Google is taking on the moody behavior of recently acquired Songza, as the search engine company's music service starts tailoring its curated playlists to its user's activities and time of day.
Google Play's Songza integration comes just a few months after Google acquired the streaming music service. With the likes of Spotify and Pandora delivering powerful recommendations to users and keeping local libraries untouched, the folding of Songza's sauce into the mix could help Google Play intrigue the palates of the most rigid of music aficionados.
"With more than 30 million songs to choose from on Google Play, it can be hard to figure out what to listen to," the company stated in a blog post. "Sometimes you want to build your own mix to rock out with your friends, and sometimes you want to sit back, press play and hear something completely new. Whether you're at work or on vacation, we'll find you the best music station to make the experience better."
Google Play takes note of what genres its users favor and adjusts by injecting its curated playlists with songs to fit each user's preferences. When an EDM users fires up a playlist for a rainy day, they'll be showered with 4/4 drum lines and synth instead of guitar-driven ballads.
"Each station has been handcrafted -- song by song -- by our team of music experts (dozens of DJs, musicians, music critics and ethnomusicologists) to give you the exact right song for the moment," says Google.
Like its competitors, Google Play will allow users to store playlists offline and to peek at what songs are about to hit the digital deck. Users can sort and prune their playlists as well.
Along with the moody music recommendations, the latest Google Play update also brought with it an overhaul to the application's interface.
Google Play's Listen Now wears skin crafted from Material Design, a visual programming language the search engine company announced at its 2014 I/O developer's conference. The Listen Now page takes on a card format and deals out recommended, recently played and newly released songs.
The activity-based playlists are live now in North America and the company's revamped Listen Now page is available in each country where Google Play is offered.
While Google continues to make its streaming music service more attractive, the company has recently taken steps to make sites linking to pirated media less visible in its search engine. Sites that have received a high number of Digital Millennium Copyright Act notices have been pushed further down in Google's search results.
