What to choose: iTunes Match or Google Music

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Each of these services is great. Both provide access to a huge amount of music at a rather ridiculous price and can be a transitional stage on the path to licensed music for the little pirate who sits inside each of us.

For some time I have used both services and am ready to share the advantages, disadvantages and personal impressions of each of them.

Google music

In this article, we will not compare Google Music itself, but part of it - Google Music All Access, which opens access to all the music of the service for 170 rubles per month or 49 hryvnia per month for Ukraine. Here's what you get for this money:

1. access to all music in Google Music (millions of songs)
2. the ability to download music offline and listen to it without the Internet
3. the ability to download all tracks from your computer or iTunes
4. radio by artist, composition, album
5. you can share music with friends via Google+ (very inconvenient)

Now in more detail. If you have just started to move away from the life of a pirate, then most likely you have accumulated a large library of music on your computer. Google Music allows you to import it (up to 20,000 tracks), upload covers to it and write the tags correctly. And it will do it absolutely free, even without buying a subscription. After that, all music will be available in the service and on any device connected to Google Music.

For me personally, a huge advantage is that all music can be downloaded offline and used even without Internet access. With my terrible mobile internet, this is the main feature I was looking for. The music loads very quickly and of course has all the tags and covers.

One of the main flaws is the look and feel of the iOS app. It's done in classic Google style with cards and stuff. I will not say that it looks bad, but rather unusual and, for example, swiping to the right instead of the "Back" gesture brings up the sidebar. I still can't get used to this.

The second disadvantage of Google Music is that it does not have a client for Mac and PC, and you can only listen to music using a browser, preferably Chrome. However, there is a third-party unofficial client for Mac that I use and which suits me more than completely.

This is done with the shortcomings and I have only pleasant impressions about Google Music. For a small amount of money, you get access to a huge music library that only one service can surpass. And you know which one.

iTunes Match (iTunes Radio)

I've been looking forward to iTunes Radio for a long time. Still: absolutely free service, a huge selection of music, and even from Apple, which simply cannot do something bad. But after some time I was disappointed in him. And there was only one reason - advertising.

iTunes Radio on Windows is hell. Not only is the volume of the ad inserts higher than that of the music (fucking marketing psychologists), but when the video ads are shown, the current program is minimized and iTunes expands to full screen. Things are a little better in OS X. but advertising still haunts me and I set out to get rid of it.

Despite the fact that I continued to use iTunes Radio, I did not get much pleasure from it. Until I decided to try iTunes Match. And with it, Apple's music service goes to the next level!

So, what possibilities does iTunes Match give:

1. the ability to upload your music to iTunes and have access to it from all devices
2. no ads in iTunes Radio

That's all, but is there anything else you need? But when buying a subscription to iTunes Match, I made a very big mistake. I thought that the subscription gives access to free downloads of all songs from iTunes, just like Google Music does.

However, iTunes Match only allows you to upload to the cloud and license all your music and remove ads from iTunes Radio. And since Apple's radio magically picks up really cool music, that's enough.

The subscription costs $ 25 per year, which is noticeably cheaper than Google Music.

What to choose

I will say a banal thing, but I will have to start from my own needs. If the main advantage for you is the ability to upload your tracks to the cloud, then choose iTunes Match. Despite the fact that Google Music also allows you to do this, firstly, the latter is more expensive, and secondly, iTunes Match is a native service from Apple and, other things being equal, it will always work better.

If you need the ability to download your favorite music and listen to it offline, then the choice is obvious - Google Music. For me, this is the main requirement and I made my choice in favor of the service from Google.

If you love radio, then things are not so simple. After listening to the radio of both services for a while, I must say that the music offered is excellent in both. However, again, all other things being equal, I would recommend choosing iTunes Radio.

Conclusion

I think the future of the music industry is behind such services. Buying music by albums is, perhaps, very convenient, but also quite expensive, so not everyone can afford it. As for the subscription: everyone can afford $ 3-5 per month. Think of it like two cups of coffee. Moreover, listening to music in this way is really very convenient.

Another streaming giant, Spotify, will come to the Russian music market very soon. But when this happens is not entirely clear, and after his arrival, the situation can change dramatically. Until then, however, Google Music and iTunes Match are the best choices for those looking to get the most out of their music service.

What service do you use? Or do you prefer the old fashioned way?:)