According to several reports, Google will be merging their Google Play Music and YouTube Music production teams to create a more unified experience for users. I’ve got to say that this makes a lot of sense, seeing as both products are ties to the same subscription service, offering a more uniformed app approach just makes sense.
In an official statement to the Verge, a Google spokesperson said:
Music is very important to Google and we’re evaluating how to bring together our music offerings to deliver the best possible product for our users, music partners and artists. Nothing will change for users today and we’ll provide plenty of notice before any changes are made.
From that statement, it seems fairly certain that changes are a coming, but maybe just not yet. It’s unclear if one app/ service will absorb the other, or if a new 3rd service will be born out of the merger. It’s also unclear how any future music strategy would merge with YouTube Red, which is also a part of the same monthly subscription service.
With Google not really making much of a a dent in the streaming music space dominated by Spotify and the like, I’m not sure a re-brand or merger is going to make much of a difference. However, any effort on Google’s behalf to reduce the number of confusing multi-product offerings they have is a good idea. I just hope we don’t loose any of the features that makes Google Play Music great, like being able to upload your own music collection for online streaming.
If that goes, Chris will be very upset, as he loves his GPM very, very much.
YouTube Music is nice, but frustratingly feature-bare for a music app. It can’t even shuffle a playlist FFS.
Hopefully this news changes things.
Yes! what I also dislike about it is that you can’t remove something from the playlist either…
Love the Audio Mode though!
I never really understood Youtube Music. Google Play Music, yes, Youtube Red, yes, but isn’t YT Music just a subsect of the videos already on Youtube/Youtube Red?
Ability to upload my music is the key reason I chose Google Play Music over Spotify. I have a bunch of mixtapes and indi albums that aren’t available on any streaming service, so the ability to upload it and listen to it anywhere is awesome.