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Rant: Cancelling Google All Access Music

Apple changed their DRM policy and dropped it completely from music in 2009.

The music from iTunes are encoded with the AAC codec.

If your music is from after 2009 and it's not playing for you then it's probably because you're using an mp3 player rather than a more featureful media player.

Blame the player, not the file.

Otherwise, we'll have to agree that LP vinyl is a proprietary format because mp3 players won't play those either. :D
 
the player i was using was the stock Samsung Note 3 Music app. it refused to play iTunes files. perhaps it doesn't support AAC and only plays MP3?

I don't like Google Play Music as an app. it cannot be themed the way i like, has tons of gestures that i keep triggering by mistake, the UI is a mess, and so on. as such, i buy music that can be played or burned to a CD or used any way i want. besides, i got bitter after i got overage charges and noticed that Play Music had somehow chewed through 1GB of data and the app never shut down when i backed out of it. i still remain a proponent of an exit option in apps myself to avoid unwanted data use. on my G2, i also prefer the stock LG music app not taking over my lockscreen wallpaper. it shows a tiny version of its rather nicely done brushed aluminum widget and my lockscreen stays the way i like. that's another poor decision from Google. who wants their lockscreen wallpaper randomly changing to blurry album art?

When a song i bought on Google Play (someone told me that it worked differently than AA subscriptions and came as an MP3) wouldn't show up on the stock Samsung player, and i couldn't find it even after root (at the time i rooted to try ROMs and came back to TouchWiz unsatisfied with stock android) despite looking in /data/app and so on, even coming up empty in a search, i assumed they were some odd format. Point is though, root should never be needed if i BOUGHT the song, and chose to play it in an app that Google doesn't like. I am not some fanboy who thinks Google's decisions are all right. they just want me to use their limited, gesture ridden, and unthemeable app that chances design every time Google bats an eye. i'm a person who, when satisfied, doesn't need something to change. a music app should remain familiar, not hide menus behind gestures, add songs to my library i never asked for, and cannot be removed, or place files in either an odd format, or hide them in a folder i can't find.
 
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Yeah, I agree that the hidden or bizarre folder trick is lame. Apple, Google and Amazon all go for it on their devices. Probably cuts down on casual piracy. I still don't like it.
 
Agreed. at least Amazon MP3 allows the downloads to a user-accessible folder. helps to move some to SD card if space gets full, and the stock app (and Google Play Music) can read songs from both internal and SD storage at the same time.

Every MP3 i buy i also make a habit of using a file browser to copy it to my server at home for Plex streaming.
 
Ah, so you only bought 10 of the songs. I was worried you were talking about music you already owned and were re-purchasing again, lol. Google Play Music has never been my favorite app. I use it though because for the most part it just works. I hate how you have to back out to the menu to access your equalizer. I think the only reason I locked myself into it was because at the time, Play Music was basically the only option for casting to my Chromecast, and they required you to have the music saved to your Play account. So at that point I just went and added everything up there and have bought all my music through them since. Basically did exactly what I originally hated iTunes so much for, lol. Whenever I buy a song I sync it to my phone via GP and then I also download it on my PC so I can load it onto my flash drive that I have in my car stereo. It's extra work but I'm stuck in my ways.
 
Once i discovered Linux and played around in Ubuntu Server and Plex, i realized i could cast anything i wanted to any TV supporting either Plex or DLNA. problem is the media has to be offline, and supported. i limit streaming online because my internet is capped at 30GB and then i pay overages. so i had to find some means of streaming my favorite content offline, and Plex as well as apps where i can buy songs, TV and movies offline in either MP3 or MP4 format is the way. Google however has the most user unfriendly UI ever and prefers you to be in the 'cloud' which only works if you live in an area with both excellent cellular coverage or have an unlimited home internet plan.

I'm set in my ways, too. but my ways are stuck in the era of Gingerbread, where apps respected the menu key and didn't have crap UIs or flat designs. i got converted to Android via Samsung, and i also have an LG G2 with an excellent UI that 'just works' and includes apps that also maintain that usability. I see no reason to change for the sake of change and only cause myself frustration. I gave the whole Modern UI a chance and i just can't get into it. So i'm keeping my Note 3 and various Samsung tablets, removing Google Play when possible, disable updates, and also hold onto my G2 for as long as they last.

I'm happy i finally got back to the usability and apps i wanted, as well as the UI. Plex is only the start. i plan a whole home Intranet including websites, file shares, (well i got file shares) DNS (got that too) and the whole works. eventually i will get my domain name hosted and set up a mail server so i can have email MY way, and not be forced to change my password to something so obscure even i can't remember it, just because Google or Yahoo! flagged me using my phone to access my email as a 'suspicious' login.
 
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I have been using Google play music for a few years now. I don't use all access nor do I use other services like spotify or pandora. I did use pandora back in the day. I can't stand commercial radio. And I want to actually rip my own to the bitrates I like and the arrangements the way I like. Yeah I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to my music. I find out about new music from talking with people and listening to what they recommend. If I like it I buy it if not I move on. I keep my commercials to a minimal so most of my listening is done with youtube even though they are getting worse with it. I'm also in a few music groups on my fb page and find out when good new stuff is coming out that way. But I am way old school and remember the days of organizing all my music and keeping up with the fresh by going out and doing the footwork. I still like it that way but do enjoy the expansion that the internet gives me as far as meeting new music fans from around the world. I enjoy the interactiveness of it all. I like to use play music cause I have my entire library backed up on it for free. I can listen to it at anytime on any device well up to ten. I would say thats the only grip I would have is the device limit. I don't always care to have to try to remember when I can remove 4 old devices that are no longer used to keep up my ten. I use lots of devices around the house as we have computers and tablets set up all over the place here. I know there is no affect when I use a computer and my browser but the tablets all get counted even if its just an occasionally used device. So I don't care for the limit of devices but heck my entire collection backed up on their servers for free (yeah I know they market the hell out of me) but hey I can deal with that :)
 
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