Some Google Play Music, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium subscribers are eligible to get a free Google Home Mini

If lady luck is on your side, then you might get a free Google Home Mini. Some subscribers of Google Play Music, YouTube Music, and YouTube Premium are eligible to take home a free Google Home Mini. The company has been circulating throughout the year, and a Red Flag Deals user spotted the deal once again. If you subscribed to any of the previously mentioned services before December 4th, then you might be able to redeem your smart speaker. There seem to be mixed results from Red Flag Deals users, so it might be best to check it out yourself. You can check out if you qualify, through this link.

Google Play Music on Android adds new options to new Location & Privacy section

If you’ve been waiting for a revamp of the Google Play Music app, this isn’t the update for you. Version 8.8 of the app adds a new section it calls “Location & Privacy” in the Settings panel. One of the new things is the “Manage Play Music History” and “Manage Google Location History” have been moved under General section. These two also join the new “Manage Activity Controls” option. When you select on any of these, you’ll be taken to your Google’s My Activity settings on the browser.

You now also have the option to “Delete my library” and “Delete recommendation history.” The former was previously only accessible through the web client. Meanwhile, the latter, if you choose to use it, will also remove your listening history, search history, and any other history that contributes to personalized recommendations.

Source: 9to5Google

Google rumoured to launch new YouTube Remix music streaming service as early as March 2018

Google seems to be taking the fight to Spotify with plans to merge YouTube Red and Play Music. These plans have been divulged by the company back in July but we haven’t heard much about it. Now, it seems the new service, which has been internally called “Remix,” might be coming as early as March 2018. The service is described as “Spotify-like on-demand streaming and would incorporate elements from YouTube, such as video clips.” It makes sense for us to have these two services merged as a Play Music subscription already gives you access to ad-free YouTube content and Red originals, might as well put them in one less confusing service.

According to Bloomberg’s report, there is a possibility of Play Music taking a backseat to YouTube here, which will follow internal structuring where much of the Play Music team has been moved to work on YouTube-related projects. If it does launch by March, Google would need to get the music industry bigwigs to be on board. It has been reported that the record industry heads aren’t happy with the minimal revenue being generated by YouTube music videos. This move might appease them. Warner Music Group is reportedly on board already but Google is still negotiating with the likes of Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and independent labels.

Source: Android Authority

Google Play Music might soon let Android users play songs right from search

It looks like Google is working to bring a feature some music lovers might want: the ability to play songs right from Google search’s interface. This feature debuted on the web interface a few months back and now it looks like Google is trying it out for Android users. According to GSMArena it doesn’t seem to be tied to a specific version of Google Play Music for Android so that could mean it’s happening on the server side. It’s a test though so you may or may not be lucky enough to get the feature.

As seen in the screenshots above, it shows the result above with the album’s cover on the left and the Play button on the right side. Below that are the auto suggestions, in case what the app is showing isn’t the song you’re looking for. If it’s a song or album you’re looking for, when you press play, it’ll start playing the song. For artists, you get a random song from the musician.