Google Play Music gains redesigned interface and smarter, AI-driven recommendations

Google Play Music teaser 001

Google on Monday announced overhauled Play Music apps with smarter, AI-powered recommendations based on user location, activity and time of day are now available for iOS, Android and on the web. In addition, the app can optionally save your most recent songs and a few recommended tracks for offline listening, even if you forget to download them yourself. The revamped Play Music app is available on the App Store for free.

Not to be outdone by Google, rival Amazon this morning announced that its recently launched music-streaming service, dubbed Music Unlimited, is now available in the United Kingdom and expanding later today to Germany and Austria.

Now with a single tap you can start the right music for any moment of your day.

The enhanced system uses machine learning and the power of Google—and takes into account your location, time of day and activity—to deliver smarter recommendations based on where you are and why you’re listening, “from relaxing at home, to powering through work, to destressing at the airport and everything in between.”

For example, the system may present you with one set of songs when you hit the gym and completely different songs at night, learning from the songs you typically listen to as the day winds down.

Google explains the enhanced recommendations system:

To provide even richer music recommendations based on Google’s understanding of your world, we’ve plugged into the contextual tools that power Google products. When you opt in, we’ll deliver personalized music based on where you are and why you are listening—relaxing at home, powering through at work, commuting, flying, exploring new cities, heading out on the town, and everything in between. Your workout music is front and center as you walk into the gym, a sunset soundtrack appears just as the sky goes pink, and tunes for focusing turn up at the library.

These timely recommendations await you on the app’s revamped Home screen that acts like your personal DJ, learning not only from what songs you like but also where and when you like to listen to them.

Plus, you also get in-depth recommendations based on artists you’re a fan of or music you’ve just discovered and, as mentioned, auto-generated offline playlists of recently played songs for subscribers to listen to when they have no network connection.

The new experience should roll out globally in 62 countries on iOS, Android and the web. Like Apple Music, Spotify and other music-streaming service, Google Play Music starts at $9.99 per month.

Grab Google Play Music at no charge from the App Store.

Source: Google