Google Play Music All Access Vs Apple Music: Here’s what’s different

Let’s face it, Google has been a bit too slow with the launch of its music streaming service in India. Arriving late for the music streaming party after Saavn and Gaana, the service arrived a lot later even compared to Apple’s iTunes, despite being built into almost every single Android smartphone since 2011.

When it did arrive in India last year, Apple was still ahead with not just iTunes for buying music, but with Apple Music as well because Play Music only allowed for radio and paid downloads at launch.

It’s 2017, and today, Google finally decided on letting its users in India get their hands on its All Access section, which is basically an “all you can eat” music subscription service.

Aptly titled, it gives users access to 40 million music tracks in various languages and even lets you download them to your smartphones and hear them offline, similar to Apple Music. But there are a few differences.

Price

The price you pay to arrive late? Well, it’s evident from the way Google has priced its All Access music subscription service in India at just Rs 89. While it is way lower than Apple Music’s Rs 120 per month, this is just the introductory price.

Google will hike the price for its subscription music service to Rs 99 per month after the first 45 days. It is still lower than Apple Music provided you are not a student as Apple offers a student account for a mere Rs 60 per month.

So what if you don’t like it? Well, you can always unsubscribe from Play Music’s All Access as the service comes free for month (you will need to enter your credit card details).

Apple on the other hand offers a three month free trial period.

Features

Google’s Play Music does offer a rather solid music collection for your listening pleasure. From what we have seen and used so far, the collections on Apple Music and All Access are similar and both offer radio station by genre and artist as well. What you also get with Apple Music is live radio stations.

However, what is different with All Access is the fact that at Rs 99 (there is only one type of subscription), you don’t exactly get a family sharing option, one that lets you share your subscription service with more people. Again, you do not get access to YouTube Red (an ad-free version of YouTube) at that price either. The same is offered complimentary in the US.

Apple on the other hand offers an individual membership at Rs 120 and at Rs 190 per month also allows for Family Sharing with up to six people.

Platforms

Apple Music clearly has been built for the iOS and MacOS ecosystem with limited availability on Android with Windows availability only via its iTunes software.

If there’s one thing we know about Google, its that Google is always web first. And that’s where it has an edge out here when it comes to the number of supported platforms.

Play Music’s All Access is not only available on your Android smartphone and tablet, but on your iPhone, iPad, and every other device that comes with a web browser (Google Play website). The web is Apple’s sore spot and it is the very one that Google dominates. Play Music, becomes a clear winner here, as it is available on your web browser as well.

The bottom line gets pretty clear if you are an Android smartphone user (you have really waited a long time for this one). But even if you come from iOS or MacOS, Google Play Music’s pricing along with flexibility of use across platforms does make it worth a try.

The post Google Play Music All Access Vs Apple Music: Here’s what’s different appeared first on Tech2.

from http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/google-play-music-all-access-vs-apple-music-heres-whats-different-370552.html