Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Google Play Music: the Ultimate Guide

There is more music than you can imagine right at your fingertips.

There are plenty of different apps out there that deliver all the streaming music you'll ever need. Not all music apps are created equal though, and Google Play Music manages to do a great job. It lets you stream music, buy new music, and even upload music from you personal collection so that they can be listened to no matter where you happen to be. There is a lot going on, but we've got all the details for you here.

Upgrade to an unlimited membership

For free, you can listen to radio streams and previews of full tracks. But to get the full experience from Google Play Music, you'll want to subscribe. An unlimited membership with Google Play Music will run you $9.99 each month, and gets you access to tons of new features.

  1. Launch Google Play Music from your home screen or app drawer.
  2. Tap the overflow icon in the top left of your screen.

  3. Scroll down and then tap on Settings.

  4. Tap on Start free trial.
  5. Tap Upgrade now and follow the instructions to upgrade your membership.

Note: Google offers a three-month free trial to all new subscribers, per account. If you don't want to upgrade to the paid service right away, come back to these instructions when your trial is finished.

Upgrade to a family plan

While you can use Google Play Music for free, to get all of the features and benefits you'll need to upgrade and pay for the service. When you upgrade, you can choose to grab a family plan. For only five dollars more than the standard membership, up to 6 people can share a membership which includes a Family Library to share your music.

  1. Launch Google Play Music from your home screen, or app drawer.
  2. Tap the overflow icon in the upper left hand corner of your screen.

  3. Tap *Settings** at the bottom left of your screen.

  4. Tap Start free trial (This may say individual unlimited if you are paying for an Unlimited membership).
  5. Tap Other Plans.

  6. Tap Family.

  7. Tap sign up and follow the instructions to upgrade your account.

Search for music

You can search for what you're looking for by genre, artist, band and song title.

  1. Launch Google Play Music from your home screen, or app drawer.
  2. Tap the search icon in the upper right corner of your screen.

  3. Type in the band, or song title you are searching for.

  4. Tap the search icon and browse your results.

Find a station

Stations are a great way to find new music that you haven't heard before, or when you want to set a mood during a party. You can find stations based on genres, activities, moods, decades, and more.

  1. Launch Google Play Music from your home screen or app drawer.
  2. Tap the overflow icon in the upper left corner of your screen.

  3. Tap Browse stations in the menu that opens up.

  4. Choose between the stations or search for a specific station.

How to curate a station

Once you've started a station, you get to decide what plays and what doesn't.

  1. Launch Google Play Music.
  2. Open up your music station of choice.
  3. As songs play thumbs up, or thumbs down to decide whether you like them in the station or not.

How to create a playlist

If you want to personalize the music that is about to be played, there is always the options of creating a playlist. This way you can make sure you're only hearing the music that you wanted to hear.

  1. Launch Google Play Music from your home screen, or app drawer.
  2. Open the music you want to add to a playlist.

  3. Tap the icon with three dots on the right side of the screen.

  4. Tap Add to playlist.
  5. Tap Create new playlist.
  6. Type in a name, description, and adjust the privacy settings before tapping create playlist.

Subscribe to a podcast

Google Play has plenty of podcasts that you can explore and subscribe to.

  1. Launch Google Play Music from your home screen, or app drawer.
  2. Tap the overflow icon at the top left of your screen.

  3. Tap on Podcasts.

  4. Tap Your podcasts at the top of your screen.
  5. Tap Search.

  6. Type in the name of the podcast you are searching for.

  7. Tap the podcast you were searching for
  8. Tap the icon of three dots on the right side of your screen

  9. Tap the Subscribe button.

  10. Choose your preferences, and tap Subscribe.

How to purchase music

Today, it's easier to purchase music than ever. Google Play Music allows you to buy music from right within the app, meaning you can keep everything in one place.

  1. Launch Google Play Music from your home screen, or app drawer.
  2. Tap the overflow icon in the top left corner.

  3. Tap Shop.

  4. Search for the music you wish to purchase.
  5. Tap the orange box with the price.

Download music

Google Play Music also gives you the option to download your music, so that you don't miss out if you lose signal.

  1. Launch Google Play Music from your home page or app drawer.
  2. Navigate to the music you want to download.
  3. Tap the download icon on the right side of the screen, and the selected music will be downloaded to your device.

Your turn

This is by no means everything that is going on in Google Play Music. It does give you a good place to start from, and explore to find both awesome new music, along with the tunes you've been jamming out to for years. Do you still have questions about using Google Play Music? Did we miss something integral? Be sure to drop us a comment below and let us know about it.