Clouds With Silver Linings?
I’ve looked at the clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow … wait a minute. If I’m looking at the new cloud music services from Apple, Google and Amazon, are there three sides or just two?
Depends on how you look at it. So, before you take the leap and commit to one of these three services, or two different kinds or services, you will want to ask some questions.
The first is, do I need this service?
Do you need to be able to sync all the music contained on all your devices into one locker so it’s accessible anytime anywhere even if you’re offline? Before you say yes, you might want to find out just how much work and time is required to get all of your music uploaded to the cloud. And what it’s going to cost.
Would it be just as easy and cheaper to simply rip music from your PC to your Smartphone and move all those old crappy mp3 files on your iPod to your phone so all your music is loaded on each of your devices?
Next question, which service do I choose?
If you sign up for Amazon’s service you’ll be spending hours syncing your music to the cloud. It looks as though the same will be required of Google’s cloud-based music service.
That has a lot to do with Amazon wanting to be the first to debut the service without working out the licenses with labels and publishers for locker storage in the cloud while Apple decided to negotiate and acquire license agreements in advance of their planned June 2011 launch.
So, with Apple you will not have to upload your iTunes collection. Instead it will be magically reproduced in the cloud based on song titles in your collection.
Apple’s site will also enable the users to access iTunes in the cloud and receive recommendations based on what’s already in your locker.
Since Amazon launched without acquiring licenses the user is required to sync all music from their PC and phone to the cloud, which can take hours depending on the size of the collection. Not only that, but right now Amazon’s service is not compatible with iTunes and Apple devices.
Google still has not announced a launch date although they have set up a beta site by invitation.
It sounds cool. Sign up, download the app, and presto, Google sees all your music on all your devices and begins syncing to the cloud.
Is this really the way you want to store your collection?
What if the service crashes? What if they decide the monthly locker fee needs to be raised. Will you be locked into a contract like a cell phone for a couple years which can be a lifetime when examining the constant fast-paced change in technology?
Is it social?
It appears all three lack social media integration. Everything on the web now seems to be social. How are you going to show everyone how clever, or funny, or hip, or informed you are if you can’t prove that via social media with your music locker?
What about streaming websites like Pandora, Rhapsody and Rdio? How will these services interact with the cloud and your locker? Streaming, or rather access to previewing music, is where listening habits are headed online. Will the initial cloud services shut out streaming sites in the same way first generation iPods have no radio? Eventually you get a little tired of hearing the same tunes over and over and streaming is the most effective avenue of discovery.
For now, … it’s clouds illusions I recall,
I really don’t know clouds … at all.
Sorry, Joni. Had to do it.
Mike is the General Manager of Homer’s Records and has been active in the music industry for more than three decades as a retailer, writer, musician and radio deejay. He currently hosts “Sunday Morning” on 89.7 the River, and serves as a board member for the National Association of Recording Merchandisers and the Coalition of Independent Music Stores.