Google's Online Music Initiative seems neither here nor There

The whole time the media kept reporting how Google planned an online music service in the cloud to rival Amazon's iTunes' cloud music service, everyone was quite sure that there is something really special and revolutionary in the offing here. Google's own plans seemed to be very ambitious too. It was supposed to be an online store as well as a place you could just store all your digital music and stream it on demand whenever you needed it.

When Google finally unveiled the service, called Music Beta by Google, in the first half of May though, it didn't do so to any fanfare. People expected greater things out of Google. Let's see what's wrong with Google's online music service, shall we?

To begin with, what we were promised out of Google's online music initiative was a store combined with a cloud storage and streaming facility. Music Beta by Google however has no store. So is it a great storage and streaming facility? Well, the streaming isn't as unrestricted as you would want it to be. And then, since there is no store on Google where you can buy tracks and transfer them to your Music account, any music on your account has to come from you. As with Amazon's Cloud Drive, you need to upload all your stuff there to be able to stream it. Uploading all your music could take a while.

So what happened to Google's grand plans? It's what happens to any digital music streaming service that gets too big for its boots - the labels that hold all the rights to the tunes we want to listen to drape a big wet blanket on then. Google has been in months of negotiations with the big record labels to get them on board with its plans. And they got nowhere with them. The music labels apparently want too much money for too little freedom granted with the music, and Google apparently wants to go other way.

Somehow, the music labels seem to be stuck in a time when people bought vinyl records that were sold in stores and when copying anything was difficult. When anything new comes along, they tend to see it as a way for the world to snatch away from them what they have and not as a business opportunity they could roll with. It takes them a really long time to figure new technology out. And by the time they do, technology has moved on and no one's interested anyway.

Music labels seem to believe that blocking technology and progress in this way is a good way in which to maximize revenues for themselves and for the artists. Blocking technology never works though. And then there are the problems that Google has built into its Music Beta by Google service. To begin with, the service allows you to upload 20,000 tracks for free. So far so good. But then, you can only stream them to Android devices. Google doesn't bother with how licensed or unlicensed your music is. They just offer storage space and they only allow you to access your own music, not anyone else's. The Android streaming restriction could be a bit of a problem.

Google Music: Beta - the New Service that lets you Store, Stream and Download Music Online

Google in the middle of May, announced its first toe in the waters of digital music. They call it Google Music: Beta (funny how they made the beta status a part of the name of the service). It’s supposed to be a music service where you upload, store and download music online. Which is all just fine; what you want to know is, do you care?

When the whole Google Music idea was first floated, people were given to understand that they could buy and download music online from Google, and store their purchases online to stream any time they wished. That isn't really how it's turned out. Google's negotiations with the music labels have fallen through so completely that there is no talk anymore of what you can buy on Google. To be able to use their cloud music service, you need to have music on your PC already. And this can't just be a bunch of MP3 tracks sitting in your My Music folder. You need to have it properly managed with iTunes. iTunes does come with some well-known limitations that Google's Music service this trying to take care of.

The kind of limitations that iTunes is handicapped with can be pretty annoying. To begin with, things can't move in and out of iTunes all that are readily. It always means to sync with your iPhone or iPod with a wire. If you don't have an iPhone - if you use a smartphone by another company, you are stuck with using third-party apps to sync your PC’s music library with the one on your phone. Google hasn't so far made any music management software. But they will be addressing this shortcoming.

The reason you should be interested in Music:Beta is that it will take your music from your PC or your Android phone and store a full copy on the cloud. And then you can stream music whenever you choose. So is this going to be really useful in the real world? Consider this example. Let's say that you are at the office and you're working. You have iTunes on your office computer, but you don't have any of your favorite tunes stored in the iTunes library here at the office. If you had Music:Beta, you would have access to all you music on Google's cloud and you could download music online to listen to at any time.

So doesn't Google have any kind of rules about copy protection? Well, so it does. Apple negotiated in 2009 to be allowed to drop all copy protection. Any song downloaded from iTunes before then unfortunately, still has copy protection. You'll be able to upload anything to Google's cloud that you bought before Apple took away the copy protection. There are a few roundabout hacks to get rid of the copy protection. You could for instance, burn all your copy-protected music onto a DVD and then import it all back into iTunes. Membership to Google Music as of now is by invitation only.

Top 10 Music Hits Rocking the Hip Hop World

Every musician hopes to get to the top 10 music hits. It does not matter which country organizes the charts, as long the musician's single makes the cut. This brings publicity and product endorsements that improve the musician's rating. If he or she can keep up with the media craze, it is possible to get several interviews with the biggest shows in the networks. Such recognition gives them opportunities to perform in platforms like during the Super Bowl, the Football World cup or in other international events. However, before such limelight, the musician needs to work hard and engage the services of the best directors, studios, editors, special effects personnel and the choreographers. They have to calculate every shot carefully because the media houses want a video that matches the awesome vocals.

One of the top 10 music hits in the world is the duet by Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks, "No Air". It hit the airwaves upon release especially because the two singers have received worldwide acknowledgement as among the top musicians of the last decade. Sparks won the American Idol reality show 6, and Chris Brown is a hip-hop artist with a record that reads long for dropping hit after hit. In the song No Air, the two collaborate nicely and the lyrics have been on the lips of most young people since the song played for the first time. Dubbed as romantic and poetic, the song tells of two lovers who do not know how to go on living without each others presence. It stands as one of the most requested and sold single after selling four million copies and counting. Mariah Carey is a household name because she never fails to make her songs hit the limelight. "Touch My body" is arguably one of her best releases and it has a captivating video to match her mellow voice and screen charm.

Another diva in the top 10 hits in the world is Chris brown's former girlfriend Rihanna. Her latest album Loud has the hit song "What's My Name" featuring Drake. She has the moves, the voice and the guts to dye maroon on her head. All this comes out agreeably in this single. It is one of the top 10 music hits that promises to be a favorite tune for many people throughout the year. The controversial rapper Eminem has a new single, "Not Afraid", which is offering something slightly different to his all rap style. The chorus is easy for his fans and the creativity in the song is appealing and intriguing.

More collaborations are in the top 10 hits of the hip hop world with "Look at Me Now" sang by Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rymes. It combines the best of the three musicians who have had a time on the spotlight individually. In this track, Chris Brown goes out of the picture most of his fans recognize him with; he raps a bit and the other two do the same blending in perfectly. Other tracks that make it to this list are "Lay It down" by Lloyd, Keri Hilson's "Pretty Girl Rock", "Can't Be Friends" by Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj's "Right Thu Me" and Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow". The most outstanding factor about these songs is the arrangement of the lyrics, the immaculate voices and the striking personalities portrayed in the videos.