Google Music Beta

[moarm]

Just curious what your thoughts were of Google Music Beta, those of you who have it ;)

ive found it suprisingly useful when im out of my house and dont have to clog my ipod with all my tracks :D

[mjmacky]

I already upped my tracks, I have a very tiny collection compared to most, and most of it is actually legit. I don't even care if it all gets lost.

I now have an extra 1.5 GB free on my phone, so that's a bonus.

[Stabber]

Apparently it only works for the us

[mjmacky]

Apparently it only works for the us

Is this going to be a regional thing? I could understand the beta being somewhat restricted, but what's the issue exactly with the service being global. Actually the thought came into my head. Google could potentially be playing server to a plethora of libraries consisting of pirated music. Maybe that's a bigger problem outside the states?

[anon]

Is this going to be a regional thing? I could understand the beta being somewhat restricted, but what's the issue exactly with the service being global.

Some licensing shit, probably - same reason why Hulu and Pandora are (or at least were) US-only. Grooveshark is available everywhere, but there are some popular artists you won't find in their collection, and they get deleted if uploaded (I tried uploading a Smashing Pumpkins album, the tracks only lasted a few hours).

[Stabber]

You forgot spotify ;)

[anon]

You forgot spotify ;)

For some people Spotify is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I don't see what the fuss is all about. They offer nothing I wasn't able to do with Grooveshark. Add the country restrictions and the fact (in my experience) there's even more missing content, and they're a big no-go for me, although a paying user's experience may differ.

[mjmacky]

Oh people really have heard of Grooveshark? That's kinda funny to me.

[lando]

does anyone know how much space im limited to?

[Sporkk]

I believe its 20,000 tracks but haven't tried Google Music myself. Hard drives and optical discs are not that good for a reliable backup so I have been messing with this cloud storage stuff to find something I like.
I know the record companies already tried to tell amazon storing legal mp3's in their cloud is illegal. I'm sure they will be checking all your songs to see who has been naughty so I would be cautious about uploading any pirated tracks. I have a lot of stuff from amazon so that is who I'm using at the moment. Even some tracks I picked up from other music services using coke caps come up as free storage for me on amazon.

I also just started using drop box and it works great for my small collection of pictures and random documents. Again I'm a bit hesitant to have photos online where a company can snoop through them.