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I thought I would do a little write up on the different music streaming services that I use. Right now, I use 3; Tidal, Spotify, and Google Play Music All Access (Can they shorten that name, please?). I like all of them for different reasons, but hopefully this will help people to make a more educated decision about them. Unfortunately, I haven’t used Apple Music before, so I can’t comment on that. So, originally, I was just using Spotify, but recently it hasn’t been working 100% properly on my phone, so I thought I would give the other two another try, since I hadn’t used either in a couple of years. My issue with Spotify on my phone is a personal one, I believe, as I haven’t been able to find anyone else with the same issue, so for the purposes of this little write up, I’m willing to ignore them. I’m going to break this up into parts based on each player. I’m going to cover UI, reliability, quality of playlists, quality of radio, and miscellaneous things that I do or don’t like. Spotify: UI: The Spotify UI is very good on both the PC and mobile devices. It’s simple, and the search function isn’t very intrusive (the same can’t be said for Tidal). I personally enjoy dark themes, as I like to listen to music in the evenings with light low or off, so it is less fatiguing to look at. The black, dark grey, and green color scheme might not be to some people’s tastes, but I like it. Reliability: Spotify is generally reliable. I have had the occasional issue where it will decide that I’m not connected to the internet when, in fact, I am. That’s kind of a minor issue though, as closing and opening the app will generally fix it. (Sometimes it’s caused by Android trying to hang onto a wi-fi signal when it should have switched over to cellular) Spotify also loads songs quite quickly, which I appreciate. Quality of Playlists: Most of my listening these days (and that of my friends) is done through playlists. I rarely listen to a full album these days, as there are almost invariably songs that I don’t like all that much. Playlists fix that issue. Now, with the advent of streaming, there are other people that work hard on playlists which they upload to the service for others to listen to. Spotify has a huge lead in this, although that is partially because Spotify has a huge user base. Spotify playlists are generally the best that I’ve found, whether they’re made by Spotify or by the users on Spotify, they are excellent. Quality of Radio: This is where I have consistently been disappointed by Spotify for a very long time. The radio generally doesn’t do a very good job of finding songs that match the same theme as the original, and the radio also tends to repeat songs. I believe this is due to the algorithm selecting 25 or so songs, and only playing those unless you leave feedback with the thumbs up or down. I dislike this approach because I tend to just listen, rather than constantly leaving feedback on each song. Other Miscellaneous Stuff: Whether or not you believe in improved audio quality beyond 320 mbps mp3, Spotify uses Ogg Vorbis, which helps keep the audio quality up, even with lower bit rate music, which is a huge plus if you have limited bandwidth (I don’t, so I always listen to full quality, even on my phone, since I have unlimited data.) Tidal: UI: The Tidal UI can be a bit confusing. It’s hard to navigate sometimes, and if you’re on the now playing page, they show “recommendations” based on the song you’re listening to, but it’s confusing because they don’t clearly show that the recommendations are not a part of the album/playlist that you’re listening to. Reliability: I haven’t had any issues with the Desktop app, but the mobile app could use some help in this department. I’ve had it crash on me on several occasions, for no discernable reason. I’ve also run into issues whenever I switch from wi-fi to cellular, where it will return a needless error code. It can be annoying for general listening. Quality of Playlists: Not very good, generally. That’s about all I have to say about it. They pale in comparison to Spotify, and they’re the worst of the three, in my experience. Also, there is next to nothing created by the community. They’re almost all “By Tidal”. Quality of Radio: Marginally better than Spotify, which isn’t saying much. As far as I can tell, it will continue playing new music indefinitely though, which is a plus. Haven’t used it much. Oh, but you can’t make radio stations based on whole albums or playlists, which you can do with Spotify. Other Miscellaneous Stuff: Tidal is the only option here that supports Hifi streaming, so if you’re into that, Tidal is the way to go. I can’t say that I can hear a difference between this and high quality Spotify, but I would like to think I can, haha! Tidal does music videos, which is cool. It’s fun to watch videos in high bitrate HD video. Google Play Music all Access: UI: The UI is very good here. Nothing to complain about. Reliability: Google is the best in the bunch at handling transitions between wi-fi and cellular, and I’ve never had it crash. Full points here. Quality of Playlists: Halfway between Tidal and Spotify. They’re alright, but not amazing. Quality of Radio: My personal standard for excellent radio algorithms is Pandora, and Google absolutely nailed this one. The radio meanders along its own course, but never forgets the core inspiration from the first song. I use Google Play Music all the time on the road because of this. Any time I’m walking between classes, I’m using this one exclusively. Other Miscellaneous Stuff: Google Play Music also does music videos, albeit through YouTube. It’s still a good feature, and it’s integrated decently. It’s not as good as Tidal though, since you must switch apps on mobile devices, which can get tiresome. Google has a Seller’s license for their music (since they also sell music) so some masters are better than their streamed counterparts (or so I’ve heard. I have no personal evidence to back this claim up, so take it with a grain of salt.) I’m not sure what kind of license Tidal has, but I would assume that since they market their hi-fi streaming so much, their masters aren’t going to be bad. Conclusion: Well, I use all three of these players for different things, and I plan to continue using – and paying for – all three indefinitely. I use Spotify when I just want to chill out and listen to a playlist, without paying too much attention to the music. I use Tidal when I want to closely listen to the music, or when I want to watch music videos. I think Tidal does that very well. I also like that Tidal can take exclusive use of my DAC/amp, so I don’t have to deal with Windows messing with my audio. I use Google Play Music when I’m on the go. Any time I’m listening to music on my phone, it’s through Google. They have the best “set it and forget it” setup with their radio, so that’s what I use. Youtube Red being bundled with All Access doesn’t hurt either, since I get ad free Youtube, and I don’t have to pay $10 more for that. If anyone has anything they’d like clarified, or comments/concerns, feel free to comment! P.S. You may have noticed, I didn't really comment on Audio Quality! That's because I can't really tell the difference. Maybe I don't listen close enough or whatever, but I listen to music for my enjoyment. Some people swear by hi-fi music, others are fine with mp3. I'm not here to judge. I listen to everything on the highest quality allowed in settings, and I've been happy with all three in that regard so far. I don't think it's really a point that people should worry about for the most part.
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I have been using google play music for the past couple of months and I wanted to try something new... so I got a pandora account (on the same email as my google music account). and I clicked on classic rock and it started playing all of my favorite songs... almost the exact same songs I would get on google play music... then I tried Americana Radio by the offspring... and it started playing my favorite bands from that era of music.... the offspring, green day, nirvana. I am a big fan of led zeppelin and have yet to hear any of their songs... if pandora isn't getting my fav songs from google play music then pandora is really good at guessing what songs I like... if you want to see my music listening habits you can go look on my google account Rolason253@gmail.com List of albums I actually own Ace of Spades - Motorhead Aerosmith's Greatest Hits - Aerosmith American Idiot - Green Day American Pie & other Hits - Don McLean Americana - The Offspring Appetite For Destruction - Guns' n' Roses Back in Black - AC/DC Black Ice - AC/DC Blow Up Your Video - AC/DC By The Way - Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers Cardiology - Good Charolette Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd ¡Dos! - Green Day Enima of the State - Blink 182 Fly on the Wall - AC/DC For Those About To Rock (we Salute You) - AC/DC Journey's Greatest Hits - Journey Queen's Greatest Hits I - Queen Queen's Greatest Hits II - Queen Queen's Greatest Hits III - Queen Hot Fuss - The Killers Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin I'm With You - Red Hot Chili Peppers In Utero - Nirvana Jump Back - The Rolling Stones Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones Nevermind - Nirvana Nimrod - Green Day Paranoid - Black Sabbath Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin Pyromania - Def Leppard The Razor's Edge - AC/DC Revolution Radio - Green Day Rock of Ages - Def Leppard Rock or Bust - AC/DC Smash - The Offspring Symptom of the Universe - Black Sabbath Tattoo You - The Rolling Stones ¡Tre! - Green Day ¡Uno! - Green Day Who Made Who - AC/DC Youth Authority - Good Charolette 13 - Black Sabbath 21st Century Breakdown - Green day -Many Thanks Ninjasupahsquid Pronounced (Ninja - Super - Squid) With emphasis on the UH in super
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Hello I was wondering if there is a method of downloading the music from google play music all access as a file (.mp3 eg). I already tried SongSpout, which worked perfectly, but after 10 songs they want you to buy a license which i really don't want to just for a few songs. I've also seen someone using F12 in Chrome finding the file in there but I can't remember how it was done. Thanks!
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- google play music
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SCENARIO: I'm driving and listening to music with Google Play Music, and a notification of some sort pops up (messenger, calender, e-mail, FB, etc.). The volume of the music fades down, and the notification sound will play before the music's volume raises again. Well, that's what should be happening at least. INSTEAD, the notification sound doesn't seem to come through the speaker...it plays out of the phone's speakers at a lowered volume. I've tried to check the settings within each app, general volume settings of the phone, and even volume settings during music playback. Has anyone experienced this with Google Play Music? More details: Nexus 5 (16GB) Lollipop 5.0.1 Google Play Music (ver. 5.8.1810R)
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Hey guys, For a while I have been internally debating whether I should finally ditch CDs and stick to streaming services or stick with CDs. Pros of CDs - Can be ripped to lossless audio file formats - Still sounds better - No internet connection - Still some CDs out there that cannot be found on streaming services - No recurring subscriptions for use - LYRIC SHEETS - Reselling Cons of CDs - Sometimes not universally accessible - Some CDs can only be copied a certain amount of times - If you no longer need to use the CD because you copied it to various other devices all it does is take space - Less portable Pros of Streaming services - Usually unlimited music for a set fee - Some services work with multiple wireless speakers - Cheaper overall cost Cons of Streaming services - No internet connection, no music - You usually have to pay extra to download and even then, you still have to launch a client and you might not be able to copy it to multiple other devices - No EQ - Still can't match the audio quality of a lossless audio file. What do you think guys? And if I were to convert to streaming services, which one is better; Google Play Music or Spotify? Discuss...
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Hello lovely forum go-ers, recently I, and I'm sure plenty of you out there that have an Android phone have been forced to switch from the stock music interface to the new Google Play Music app. I for one am not to excited about this switch. I find that the new menus and options are fine and basically what they were before. I do however loath the fact that they removed the fetaure to change your ringtone to whatever song you have on your phone from your phone. The only way to actually change the ringtone to a non-preloaded ringtone is to drop the file into the "ringtones" folder while the phone is connected to your computer. I just really don't like that I have to use this app when the other one was completely fine, especially since I never buy any music on my phone, and usually do all of my music importing from my PC. I do however like the overall smoothness of the app, maybe if I had the ability to customize it a bit more and maybe change the colors to something other than the orange theme. So what does everyone else think? Do they like the new way they are forced to listen to music on their phone?
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Controlling Google Play Music with Corsair K70 RGB Media Keys
Guest posted a topic in Troubleshooting
Does anyone know of a way that I can control Google Play Music with the media keys on my Corsair K70 RGB?