The stock music app - a really dumb question

[Bluesman2008]

I found this music player and like it. It's even got a built in EQ. Nice. And, most important, at the very end of the menu - wait for it - "EXIT"!!! Yesss.
Music Player - Audio Player - Android Apps on Google Play

 

[Sajo]

There's so many choices with Android. Glad to hear you found something that you like, that's what is important.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[PereDroid]

If you've solidly decided on that one, cool. But if you're still open to suggestions, can I plug the always overlooked Media Monkey? I've tried SO MANY music players, I consider myself a bit of an expert on the topic.

Personally I think Play Music is horrid for playing your own music collection. If you're not paying for their streaming service, there's no point to using it. SO many better options.

It's beautiful. I especially like the landscape player. I could go on and on and on and on but don't want to if you're set on the one you have now.

 

[MattE303]

Poweramp was my favorite before I switched to subscription-based streaming services. Beautiful app, and very fully featured.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

View attachment 75085 If you've solidly decided on that one, cool. But if you're still open to suggestions, can I plug the always overlooked Media Monkey? I've tried SO MANY music players, I consider myself a bit of an expert on the topic.

Personally I think Play Music is horrid for playing your own music collection. If you're not paying for their streaming service, there's no point to using it. SO many better options.

It's beautiful. I especially like the landscape player. I could go on and on and on and on but don't want to if you're set on the one you have now.

The thing I liked about Play Music with my own collection before I subscribed to All Access was that I uploaded 6k+ songs & could stream my collection anywhere. Didn't matter what mood I was in, I had music ready & waiting.

Adding All Access just sealed the deal for me. Is it the prettiest, most feature rich app? No, but it's nice to have my entire collection with me anywhere I have a device. Most convenient are my android tvs.

 

[MattE303]

The thing I liked about Play Music with my own collection before I subscribed to All Access was that I uploaded 6k+ songs & could stream my collection anywhere. Didn't matter what mood I was in, I had music ready & waiting.

Adding All Access just sealed the deal for me. Is it the prettiest, most feature rich app? No, but it's nice to have my entire collection with me anywhere I have a device. Most convenient are my android tvs.

I agree, I love being able to use my phone or tablet to control GPM over the Chromecast that's hooked up to our whole house speaker system. I just wish I could figure out why it has this annoying habit of pausing every few songs for no apparent reason.

 

[PereDroid]

The thing I liked about Play Music with my own collection before I subscribed to All Access was that I uploaded 6k+ songs & could stream my collection anywhere.

I've literally tried almost all of them.

Yea, I uploaded 4,000 songs. I tried to love it. But why do I need to stream my own music from the cloud if my music is on my device? Answer: I don't.

With MM I can also wirelessly synch my collection on my PC with my phone. It's so sweet.

If I want to stream, I use Pandora Free. Or Slacker.

Also have PowerAmp as my backup. Bought it a long time ago. It's the best if you just want a hardcore local player. But for synching with a PC: it's MM or nothing.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

To each their own, but, like I said, I liked it for being able to stream to different devices. I've been known to download tracks that I really enjoy to my phone. I still do with GPM in case I'm out of network coverage sometime.

But, forgetting that I have All Access now, being able to go to my garage or basement and turn on the Google TV box & stream all of my music, or to the Android powered TV in the main living room, is a great thing for me. At work, I stream on my PC.

I get your point if you're the type to load up your phone and/or multiple other devices with your entire collection, but I prefer to save my storage space for other things.

 

[PereDroid]

To each their own,

Naturally.

but, like I said, I liked it for being able to stream to different devices.

I don't listen to music on any other devices.
BT from Phone to Stereo in my car
BT to Bose portable speaker at my house
Direct from my phone at work
Occasionally wife runs her Spotify account through our Roku.

I get your point if you're the type to load up your phone and/or multiple other devices with your entire collection,

And I get you, Mr. Android TV. I'm thinking the OP is more like me. Music on PC and one device.

but I prefer to save my storage space for other things.

And I STILL have almost 20GB available.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

But you could have 40GB if you didn't have all that music on there. Haha! I get you too though. It's all in how you use the service/app/device.

 

[MattE303]

I do most of my music listening in the car and I don't have unlimited data, so I use the GPM "pin" feature (localize to SD card) on my phone. At home I stream everything, either from phone, tablet or PC.

More importantly, for me, the GPM service has completely changed the way I listen to music. I never buy albums anymore, I pay $7.99/month for the All Access service and I can listen to anything I want. It's made me a lot more adventurous about trying out new stuff, if I don't like it, I remove it from my library, no harm no foul, instead of $10 down the drain for something I'll never listen to again. I'm hearing a lot more music and spending less (well maybe not, since the less we spend on CDs, the more live shows we seem to go to ). And they seem to get new albums up on the servers pretty much the same day they come out, so I get to hear new stuff right away. I love it!

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I do most of my music listening in the car and I don't have unlimited data, so I use the GPM "pin" feature (localize to SD card) on my phone. At home I stream everything, either from phone, tablet or PC.

More importantly, for me, the GPM service has completely changed the way I listen to music. I never buy albums anymore, I pay $7.99/month for the All Access service and I can listen to anything I want. It's made me a lot more adventurous about trying out new stuff, if I don't like it, I remove it from my library, no harm no foul, instead of $10 down the drain for something I'll never listen to again. I'm hearing a lot more music and spending less (well maybe not, since the less we spend on CDs, the more live shows we seem to go to ). And they seem to get new albums up on the servers pretty much the same day they come out, so I get to hear new stuff right away. I love it!

Yup. One of my favorite things to do is tap the "I'm feeling lucky radio" widget on my homescreen. The other day, I did it and it created a playlist that I never would've created myself (with many bands I hadn't heard before) and there were only 1 or 2 songs that I gave the ol' Thumbs Down to, even though I listened to that station for a good few hours that day and left it queued up for a few days after for streaming while in my truck.

I don't have unlimited data anymore either, but even though streaming from my phone has become my goto music in my truck (gave the wife the car with the Sirius/XM subscription), I'm still on track to be under my 5GB/mo (I'll lose one of these after the 2 year promotional period is over).

A vast majority of my overall data usage is at home on my wifi that's at least twice as fast of a connection as I get on LTE. If I was ever worried about getting close to my data cap, it'd be nothing for me to queue up a bunch of tunes for download over wifi when I went to bed one night and have that music on the phone, but there's so much more available that I'd never think of listening to, but would greatly enjoy.

I'm not trying to sell anyone on GPM, just sharing my experiences with it. I also like, unlike the free spotify/pandora type apps, when I create a "Insert Band Name" Radio Station, I actually hear that band in the first few songs and then scattered throughout. Not sure if those apps give you more control when you pay for them, as I've never tried them. I'm locked into GPM for the introductory price of $7.99/mo, so I see no reason to pay any more for other services. I DO have a Prime account, but Amazon lost me when GPM added the ability to upload your own tracks and then All Access.

 

[PereDroid]

And that is the biggest difference. I like to OWN my music. I don't want to pay *any* amount for the rest of my life. Someday... like when (if) I retire I assume I am going to want to cut expenses. I suppose you guys will move to Pandora Free then.

I just created a new Station for a band and the first song is from that band.

Plus I also use Freegal though my local Library and get 3 free tracks a week through that system. That doesn't suck even though it's currently only Sony.

Which reminds me... I didn't pick my 3 this week. BRB.

I think we're getting OT here.

 

[MattE303]

I also like, unlike the free spotify/pandora type apps, when I create a "Insert Band Name" Radio Station, I actually hear that band in the first few songs and then scattered throughout. Not sure if those apps give you more control when you pay for them, as I've never tried them.

I used to use the Pandora (free version) a lot, and the one thing I miss about it is not being able to "seed" a radio station with multiple bands and/or songs, I hope this is something GPM adds at some point.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

As the staff member involved in this discussion, I'd say we're ok to go Off Topic in this thread, since the OP found a solution that works for him.

That's one thing I'm curious about, but won't dare risk losing my lower monthly price to find out. You can download songs right to your device for offline listening, but I wonder what happens to them when you no longer pay the monthly fee.

I also like the idea of owning my music, but I also know that my tastes change. I feel like I get my $7.99/mo worth (especially now) by finding new bands that I wouldn't have found before. I enjoy listening to those bands, but sometimes they're the kind of music I have to be in a certain mood to listen to and that mood often passes.

There are tracks that I uploaded when the ability first became available that I'm confident I'll never actually WANT to listen to again. I may let them play if they come on with a shuffle or radio station, but I won't seek them out.

Once again, to each their own, but I do have passing thoughts about "What happens when the subscription ends?" I'm sure there'll be a better solution by then for me though.