YouTube Music is replacing Google Play Music but there are already groans from GPM users over missing features and differences in the new platform.
For those who primarily want to play music, YTM makes no sense since YTM incorporates the ability to play videos. The interface is also very different and takes some getting used to.
That's not to say GPM could not have been improved upon. On the web interface of GPM artist's albums are in chronological order. Yet on the Android phone app they are listed alphabetically. And in either interface there is no choice to change, though I prefer the chronological listing.
As regards YTM the web interface is a mess. I have pretty much every Zappa album uploaded, but the arrangement of albums within the app is all over the place. They are neither in alphabetical or chronological order.
There are some who no doubt like to discover new music and have suggestions foisted upon them. But for a great many others their entire library is of music they have purchased, often physically, and which has been ripped to store in the cloud - thus preserving wear and tear on the original disc and also making for easier and quicker access.
For the most part I am not interested in Google's or anyone else's musical suggestions. If not particularly fussed about what songs I wish to listen to I can flip the radio on to Absolute Classic Rock or Jazz FM!
Otherwise I want easy, quick access to my music library. The current state of YTM makes it more likely that I'll be whipping out the CDs once again rather than trying to trawl through the slow and user unfriendly mess that is YouTube Music.
tvnewswatch, London, UK
For those who primarily want to play music, YTM makes no sense since YTM incorporates the ability to play videos. The interface is also very different and takes some getting used to.
That's not to say GPM could not have been improved upon. On the web interface of GPM artist's albums are in chronological order. Yet on the Android phone app they are listed alphabetically. And in either interface there is no choice to change, though I prefer the chronological listing.
As regards YTM the web interface is a mess. I have pretty much every Zappa album uploaded, but the arrangement of albums within the app is all over the place. They are neither in alphabetical or chronological order.
The default position on opening YTM populates the app or browser with Google's own suggestions. But to be perfectly frank I am not interested in Google's, nor anyone else's suggestions. From day one, I have used Google Music, as it was called when launched in 2011, as a depository for music that I like. Of course there was no subscription service initially and radio stations are still only free in the US, India and few other territories. Even when I have had access to GPM's free radio stations, when abroad or using a VPN, I've never used them. When I listen to music I know what I want to listen to and pick accordingly. I don't want Google's or anyone else's suggestions. I've a regular radio for that, that isn't reliant on a reliable Internet connection!
YTM's display of albums is counterintuitive. On the app albums listed as small thumbnails with additional information to the right whilst the web interface has a similar GUI to GPM. However the scrolling through the listing is extremely slow.
As said the default opening position is Home which offers Google's YTM suggestions. To access one's uploads one has to click Library whereupon one is presented with Playlists, Albums, Songs, Artists and subscriptions.
Of course I have no subscriptions. So nothing there. But all my Playlists, Albums, Songs, and Artists appear to be listed. That said it's hard to say as there is no information available in YTM. Furthermore there is no genre tab in YTM meaning finding all my jazz and shuffling all songs is now now longer an option. Audio books are no longer easily accessible for similar reasons unless you know the name of the book or writer.
Hit GPM and I can with one glance on each tab see I have 698 Artists, 1,987 Albums, and 19,076 Songs as well as 142 Playlists. And as regards genres I have 83.
While casting is not a huge issue it is a slight issue on the web interface in that you have to cast the tab. There is also no obvious way of downloading one's library though in the dropdown menu there is an upload music function. However this is rubbish compared to GPM's drag and drop approach or automatic music manager which this week stopped operating for many users. In YTM one has to go through the "open file from menu" and pick the music one wishes to upload.
There is also no way to edit or change any of the Metadata of existing or uploaded music. This could really create issues especially if songs are incorrectly named. Indeed having transferred my library to YTM some albums and artists have been erroneously named.
From one's phone the interface is slightly better than the web interface, but still not as intuitive as GPM. Also when casting the display is a little different. While Google Play Music shows the album art repositioning itself around a black screen every few seconds, YouTube Music retains a static picture of the album against a grey background centrally placed throughout the whole song.
GPM also shows more data such as the Album name and time whilst YTM only shows a progress bar and does not give the album name.
So all in all YTM is a pale imitation of GPM. For some, who perhaps like videos and suggested music, it might tick all the boxes. But for those who like pure music it's a big step backwards.
Whilst having transferred my GPM library to YTM I am reluctant to use it until forced. Overall GPM is better all round.
GPM has a cleaner and easier to use interface. One can upload and download songs and albums easily as well as edit metadata and album covers, heck Google even offered suggestions at times. Music is easily found and cast both from the phone app and web interface. One could also download playlists, albums or songs for offline playback. Indeed making a particular playlist available for offline playback resulted in any further songs added to that said playlist also becoming available for offline access.
YTM's display of albums is counterintuitive. On the app albums listed as small thumbnails with additional information to the right whilst the web interface has a similar GUI to GPM. However the scrolling through the listing is extremely slow.
As said the default opening position is Home which offers Google's YTM suggestions. To access one's uploads one has to click Library whereupon one is presented with Playlists, Albums, Songs, Artists and subscriptions.
Of course I have no subscriptions. So nothing there. But all my Playlists, Albums, Songs, and Artists appear to be listed. That said it's hard to say as there is no information available in YTM. Furthermore there is no genre tab in YTM meaning finding all my jazz and shuffling all songs is now now longer an option. Audio books are no longer easily accessible for similar reasons unless you know the name of the book or writer.
Hit GPM and I can with one glance on each tab see I have 698 Artists, 1,987 Albums, and 19,076 Songs as well as 142 Playlists. And as regards genres I have 83.
While casting is not a huge issue it is a slight issue on the web interface in that you have to cast the tab. There is also no obvious way of downloading one's library though in the dropdown menu there is an upload music function. However this is rubbish compared to GPM's drag and drop approach or automatic music manager which this week stopped operating for many users. In YTM one has to go through the "open file from menu" and pick the music one wishes to upload.
There is also no way to edit or change any of the Metadata of existing or uploaded music. This could really create issues especially if songs are incorrectly named. Indeed having transferred my library to YTM some albums and artists have been erroneously named.
From one's phone the interface is slightly better than the web interface, but still not as intuitive as GPM. Also when casting the display is a little different. While Google Play Music shows the album art repositioning itself around a black screen every few seconds, YouTube Music retains a static picture of the album against a grey background centrally placed throughout the whole song.
GPM also shows more data such as the Album name and time whilst YTM only shows a progress bar and does not give the album name.
So all in all YTM is a pale imitation of GPM. For some, who perhaps like videos and suggested music, it might tick all the boxes. But for those who like pure music it's a big step backwards.
Whilst having transferred my GPM library to YTM I am reluctant to use it until forced. Overall GPM is better all round.
GPM has a cleaner and easier to use interface. One can upload and download songs and albums easily as well as edit metadata and album covers, heck Google even offered suggestions at times. Music is easily found and cast both from the phone app and web interface. One could also download playlists, albums or songs for offline playback. Indeed making a particular playlist available for offline playback resulted in any further songs added to that said playlist also becoming available for offline access.
This offline access was particularly useful when using the app in a car or whilst travelling where there might be no data access. With my phone connected via bluetooth to the car stereo I can, via the GPM app, quickly access playlists available offline and have them played over the speakers. Similarly during a long haul flight I can listen to cached music whilst in flight mode. While YTM does allow the downloading of songs or playlists it again is less intuitive than GPM's approach.
Many have suggested moving to Spotify and various other online alternatives. However many of these are a compromise and still don't address the issues or features lost from the GPM/YTM move.
Google has over the years improved on many of its products. And while there has been much criticism for its dropping services over the years, sending them to a virtual graveyard, this move is probably one of the worst decisions it's made.
There are many Google services people lament the passing. Google+ was not as popular as other social networks, but was nonetheless extensively used. Wave was a great experiment but there were few that mourned its passing. The same with Google Health, Buzz, and Google Video. But the decision to ditch iGoogle, a customisable start page with RSS feed integration, was widely criticised. Later this year Google Cloud Print, a technology that allows one to print over the web from anywhere, including a phone, to any printer, is being consigned to history. This is not a good move on many fronts. Ditching Google Cloud Print will anger many who have specifically bought a printer that was specifically made for the technology.
But killing off services, particularly popular ones, is also about the reputation of a company whose motto once claimed to "do no evil".
Many millions of users around the world have invested their time and money using Google products. Buying a Google Cloud Print compatible printer specifically for a Chromebook only to find one can't use it a few months down the line is just one example.
Killing off social networks such as Google+ can kill off contact with individuals that may have only been on that particular platform.
Last year Google stopped the ability to sync photos between Google Drive and Google Photos and vice versa. Their claim was that users were confused. Rather than kill off the sync between the two services completely, Google needed only to have turned off sync by default and allowed users to turn it on if they desired. Now, those that want to access photos uploaded to Drive in their Google Photos application need to do so separately resulting in using up twice the amount of data.
Many have suggested moving to Spotify and various other online alternatives. However many of these are a compromise and still don't address the issues or features lost from the GPM/YTM move.
Google has over the years improved on many of its products. And while there has been much criticism for its dropping services over the years, sending them to a virtual graveyard, this move is probably one of the worst decisions it's made.
There are many Google services people lament the passing. Google+ was not as popular as other social networks, but was nonetheless extensively used. Wave was a great experiment but there were few that mourned its passing. The same with Google Health, Buzz, and Google Video. But the decision to ditch iGoogle, a customisable start page with RSS feed integration, was widely criticised. Later this year Google Cloud Print, a technology that allows one to print over the web from anywhere, including a phone, to any printer, is being consigned to history. This is not a good move on many fronts. Ditching Google Cloud Print will anger many who have specifically bought a printer that was specifically made for the technology.
But killing off services, particularly popular ones, is also about the reputation of a company whose motto once claimed to "do no evil".
Many millions of users around the world have invested their time and money using Google products. Buying a Google Cloud Print compatible printer specifically for a Chromebook only to find one can't use it a few months down the line is just one example.
Killing off social networks such as Google+ can kill off contact with individuals that may have only been on that particular platform.
Last year Google stopped the ability to sync photos between Google Drive and Google Photos and vice versa. Their claim was that users were confused. Rather than kill off the sync between the two services completely, Google needed only to have turned off sync by default and allowed users to turn it on if they desired. Now, those that want to access photos uploaded to Drive in their Google Photos application need to do so separately resulting in using up twice the amount of data.
There are some who no doubt like to discover new music and have suggestions foisted upon them. But for a great many others their entire library is of music they have purchased, often physically, and which has been ripped to store in the cloud - thus preserving wear and tear on the original disc and also making for easier and quicker access.
For the most part I am not interested in Google's or anyone else's musical suggestions. If not particularly fussed about what songs I wish to listen to I can flip the radio on to Absolute Classic Rock or Jazz FM!
Otherwise I want easy, quick access to my music library. The current state of YTM makes it more likely that I'll be whipping out the CDs once again rather than trying to trawl through the slow and user unfriendly mess that is YouTube Music.
tvnewswatch, London, UK
No comments:
Post a Comment