Hopefully you’ve had a chance to read yesterday’s summary of the different Cloud music services. Currently, of the major 3 services, the Google Music one (which is still in Beta format) is the only free one with a ridiculous amount of storage – 20,000 songs. This is great for those Android phone fools users, who get free remote access to their Google Music library on their phones, but where does it leave us iPhone users, who want to tap into Google Music on their phone and not just the web? Well, thanks to the new gMusic: A native Google Music player app for iPhone, we’re not up shit creek without a paddle.
Developed by Interactive Innovative Solutions LLC (“IIS”), the gMusic app gives iPhone users the ability to stream their Google Music library to their iPhones wherever they have an internet connection. After purchasing the app for the introductory price of $1.99 (USD), PeteHatesMusic asked the IIS software developer, James Clancey, a few questions over email, and James was kind enough to give his insights in the Cloud Wars (trademark!) and how the gMusic process came about. Hint: alcohol demand.
If you like what you read (which OF COURSE you do), follow PeteHatesMusic on Twitter and on Facebook and you’ll live 10 years longer (note: you will not live 10 years longer, but your life will be much more fulfilled).
PeteHatesMusic (PHM): How did the idea of the gMusic app come about? Did you approach Google, then Apple? Or was Google searching for programmers?
James Clancey (JC): I am actually not affiliated with Google or Apple. The idea for gMusic came from a late night IRC chat with some friends. People were talking about the need for a google music app for the iPhone. The issue is there is no public API for Google Music. Another friend Frank Krueger wrote an unofficial API for google plus. That inspired me to write my own Google Music API. After a day or so I was off and running.
PHM: Are you surprised that Apple is allowing easy access to the Google Music “cloud”, when they themselves are trying to launch their own iCloud service?
JC: I am surprised. Apple actually rejected my app for a month straight before I was able to get it in.
PHM: How has the response to the app been? Any surprising comments, either positive or negative?
JC: Overall the response has been amazing. People have reported the bugs they have found. I am really happy with the community response.
PHM: How have sales for the app been? Are they higher than you expected?
JC: The app got popular way faster then I was expecting. There were a few articles that went around the internet. For a good 24 hours there was a tweet about gMusic at least once every 30 seconds. It was awesome.
(insert jealousy….)
PHM: Can you comment on the likely long term success of the 3 major competitors in the Cloud service market: Amazon vs Google vs Apple. What would make someone choose one over the other?
JC: Unfortunately only time will tell. All three are great services.
PHM: Do you see Google charging for their Google Music storage in the future? The Google storage of 20,000 songs far exceeds the 5GB that Apple’s iCloud offers, and over and above the 5GB is where the iCloud payment plans begin.
JC: Google tends to keep their products free as long as possible. So hopefully this will ring true for Google Music.
(note: PHM hopes so, too!)
PHM: I have been very impressed by the start up time of the gMusic app, as my songs played in less than 3-4 seconds, without any skipping or buffering problems. Do you think the success of the gMusic app and whatever success the iCloud may have will lead to a large decrease or elimination of physical media, and potential portable music players outside of smartphones?
JC: Google’s goal for a few years has been to move us away from physical media. The Chrome Net-book stores pretty much all of its information on the cloud. I do not see this trend going anywhere anytime soon.
PHM: How does the gMusic app differ from the web-based Google Music site? What do you see as the advantages that the app has?
JC: The most obvious difference is Native vs Web based. You really get a better experience and performance when things are native. Also with a native app you generally get a better user experience. One other major benefit to a native app is the ability to store music for listening offline.
PHM: Any planned upgrades or new features in the near future?
JC: There are lots of enhancements that are currently in the works. My priority list for enhancements is purely user driven. The goal is to build an app truly for the users. A few upgrades that I am working on right now are, Last.fm support, Album Cover flow, and an iPad interface.
James also pointed out that IIC made aMusic, the Amazon equivalent of the gMusic app. This actually started when James was having issues getting gMusic approved – that’ll show them! Both aMusic and gMusic share the same exact interface, which will hopefully giving the users the same exact experience regardless of which service they use. A version for MP3Tunes.com is in the works by IIC. It seems like they have the third party cloud market covered!
Check out the app and let us know your thoughts. My biggest problem was that there seemed to be an awful lot of Spice Girl songs on my Google Music – where the heck did THOSE come from…..
Tag Archives: iCloud
Morning Music Notes – He’s On Fire!
Jay-Z Adds Big Names to Made in America Festival, Becomes Executive Producer of NBA 2K13
Jay-Z’s new Made in America festival already boasted a pretty good line up. Joining Jay-Z, Pearl Jam, Passion Pit and others at the September 1/2 festival in Philadelphia are Drake, Chris Cornell, The Hives, DJ Shadow, and Run-DMC (via Consequence of Sound). There’s still tickets on sale, so go grab one – it’s a killer line up.
You would think that being a new father, owning an NBA team, and running a festival would keep most people more than busy enough. Jay-Z isn’t most men, and won’t stop until he gets zero hours of sleep. Adding to his list of tasks –
a new reality show with Carrot Topexecutive producing the NBA video game NBA 2K13. Couldn’t he have worked on NBA Jam instead? I’d LOVE to hear Hova say “Boom shakalaka!” And no, this doesn’t mean you’ll see Beyonce as a cheerleader (damn!) or Jay-Z appearing as the new point guard for theNew JerseyBrooklyn Nets.Jay-Z will be picking the soundtrack for the video game (via Consequence of Sound). Oddly, the soundtrack consists of 95% Jay-Z songs, 4% Beyonce songs, and 1% Kanye West songs. Actually, that doesn’t sound too bad. In reality, it does feature a lot of Jay-Z and Kanye West songs, as well as Coldplay, U2, Nas, Daft Punk, Santigold, Puff “Where have you been” Daddy, and Dirty Projectors. The game is out October 2, and check out the full tracklist below.
Click to read the rest of the Morning Music Notes
Morning Music Notes – It’s Apple’s World, We’re Just Living in It
Apple’s iPad and iCloud Grow Like Crazy
Pretty sure crazy is a technical business term thrown around in the boardroom. Apple CEO Tim Cook told the crowd at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference that Apple has sold about 55 million iPads in the two years of release (via Slash Gear). To put this number in perspective, it took the iPhone 3 years to accomplish this, and the Mac computer, um, about 22 years.
Tim Cook also discussed how the iCloud – Apple’s online storage service – is doing. There are about 100 million users syncing stuff, which is up from the 85 million announced last month – that’s a lot of growth.
Another crazy stat (via Tech Crunch): Apple made $22 BILLION in revenue in developing world in 2011, and “just” $1.4 billion in 2007. The developing world here is considered China, parts of Asia, India, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Hey, I don’t decide these things.
Click to check out the rest of today’s Morning Music Notes, since you like cool news
iTunes Match is Now Operational (Like the Death Star) – in the USA (Unlike the Death Star)
Apple’s iTunes Match program, which lets your match up your music collection with that in the iCloud, is now accessible to users….in the United States of America (via Slash Gear).
For the annual cost of 25 beers on one dollar beer night ($25 for those of you who are poor at math or non-alcohol and ignored the math), you can subscribe to the iTunes Match service.
“At the moment only users in the USA are allowed to use the service, but users around the world can download the new version of iTunes via Apple’s iTunes 10.5.1 download page. This service will allow you to import all of your music to the iCloud where iTunes will either provide the highest-quality version of the tracks available or will use the version of the music file you uploaded when no match can be made. With this service, you’ll have your whole music library wherever you go with the opportunity to purchase as much physically represented music as you want to add to your library any time you want for no additional charge.”
No word when this will hit Canada and other
inferiorequally awesome countries.Apple Halting aMusic and gMusic iPhone Apps?
Hot on the heels of the PeteHatesMusic interview with James Clancey, the developer behind Interactive Innovative Solutions LLC (“IIS”), comes news that the aMusic app is no longer available in the iTunes store (via Hypebot). The aMusic and gMusic apps were created by IIS to allow you to use the Amazon Cloud and the Google Music services on your iPhone.
Here’s the full statement from James Clancey to Evolver.fm about the state of his company’s aMusic and gMusic apps:
“There are some legal issues with the music industry. The aMusic [app] is down temporarily. It will be back. Unfortunately I do not have a specific date when it will be back. Also, Apple has been delaying my gMusic update. I submitted it 2 weeks ago. Every other update I have submitted within the 2 weeks has been approved in under 8 hours. So not sure what the deal is.”
Well, PHM did think that it was a little odd that Apple would allow apps on the iPhone that were direct competitors to their iCloud service. Why pay for extra storage on the iCloud when I could spread my music out across as many apps as possible and minimize my payment? You can’t take away my gMusic Apple, I use it too much! Fingers crossed.
Interview with the Creator of gMusic: A native Google Music player app for iPhone
Hopefully you’ve had a chance to read yesterday’s summary of the different Cloud music services. Currently, of the major 3 services, the Google Music one (which is still in Beta format) is the only free one with a ridiculous amount of storage – 20,000 songs. This is great for those Android phone
foolsusers, who get free remote access to their Google Music library on their phones, but where does it leave us iPhone users, who want to tap into Google Music on their phone and not just the web? Well, thanks to the new gMusic: A native Google Music player app for iPhone, we’re not up shit creek without a paddle.Developed by Interactive Innovative Solutions LLC (“IIS”), the gMusic app gives iPhone users the ability to stream their Google Music library to their iPhones wherever they have an internet connection. After purchasing the app for the introductory price of $1.99 (USD), PeteHatesMusic asked the IIS software developer, James Clancey, a few questions over email, and James was kind enough to give his insights in the Cloud Wars (trademark!) and how the gMusic process came about. Hint:
alcoholdemand.If you like what you read (which OF COURSE you do), follow PeteHatesMusic on Twitter and on Facebook and you’ll live 10 years longer (note: you will not live 10 years longer, but your life will be much more fulfilled).
PeteHatesMusic (PHM): How did the idea of the gMusic app come about? Did you approach Google, then Apple? Or was Google searching for programmers?
James Clancey (JC): I am actually not affiliated with Google or Apple. The idea for gMusic came from a late night IRC chat with some friends. People were talking about the need for a google music app for the iPhone. The issue is there is no public API for Google Music. Another friend Frank Krueger wrote an unofficial API for google plus. That inspired me to write my own Google Music API. After a day or so I was off and running.
PHM: Are you surprised that Apple is allowing easy access to the Google Music “cloud”, when they themselves are trying to launch their own iCloud service?
JC: I am surprised. Apple actually rejected my app for a month straight before I was able to get it in.
PHM: How has the response to the app been? Any surprising comments, either positive or negative?
JC: Overall the response has been amazing. People have reported the bugs they have found. I am really happy with the community response.
PHM: How have sales for the app been? Are they higher than you expected?
JC: The app got popular way faster then I was expecting. There were a few articles that went around the internet. For a good 24 hours there was a tweet about gMusic at least once every 30 seconds. It was awesome.
(insert jealousy….)
PHM: Can you comment on the likely long term success of the 3 major competitors in the Cloud service market: Amazon vs Google vs Apple. What would make someone choose one over the other?
JC: Unfortunately only time will tell. All three are great services.
PHM: Do you see Google charging for their Google Music storage in the future? The Google storage of 20,000 songs far exceeds the 5GB that Apple’s iCloud offers, and over and above the 5GB is where the iCloud payment plans begin.
JC: Google tends to keep their products free as long as possible. So hopefully this will ring true for Google Music.
(note: PHM hopes so, too!)
PHM: I have been very impressed by the start up time of the gMusic app, as my songs played in less than 3-4 seconds, without any skipping or buffering problems. Do you think the success of the gMusic app and whatever success the iCloud may have will lead to a large decrease or elimination of physical media, and potential portable music players outside of smartphones?
JC: Google’s goal for a few years has been to move us away from physical media. The Chrome Net-book stores pretty much all of its information on the cloud. I do not see this trend going anywhere anytime soon.
PHM: How does the gMusic app differ from the web-based Google Music site? What do you see as the advantages that the app has?
JC: The most obvious difference is Native vs Web based. You really get a better experience and performance when things are native. Also with a native app you generally get a better user experience. One other major benefit to a native app is the ability to store music for listening offline.
PHM: Any planned upgrades or new features in the near future?
JC: There are lots of enhancements that are currently in the works. My priority list for enhancements is purely user driven. The goal is to build an app truly for the users. A few upgrades that I am working on right now are, Last.fm support, Album Cover flow, and an iPad interface.
James also pointed out that IIC made aMusic, the Amazon equivalent of the gMusic app. This actually started when James was having issues getting gMusic approved – that’ll show them! Both aMusic and gMusic share the same exact interface, which will hopefully giving the users the same exact experience regardless of which service they use. A version for MP3Tunes.com is in the works by IIC. It seems like they have the third party cloud market covered!
Check out the app and let us know your thoughts. My biggest problem was that there seemed to be an awful lot of Spice Girl songs on my Google Music – where the heck did THOSE come from…..
Apple, Amazon, or Google: Who Will Rule the Cloud (if anyone)?
The ‘invisible’ storage market has become the latest ‘trend’ amongst the big tech companies. This is having a major impact on the music industry, as record companies scramble to figure out how to make people pay once again for the music they have grown to accept as free. The most recent battle is in the clouds. I’m not talking about Lando Calrissian and Cloud City (although I sort of wish I was). I’m talking about Clouds – capital C, people. Clouds are basically storage servers that exist on the ground, but sound much cooler when projected many miles in the sky, sort of like heaven. Depending on the music service, the Clouds generally allow you to upload your music to the Cloud, and stream it at a later point in time, wherever you have internet connection. This means that you don’t necessarily need to physically have any songs at home or on your portable music devices – you just need to upload them at some point, and theoretically access them anywhere, anytime.
The major players right now are Amazon, Google, and Apple, each offering their own perspective on both costs and the music that is available through their services. Below is a summary of things as they
sit in the cloudstand.Amazon Cloud Drive
The Amazon Cloud Drive was announced on March 29, 2011. You get 5 GB free with Amazon Cloud Drive. You can upload a variety of media, such as music, pictures, and movies. If you purchase music from Amazon’s MP3 store, the music will automatically be stored in their Cloud Drive, and this will not count towards your storage limit. Afterall, there must be SOME perks to buying music from the cloud supplier.
After 5 GB, the pricing plan begins. You can get 20 GB of storage for $20 a year, which allows you to store an unlimited number of songs, but a certain amount of other media. You can get up to 1000 GB of storage, which will cost you $1000 / year. Basically, $1 for a GB. The Amazon FAQ even tells those evil company IT workers how to block streaming of the Cloud Drive to your company network. You also need to be in the USA (or have a US IP address…..) to sign up. Another reason why being a Canadian sucks, eh?
You can also access this Cloud on your mobile phone, and not just on the Web at a home or work computer. There is a free Android app, called Cloud Player, that lets you stream the music you have uploaded, or you can access it in offline mode for when you don’t have internet connection (think On a plane, or drilling to the centre of the Earth). There is also a third party app for the iPhone, called aMusic – A native Amazon Cloud Music player, made by Interactive Innovative Solutions LLC. This currently costs $1.99 but is only available in the USA.
Google Music
Google Music was announced in May 2011. It is currently a Beta version, so who knows what the future holds. Rather than bore you with text, check out a quick Google Video on how Google Music works.
[youtube ZrNhKcxBbZo]
Essentially, you can upload 20,000 songs to Google Music – for free! Like most Google services, you need an invitation to join the fun. Like the Amazon Cloud, you also need to be in the USA (or have a US IP address…..) to sign up. You can listen from the web, or listen on your Android phone device with a free app. There is also a third party app, called gMusic: A native Google Music player and made by Interactive Innovative Solutions LLC for the iPhone. NOTE: Look for an interview with James Clancey from Interactive Innovative Solutions in a post tomorrow. This is not an official Google app, but amazingly, Apple has allowed a direct competitor to create an app for a music Cloud service. Steve Jobs previously said this would only happen over his dead body…er…too soon? This app is available in Canada, although Google Music itself is not.
Apple’s iCloud
Apple’s iCloud was announced in June 2011. The iCloud lets you store data (like music files, photos, etc) for download to multiple devices such as iPhones, iPods, iPads, and computers for listening whenever you like. iCloud replaces the MobileMe service, for those familiar with that.
Like Amazon, you get 5 GB of free storage; and content purchased from Apple is stored without charge. Any music files purchased through iTunes are automatically downloaded to any registered Apple device. Additional space will set you back $20 per year for 10GB, $40 per year for 20GB, and $100 per year for 50GB.
The ‘bonus’ feature of the iCloud is iTunes Match. For an annual charge of $24.99, customers can scan and match tracks in their iTunes music library with tracks in the iTunes Store. This includes tracks copied from CDs or other sources (read: illegal downloading). The iTunes Match isn’t out just yet, however.
Verdict
GUILTY!If PHM were to handicap the Cloud Wars (copyright!), the free (for now…) Google Music or the Apple-backed iCloud would be your best bet. Head to the bookies! (Note: PHM doesn’t like bookies – PHM likes their digits intact…) And as cheesy and cliche as it may sound, the ultimate winners are the music fans. The better the competition, the better the prices and the services. People are slowly warming up to streaming (and even caching with offline access to) music. The music access future looks bright. And with my 80GB iPod conveniently biting the dust 2 days after getting the iPhone 4S, it appears one of these clouds will be getting 80GB of music heading their way shortly.Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook and you’ll live 10 years longer (note: you will not live 10 years longer, but your life will be much more fulfilled).
Morning Music Notes – All About Apple
More Details on the Apple iPhone 4S Announcement
Let down by yesterday’s iPhone announcement? Didn’t hear about yesterday’s iPhone announcement? Well, scroll down and check out the PHM summary. On October 14, the new iPhone
54S will be available in select countries. It wasn’t the full, revolutionary upgrade to an iPhone 5 that people were hoping for and expecting, but it is essentially a music faster iPhone 4, with a few more bells and whistles. Worth the 16 month wait? Maybe not. I even hear people are protesting outside Wall Street, but that might be unrelated.In addition to the features mentioned in the post yesterday, there is a new feature that Apple spent a lot of time discussing and developing. This feature is Siri, which is an intelligent assistant. You can verbally give instructions, such as setting reminders, having text messages read to you and even verbally reply to them. I can foresee many disastrous verbal drunk texts being sent.
Check out a 5 minute
propagandavideo of the new features, including the aforementioned Siri assistant.[youtube 0DVciEgSozo]
What the Apple iPhone 4S Means for Music
Another major announcement, as shown in the video above, is the iCloud. This stores your music, photos, apps, etc. It allows you to wirelessly sync your phone to your computer – look mom, no wires!
In addition to the stats listed yesterday, Apple also mentioned that 1/3 of music sold on iTunes is purchased on an iOS device.
A little more information about the iTunes Match program, as part of the iCloud streaming, was provided. It will be available at the end of October. There are 20 million songs in the iTunes library, making it the largest in the world (they haven’t seen my external hard drives, have they?). What iTunes Match will do is check your library versus theirs, and upload all of the songs that match to their (well, your) iCloud. What is not found,
tough shitthey will stream. The streaming is pretty interesting, and this is the first time this was mentioned for a non-matched song. The cost is $25 a year.Apple also announced a bunch of iPod stuff. Are you sick of reading about Apple, or are you bouncing in your seat with excitement? The nano got a makeover, and a price drop. There’s a new white iPod touch, and they have dropped in price – $199 8GB, $299 32GB $399: 4GB. The
uselessShuffle is still being made. No word about the ‘normal’ iPod.In Other News
Nothing else happened in the world yesterday. Sorry, folks.
Morning Music Notes – Dr. Evil Approved
Radiohead are set to release a series of 12″ vinyls which will feature remixes from their latest album, The King of Limbs. The first edition will feature Caribou remixing Little by Little, while Jacques Green will remix Lotus Flower. For those who are not over the age of 50 or who
did not hop on the ridiculous vinyl resurgencedo not own a record player, the songs will be available for purchase online.In addition to their new release last Friday, Coldplay have road-tested four new songs, with videos courtesy of Stereogum’s website. It appears Coldplay have ditched their
Sgt Pepper’s rip-offViva La Vida outfits, and are now rocking muscle shirts. Regardless of their outfits, their new album is shaping up to be another classic.Apple have announced they have sold a Dr.Evil-inspired 15 BILLION iTunes songs. This was announced as part of their larger presentation yesterday, in which they gave the full details of the iCloud. Apple failed to remind potential users that no internet access means no access to their iClouds and therefore, no music.
Beyoncé’s new album has a song that features the coolest guy in music, André 3000, and is produced by Kanye (he needs an “é” at the end of his name, too) West, in what is bound to be the best song for the first week it is released, followed by the most overplayed song of the summer. Click here for a listen.
Lady Gaga’s new album, Born this Way, has been banned in Lebanon. If there was a political party with a similar platform in Canada, they would get my vote.
Morning Music Notes – Invisible Clouds
Apple’s latest invention, the iCloud, is set to be announced today. The iCloud will be a giant, invisible (like a cloud….) online service, streaming the songs that are on your iPod. No word on how this works for all of the bootlegs and unreleased songs you have on your iPod. Price structure and other details are to be included in today’s announcement, or else Steve Jobs is a liar.
Adele has cancelled the rest of her US tour. The reason stated is “vocal problems”, but I think she is swimming around in a pool of money, ala Scrooge McDuck.
Eminem, who now shills cars for Chrysler, has sued Audi for using a sample of Lose Yourself in their latest commercial. Audi has responded to the lawsuit from Eminem, stating that the video is not a commercial per se, but more of a video intended to be talked about in the media in order to sell more vehicles.
I enjoy any video that has a warning stating that the following scenes are art and not to be taken seriously. I doubt that the warning will calm the type of people who like to complain, but I appreciate the effort. Without further adieu – Kanye West’s new video for his crushing song, Monster.
As I was deleting songs off of my iPod last night to make room for some recent additions, I noticed the number of albums that I have listened to once and hated, or just never gotten a chance to listen to and likely never will. Turns out that I am not the only one – 81% of music collections never get listened to. Although I find that number extremely high, it should be noted that most of my music collection consists of Kenny G albums that are absolute rubbish.