I was very excited when I heard that Google had made its music cloud service Google Music available to all. All my excitement went out the window when I realised in a while that “all” meant only those in the US. The Google service is meant to cock a snook at Apple’s iTunes Match that was also launched a few days back.

Google will be competing directly with Apple’s iTunes Store, which has already generated $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. Wal-Mart closed down its eight-year-old Music Download Store after failing to compete with iTunes, despite undercutting on price. iTunes Store began selling digital songs in 2003. Since then it has expanded to include apps, books, podcasts, and video. However, with its Google Music, Android, Google+ and You Tube, Google may offer a music experience for everyone in different age groups and countries. And it is free.

Disappointed that it was not yet available in India, I was determined to try the service de jour so I asked a friend in the US to help out. He created a gmail account for me from the US and I was good to go. First I went to the Google Music site and logged in with my US gmail account. I clicked on the Music Manager download link and installed it. The Music Manager can be installed on Windows XP / Vista / 7, Mac OS X and Linux.

I started the Music Manager and logged in again with my US gmail account. Then I selected the location of my music collection (iTunes) and began to upload my music. I first uploaded only one song, appropriately called Keys to the Vaults of Heaven, which got uploaded successfully in about seven minutes on a slow connection.

The problem was when I wanted to play it; it took almost 40 minutes to render. After a few days, when I tried to listen to it again, it again took 27 minutes to render. But the good thing is, it is possible to “pin” it to your device to listen to it offline. Just remember that I was working on a very slow connection.

So it is established that you can upload and store songs, which you already have for free, and you don’t have to pay to listen to them. Apple charges $25 annually for uploading and storing music not purchased through iTunes with its iTunes Match. Amazon charges $20 annually for digitally storing music not purchased from Amazon MP3 Store.

You can store up to 20,000 songs from your own collection in Google Music. File types supported are MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG and FLAC. You can listen to Google Music from Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE7 or higher.

You can share music with your friends through Google+. They can play an entire song once at no charge but only if the original song was purchased. Google has deals with three of the four major record labels and many independent ones, but Apple has beaten Google because it has a deal with Warner Music. Most popular singers and bands are with Warner. Google is giving away a lot of free music. It is offering some exclusive music such as six never released albums from Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Busta Rhymes, Pearl Jam, Shakira, Dave Matthews Band and Tiesto.

Internet bus

Meanwhile, Google is going great guns in India. It has launched an Internet bus service to spread awareness about the Internet in small towns and villages across the country. Typically the bus stops at a school, and children get to experience the wonders of the Internet. The children are so excited that they bring their parents along in the evening.

Having covered seven states, the bus has now come to West Bengal. It has touched the lives of 6.5 million people and two million have already become new users of the Internet. Moreover, 1.5 lakh have taken new Internet connections, Vinay Goel, a director of Google India told me.

Make sure you catch the bus and air your grievances if you have any. On December 2 the bus will be at Uluberia; December 8 at Haldia; December 12 at Kharagpur; December 18 at Bankura; December 21 at Purulia and Asansol; and December 30 at Durgapur. On January 6 the bus reaches Behrampore and on January 11 Chandannagar.You can trace the route of the bus at www.google co.in/internetbus

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