Alongside the release of their new music store last week, Google also took the opportunity to take their Google Music service out of beta. I previously wrote a hands on about the service, which lets you upload up to 20,000 tracks to stream and download to your Android devices for offline playback.
Now that the service is out of beta it no longer requires an invitation to sign up, meaning anyone and everyone can get themselves some streaming goodness… provided they’re in the US.
However those of you that can spell words like colour and hypnotise correctly need not worry as there are magical methods at your disposal to sign up. The basic premise is that Google checks your IP address on initial sign up but on subsequent visits does not mind where you log in from.
Engadget has a fairly detailed guide on how to sign up for the service which you can find here. The method involves installing a program called Tor which will basically allow you to reach the Google Music login page via a US IP address. I’ve no doubt that it will work a treat but it does seem slightly convoluted although this is probably what guarantees its success.
Those of a lazier disposition may just want to try signing up via a simple proxy, the method I used back in June when I signed up. If it doesn’t work you can always follow Engadget’s guide.
However you do it, let us know what you think of Google Music in the comments.
I had given up on Google music while it was in Beta, as I thought it might be a while before we see it here in the UK. I have since stumbled upon Ubuntu One. This has a very cheap music streaming service, which allows you to upload 20GB (plus 5GB free) music that you can download and cache on your device. You can add packs of 20GB, again for a small cost, and put your entire music collection in ‘the cloud’, if you want.
The software itself still has a couple of minor bugs, but it works pretty well, and you don’t have to be using Linux to use the client (there’s clients for Windows now, and OSX coming soon).
I like it simply from the point-of-view that I can get around using iTunes, which I detest, and still download the stuff I haven’t purchased from the iTunes store at any time. Check it out;
https://one.ubuntu.com/
I think it’s probably just-about worth the $40.00 per year. Also, you can use this 20GB for whatever you like – you don’t have to use it for music files. Oh, and there’s an app for iOS and Android.
signed up to Google music when you first posted about it and love it to bits! Google as usual disappoint in the whole “USA as the centre of the world” view. when I try to go to the new shop I get a “We’re sorry, the document you requested is not available in your country.”
To be fair, you can blame the music companies for all their licensing nonsense BUT there’s no reason the online storage feature cannot be international right now.
I absolutely love it for the convience it gives me. My entire iTunes library is automatically uploaded and whenever I fancy listening to something I either stream it or download it onto my phone. No wires, no fuss.
That guide is overly complicated. Just search for US proxy and enter than into Internet Explorer settings. I used IE because it’s my secondary browser, so I wouldn’t have to mess with Firefox settings. It’s easy to disable (just untick it) aftwards.
It won’t let you purchase Google Music MP3s but gives you full access to the Google Music online player and the online upload manager. Which works a treat.
It’s no Spotify but for when I cannot access that, it’s good and totally free (up to 20,000 tracks, I’ve uploaded about 4,000, so plenty left).