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After unveiling a bunch of things targeting India just yesterday, it seems like Google has silently launched its music streaming service, Google Play Music, in India as well. Google’s music service has been available in the west for quite some time now, but only now it’s making its way to India. Several users are now reporting that they’re able to access Google Play Music from their devices, though Google hasn’t made any official announcement about Play Music service availability in the country yet. Read on.
If you happen to live in India and want to check out the Google Play Music service, first, head over to the Google Play Store, and swipe the menu out from the right side, you should see a Music tab right under the Movies tab if it’s live for you. Clicking on the Music tab will open up the music library and you will see three tabs on the top: Top Songs, Top Albums, and New Releases. As you can expect, most of the content is regional, featuring music from Bollywood movies and Indian artists such as Best of Bollywood, Indian Pop Hits, Tamil, Punjabi Pop, Indian Classical and Gazals & Sufi. For pricing, a single song can be purchased at as low as Rs. 15, while the full album starts at Rs. 90. It seems like not all the goodies are available right now, there are quite a few features missing here, first, Google Play Music All Access – a premium subscription plan, is not available for purchase as there is no option for subscription available as of now. Secondly, radio and podcasts are also missing right now, but we believe that these missing features and functionalities will be rolled out in future updates.
Google Play Music will compete directly with Indian streaming services such as Saavn and Airtel’s Wynk music. Considering slow internet connectivity in India and other infrastructural issues it won’t be a surprise if Google will add a number of exclusive features – similar in fashion to YouTube, that would boost streaming experience on slower connections. Google’s Play Music platform is now live on Android, iOS and web in India.
