Google is quietly running an excellent streaming service in Play Music. Earlier this week, a big update made it even better.Play Music, which offers a huge library of music with curated and customizable stations, has always stood out with its embrace of contextual recommendations, i.e., suggesting different music for different settings. Google got a head start in this area when it bought Songza, an early pioneer in the area, and brought on co-founder Elias Roman as project manager."Our belief is that context is king," Roman told us earlier this year. "Weve had a long time to get good at what it takes to be good at that."In the past, Play Music featured something called music concierge, which let users click through a flow chart of things thatmight be relevant to them. This interface worked, but it also felt limiting. Personally, I had started using it less in recent months, preferring to choose music from the personalized but non-contextual Recommended tab or other sections of the app.Play Musics latest update blows up the concierge in favor of a new array of recommendations that pull from not only relevant activities(e.g., "focusing") but also recent listening and recommended classics, new releases, and customized stations. In short, its pulling from a much wider range of sources. It's also getting more use out of Play's carefully curated stations, many of which where buried in some dark corner of concierge.And the whole thing adjusts based on context, giving you different recommendations on your phone, on your computer, at the gym, and in the office.One example that impressed me: The old Play Music was never smart enough to figure out what albums are stuck in my headi.e., the ones I've been searching for repeatedly(e.g., "In The Heights" and "Falsettoland"). New Play Music immediately figured that out and always putsone of those right at the top.The new Play Music is not only smart but also wonderfully simple, putting it all on one neatpage. If you scan the recommendations without seeing anything that excites you, you can always click "Im Feeling Lucky Radio" for a unpredictable custom radio station based on something it knows you like. Not feeling that, and you can sort by new and top releases, create custom radio stations, and more.Play Musics $9.99 membership gives you a huge streaming library and the advanced interface described above. It also comes with a snazzy bonus: YouTube Red status, letting you watch YouTube videos without ads and some exclusive content.You may be surprised to hear that Play Music is this good: Googles streaming app doesnt get as much attention as Spotify, Apple Music, and others. It is holding onto a moderate market share, however, and, again,its a strong product. It was already this reporters top pick after weeks of research and testing lastyear.Since most ofthe top streaming services have similarly huge libraries, the biggest difference comes down to how easy they make it for you to find good music.Spotify hasexcellent playlists, including the personalized Discover Weekly, and its great at surfacing hot new musicand for some that will make it the best. It remains a step behind Play Music on contextual recommendations, however, and if you ask me, its lagging in interface too, especially after Plays update.Apple Music' It has a clunky interface, even after abig update, with often contrived playlists.Tidal' Miles to go on personalized recommendations and its hi-fi option will be lost on most. Another option if you wanthi-fi, which may in fact be better on recommendations, isDeezer.Pandora'Wonderfully simple but short on features and not necessarily better than the competitionat anything.Amazon Prime Music' Arelatively small library, though it does come free with Prime.Some of those optionshave music exclusivesApple and Tidal, prime among themwhich may sway some people. I've found, however, that's it's easy enough to wait a week or two to listen to Kanye.All of these options can bea lot to take in, but don't worry. One way or another, its never been easier to find to great music.SEE ALSO:Netflix is taking recommendation to a whole new levelDON'T MISS:Here's how close AI is to beating humans in different gamesJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Scientists attached a camera to a polar bear and revealed this never-before-seen footage
Click here to read full news..
