Google launches music curation feature

Irish users of Google’s Play Music streaming service are about to expand their music horizons, thanks to a new feature that will help them pick the perfect music for every moment.

Subscribers can now access the Concierge music curation feature to Irish subscribers .

The new feature, which is already available to those in the US and UK, means that Irish subscribers will be offered music playlists based on what Concierge feels is appropriate at the time. Concierge is available on every platform – web, mobile and tablet.

The service looks at the day of the week, the time of day, the device you are using, to see what kind of soundtrack you may need, and recommends a few accordingly.

The playlists you are offered will change depending on the time of day; for example, an early morning visit may see you offered music to wake up to, while an afternoon visit from your work PC could yield some playlists suitable for work. At the weekend, you might be offered music to impress your friends with, for example, or playlists that are perfect for driving to.

It will also take into account seasonal trends. Those using the service on Valentine’s Day were offered a range of playlists appropriate for the day.

Edit lists

The lists are hand crafted by the Concierge music experts, which include musicians, DJs, critics and enthusiasts, but users can edit the lists by reordering the songs and creating their own playlists based around the curated playlists. They can also be added to mobile devices to listen offline.

"We have a very big team of expert music curators and it's a wonderful group of strange, quirky, smart people who know everything about music that you can imagine in every corner of the music catalogue," Play Music head editor Peter Asbill said.

“We work with these people to build what we think of as perfect soundtracks for any possible moment you would have throughout the year, throughout the week, throughout the day.”

Songza

Concierge came to

Google

last year after the tech giant bought music service Songza in July last year in a deal rumoured to be worth $39 million. The streaming music service specialised in curating playlists according to moods and genres, and recommended them to users through Concierge.

"We have a really specific mission, and that's to use the music you listen to to make things you do every day better," explained Songza co-founder Elias Roman.

Concierge has been updated to take into account Irish music and situations that are relevant to audiences here.

Play Music isn’t the only streaming service to offer curated playlists, with rivals such as Deezer and Spotify also providing predetermined lists for different situations.

However, Mr Roman and Mr Asbill are confident that Concierge offers something different – and will also provide some music discovery.