Set-Up
Google Music is currently in beta invite-only mode for US users. So, if you live in the US, head over to music.google.com and put your name down for an invite.
Once you receive an invite you will be able to log-in to Google Music, just as you do any other Google service. After logging in your music library will be empty. The first thing you will have to do is select “Add Music” from the top right to download the Music Manager.
The Music Manager, as in the description, is a simple tool to upload all your music. Hence, it does not have a lot of functions aside from the ability to choose your music source, schedule uploads, and throttle bandwidth.
Slowly your the online music library will begin to populate as your files are uploaded. Be warned, this process takes a long time!
Playback and Features
Depending on your internet connection playback can be seamless or a little flaky. At home on my broadband connection a song takes about 2-5s to buffer after it starts playing. Subsequent songs load instantly. The quality of the song depends on the quality of your original track and playback quality seems to marginally lower than the original. In fact for most tracks it is hardly noticeable. The music library also features the basic playback controls, in addition to the seek bar, shuffle, repeat, and volume controls. There is also a binary rating system whereby you can “thumb up” or “thumb down” any of the songs.
You can also create “instant mixes” which are randomly generated by Google Music. These can be really quite random at times! Google Music has a couple of interesting features, however don’t expect it to replace your desktop media player completely for anything other than basic playback.
Android App
My favourite aspect of Google Music is the Android app that allows you to stream all your songs from the cloud to your smartphone. Market Link | AppBrain
The app, like the web-based library, is quite barebones giving you the option to browse through your synced music and play it back.
You can also create “instant mixes” straight from your phone.
Conclusion
Until Apple rolls out its service, a fair comparison will be difficult, so let us wait a while and come back to the battle of the online music services.
