How Google's Cloud Music App Will Change Music

For years, Google has rampaged through the tech business, radically transforming virtually everything it touches, from book digitization to street maps. Now, it has honed in on the music world.

Few days ago

A few days ago, the upcoming version of the music application for Android—Google’s software for smartphones—was reported to have been accidentally leaked to a tech news blog called Tech From 10. The blog promptly made the app available for download, and even though it couldn't quite get the service to work at the time, its exposure was still a bombshell in the tech world.

What specifically is a cloud, and how could it make the average music fan's life a lot easier? In essence, cloud computing means being able to access data resources on-demand via a shared pool of computer networks with little management effort or service-provider interaction. One can easily access the information from, for instance, a Web browser, although the software or data is in fact stored on servers elsewhere. The beauty of this model is that it provides one single point of access for computing needs. Think of it as similar to how you get electricity directly into your home from a complex grid system. You can access this electricity anytime with no knowledge required of how the grid system works. Now, imagine that same principal applied to access to your music.

"All-you-can-stream services, your entire collection on your phone, and now your entire collection accessible anywhere in the world in the cloud from any computer or device. It's enough to make George Jetson proud."

Even some of the most tech-savvy industry names are watching cloud research with a wary eye. The Grammy-winner and digital pioneer Chamillionaire is a rap artist who embraced tech possibilities years ago. When it comes to the cloud, although, he has mixed feelings. "I’m currently a Spotify user," he says, referring to the popular music-streaming service, "who loves the thought of being able to access all of my music via the cloud and on multiple devices." However, he says, "I as well don't think most artists would be too excited about being paid royalties from streamed-music plays, as opposed to individual song download royalties." After all, he believes that "this is where the future of music sharing is all the same headed."