We could pontificate all day about what this means for Google’s broader music strategy.
But that assumes that Google knows what this means for its broader music strategy. And with that, the search behemoth quietly introduced ‘Magnifier’ on Wednesday, a blog that features lots of new music.
And that means free downloads, videos, images, interviews, songs of the day, exclusive live sets and recommendations, with content updated on a daily basis. “Sometimes it will be new artists we think deserve more attention,” described Google head of Music Programming Tim Quirk. “And sometimes there will be video interviews and live performances.”
There’s more to it than that. Magnifier is tightly tied into Music Beta, both from a branding and functional standpoint. So, the site offers an easy way to upload featured content into your locker. “You can add any or all of the songs to your Music Beta library instantly,” Quirk continued.
Which suddenly introduces a content layer into the Music Beta mix, and goes beyond user-uploaded collections.
Currently, Google remains without major label licenses on its cloud, which prevents quick, iCloud-style scan-n-matching of user collections. Instead, Music Beta users are forced to go through a laborious, often multi-day uploading process. On Magnifier, that is not an issue.