How to use Google Music
After months of beta testing, Google Music is finally available for everyone to sign-up for and use, and there are a slew of new features for you to use.
Before you jump in, however, here’s a quick rundown of how to use the service.
Signing Up/In
If you currently use GMAIL, Google+, YouTube or any of Google's associated web services, you're ready to use Google Music. Just head over to music.google.com use the same email address and password combination you usually do, and you're in. If you don't have a Google login of some kind, you can create one in a matter of minutes. Just click the "Create an Account" button and you're good to go.
Access The Music Interface
The beauty of Google Music is that it is entirely browser-based. When you visit music.google.com, all of your music is right there and can be streamed, in its entirety, directly to whatever device you're on. The interface is similar to iTunes and most other music management software; you can organize and browse by artists, songs, or albums and even see cover art. Moreover, you can create and access playlists, which can be managed right from within your browser or even imported from your PC or Mac.
But before you can really take advantage of Google Music's features, you need to add music to your library.
Importing from Your Computer
In order to get your music from your computer onto your Google Music cloud server, you need to first install the Google Music Manager. The Music Manager is compatible with both PC and Mac and can be downloaded either from directly within the Google Music interface or at this link. After the brief installation, the Music Manager software asks you to configure its settings to you preference, either opting to only upload your entire music library or only certain playlists from iTunes. If you don't use iTunes, you can also specify a certain folder on your PC or Mac to upload music from.
If you opted to upload a large collection of music, syncing all of the files with your Google Music cloud storage may take anywhere from an hour to over a day. It's all dependent on the number of files you're uploading and the speed of your connection.
Once your initial sync is complete, you can set the Music Manager to automatically upload any new music to the cloud. The software will automatically survey your system, find the newest tracks and upload them completely behind the scenes.
Creating Playlists, Editing Song Info and More
Once your Google Music library is populated with songs and albums, you can do just about everything you can do with a regular music client, including creating playlists and smart playlists, and editing track info. If you synced your account with iTunes on your PC or Mac, your playlists will be imported by default with every song intact. To create a new one, however, just hit the + button in the playlists section, edit the title and click and drag music from your library.
Google also supports automatically generated playlists, similar to Apple's Genius feature, called Instant Mixes. Whenever you're listening to a song, just select Create Instant Mix and it'll immediately construct a playlist of songs from your library that best complement any given selected song.
Buying Music from the Android Market
While most of the functionality of Google Music remains the same from the beta testing period, the Music shop on the Android Market is a new addition. Accessible from directly within the Google Music interface, the new Music shop allows users to purchase and download thousands of songs from some of the biggest artists in the worlds. Like Google Music, the shop is entirely web-based, so you can access it from any notebook or desktop computer. Once you find a song or album you want to buy, just click purchase, enter your credit card information and click purchase. From there, the song or album can be downloaded to your hard drive and will be automatically added to your cloud library.
Sharing with Google+
If you're a Google+ user and uses the same login you used for Google Music, you can post a song on your Stream for anyone in your Circles to listen to, in its entirety, one time. Just click on a song, click Share Song and add a personal message. One thing to note, however, is that this feature is limited exclusively to music purchased through the Android Market. Songs added from your PC or Mac are not eligible.
Listening on the Go
As cool as streaming music from any web browser is, the whole service would be useless if you couldn't listen to your music library on the go. Fortunately, Google Music features a companion app for Android smartphones and tablets, which allows you to stream your entire music library over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G. If you know you're going to be out of service, you can also cache entire playlists for offline listening. The service can also be accessed on iOS devices via the Safari web browser, but without a native app, does not support offline listening.
Downloading Purchases to Your Computer
If you make a purchase on the Android Market on a computer other than your own, you can always download it later. Just open the Music Manager application and click Download Music Purchases. The DRM-free songs will download immediately to your hard drive for you to load onto your iPod or burn onto a CD.
After months of beta testing, Google Music is finally available for everyone to sign-up for and use, and there are a slew of new features for you to use.
Before you jump in, however, here’s a quick rundown of how to use the service.
Signing Up/In
If you currently use GMAIL, Google+, YouTube or any of Google's associated web services, you're ready to use Google Music. Just head over to music.google.com use the same email address and password combination you usually do, and you're in. If you don't have a Google login of some kind, you can create one in a matter of minutes. Just click the "Create an Account" button and you're good to go.
Access The Music Interface
The beauty of Google Music is that it is entirely browser-based. When you visit music.google.com, all of your music is right there and can be streamed, in its entirety, directly to whatever device you're on. The interface is similar to iTunes and most other music management software; you can organize and browse by artists, songs, or albums and even see cover art. Moreover, you can create and access playlists, which can be managed right from within your browser or even imported from your PC or Mac.
But before you can really take advantage of Google Music's features, you need to add music to your library.
Importing from Your Computer
In order to get your music from your computer onto your Google Music cloud server, you need to first install the Google Music Manager. The Music Manager is compatible with both PC and Mac and can be downloaded either from directly within the Google Music interface or at this link. After the brief installation, the Music Manager software asks you to configure its settings to you preference, either opting to only upload your entire music library or only certain playlists from iTunes. If you don't use iTunes, you can also specify a certain folder on your PC or Mac to upload music from.
If you opted to upload a large collection of music, syncing all of the files with your Google Music cloud storage may take anywhere from an hour to over a day. It's all dependent on the number of files you're uploading and the speed of your connection.
Once your initial sync is complete, you can set the Music Manager to automatically upload any new music to the cloud. The software will automatically survey your system, find the newest tracks and upload them completely behind the scenes.
Creating Playlists, Editing Song Info and More
Once your Google Music library is populated with songs and albums, you can do just about everything you can do with a regular music client, including creating playlists and smart playlists, and editing track info. If you synced your account with iTunes on your PC or Mac, your playlists will be imported by default with every song intact. To create a new one, however, just hit the + button in the playlists section, edit the title and click and drag music from your library.
Google also supports automatically generated playlists, similar to Apple's Genius feature, called Instant Mixes. Whenever you're listening to a song, just select Create Instant Mix and it'll immediately construct a playlist of songs from your library that best complement any given selected song.
Buying Music from the Android Market
While most of the functionality of Google Music remains the same from the beta testing period, the Music shop on the Android Market is a new addition. Accessible from directly within the Google Music interface, the new Music shop allows users to purchase and download thousands of songs from some of the biggest artists in the worlds. Like Google Music, the shop is entirely web-based, so you can access it from any notebook or desktop computer. Once you find a song or album you want to buy, just click purchase, enter your credit card information and click purchase. From there, the song or album can be downloaded to your hard drive and will be automatically added to your cloud library.
Sharing with Google+
If you're a Google+ user and uses the same login you used for Google Music, you can post a song on your Stream for anyone in your Circles to listen to, in its entirety, one time. Just click on a song, click Share Song and add a personal message. One thing to note, however, is that this feature is limited exclusively to music purchased through the Android Market. Songs added from your PC or Mac are not eligible.
Listening on the Go
As cool as streaming music from any web browser is, the whole service would be useless if you couldn't listen to your music library on the go. Fortunately, Google Music features a companion app for Android smartphones and tablets, which allows you to stream your entire music library over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G. If you know you're going to be out of service, you can also cache entire playlists for offline listening. The service can also be accessed on iOS devices via the Safari web browser, but without a native app, does not support offline listening.
Downloading Purchases to Your Computer
If you make a purchase on the Android Market on a computer other than your own, you can always download it later. Just open the Music Manager application and click Download Music Purchases. The DRM-free songs will download immediately to your hard drive for you to load onto your iPod or burn onto a CD.
