been included in the mix.

Amazon is focusing the marketing of its new streaming music service on its sleek integration with the Echo devices and with Alexa voice assistant.

Though popular, this free service will stop being available after January 31, 2016 as Google takes it down.

Songza has now become the latest in a trend of streaming music services that have been shut down over the last few years, as this free site and app will stop being effective starting on January 31, 2016.

The service had been acquired by Google last summer and it is now blending it into Google Play Music.

Ever since the acquisition of Songza, most people have been waiting for the announcement that Google would eventually be shutting it down. Therefore, for most users, the closure of this free music streaming service may not be welcome but it is at least not coming as a surprise. The tech giant has been working the proprietary technology of the service and the technique of its use into the properties of Google Play Music over the last while.

Google bought Songza knowing that the service had a functionality that the tech giant was going to need.

If Google was going to be able to compete within the streaming music industry, it was going to need to have some of the techniques and functionalities of this popular free service available. Clearly, it was willing to pay the price to purchase what it needed, as it is estimated that the company paid around $30 million in order to obtain it.

The service originally launched back in 2007 and instantly defined itself from among the many online radio stations that had been taking off at the time. The service involved the employ of staff experts that would curate playlists. From there, users could give a thumbs up, thumbs down, share playlists and skip songs they didn’t want to hear.

The service also allowed users to choose their playlist based on their mood or their current activity, so they would be able to listen to tunes that were appropriate for what they were feeling and doing. The platform influenced a number of the leading music streaming platforms that have become a tremendous success.

Now, Songza will simply be incorporated into Google Play Music and will cease to be known under its current name.