Google Play Music deprecation (late 2020)

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SerjTank

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#275880 15-Sep-2020 02:24

Google Play Music is being deprecated at the end of this year. I need to find another way to stream music.

I've installed ampache, and wamp (both free, following this guide), and can get it to work someway within my LAN, but I'd really like to be able to access my ampache server when I'm out and about, too. Does anyone have experience working with this software?

Alternatively, can anyone recommend any alternatives? I'd prefer to investigate non-paid services at this point. Thanks!

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dafman

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#2564182 15-Sep-2020 08:49

Radio Paradise is free streaming. They are on web and have Apple/Android apps. You can create a free account, rate songs, and once you have rated enough, select to stream songs you like.

I was on Google Play Music and have moved across to YouTube Music as they are retiring GPM. YTM is more algorithmic than GPM and is constantly trying to second guess what you want to listen to based on history. For example, when I select a single song or artist, YTM automatically lines up an endless playlist based on that single choice. And the pain is you can't clear the playlist like you could in GPM - you are stuck with it until you create a new one.

Maybe I'm getting old, but with each new iteration of Google apps, their AI creep gets worse. I don't want Google to try and think for me, I can do that for myself.

Hammerer

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#2564220 15-Sep-2020 10:02

dafman:

... YTM automatically lines up an endless playlist based on that single choice. And the pain is you can't clear the playlist like you could in GPM - you are stuck with it until you create a new one.

Maybe I'm getting old, but with each new iteration of Google apps, their AI creep gets worse. I don't want Google to try and think for me, I can do that for myself.

I do like that tracks will keep playing even if I don't specify what I listen to. And I can quickly dislike tracks so they never return.

Also, YouTube Music (YTM) does have a setting "Improve your recommendations: Pick some artists you like" to reduce the risk of totally discordant track selections. It works better than it did a couple of years ago.

Even so, I don't very often let YouTube/YTM choose any content for me. I almost exclusively listen to my own playlists to avoid such issues, just as I did on Spotify too. I mainly do this to totally avoid having mass market music peddled to me.

Playlists also work well for managing downloaded content so I don't need a mobile connection to watch/listen.

sidefx

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#2564249 15-Sep-2020 10:38

dafman:

Maybe I'm getting old, but with each new iteration of Google apps, their AI creep gets worse. I don't want Google to try and think for me, I can do that for myself.

Completely agree; I pay for GPM monthly and have for around 2 or 3 years, and was extremely happy with it... I've now switched to YTM to try and get used to it and find it pretty crap in comparison TBH. The AI suggestions it comes up with are rubbish IMO and I have been doing thumbs up and thumbs downs for days now to try and "train" it. It also generally doesn't seem as intuitive to use but maybe I need more time to get used to it.

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Hammerer

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#2564260 15-Sep-2020 11:09

sidefx:

I pay for GPM monthly and have for around 2 or 3 years, and was extremely happy with it... I've now switched to YTM to try and get used to it and find it pretty crap in comparison TBH. The AI suggestions it comes up with are rubbish IMO and I have been doing thumbs up and thumbs downs for days now to try and "train" it. It also generally doesn't seem as intuitive to use but maybe I need more time to get used to it.

YTM definitely not the same as GPM. I left Spotify because I disagreed with their practices so I evaluated GPM vs YTM. Both were deficient wrt Spotify but YTM was missing a lot more, some of which has been added in the last two years but still less than Spotify.

I chose YTM over GPM because it has a lot of lyric videos. But I really miss genre selection; YTM just has some genre playlists which are virtually useless.

I've just read that they also removed genres from GPM - is that true? If so, then they'll definitely force people elsewhere.

dafman

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#2564300 15-Sep-2020 12:23

Hammerer:

Also, YouTube Music (YTM) does have a setting "Improve your recommendations: Pick some artists you like" to reduce the risk of totally discordant track selections. It works better than it did a couple of years ago.

I've deliberately not gone down this route as I am worried YTM might start pigeon-holing me into specific genres and limit my ability to discover new music.

I stick mainly to creating playlists on YTM which is pretty much now my sole use of the service. For new music, I go elsewhere - as previously mentioned, Radio Paradise is a great streaming service for discovering new music. Their android app is great. You can listen for free, I donate USD $30 each year to say thanks.

SerjTank

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#2565619 16-Sep-2020 01:36

Has anyone heard of or used Ampache?

Over at Reddit, one user lists several benefits:

bit of an ugly web interface, but it's more than usable and has a HTML5 player.
Mature code-base and still under regular development
Runs on standard LAMP/LEMP stack (I'm running it in a Ubuntu 16.04 VM with Nginx, PHP7-FPM and MariaDB)
Super low resource usage.
Supports many backends/APIs, including Subsonic. So most *Sonic capable clients will work fine such as dSub on Android and Clementine desktop.
Supports Transcoding (with conditional rules) to almost any format you like (FFMPEG backend)
Supports Offline Caching (via Subsonic API for example)
Doesn't want to take over your library and re-organise things. Personally I'm using Beets to organise it.
Can be remotely accessed easily and plays nice behind a reverse proxy with SSL/LetsEncrypt (I use Nginx, HAProxy should be fine too)
Handles my somewhat large(?) library fine. Currently it's ~480GB and ~38,500 files

Best of all it's free and hosted on your own hardware. I've been able to set everything up (somewhat) but still need a little help with one or two settings.

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lookout

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#2566090 16-Sep-2020 17:09

Plex is pretty good for music and can be used with a free account. You need Plex Pass to use the Plexamp app but the regular Plex app is ok.

I’ve moved from GPM to iTunes Match. $39ish per year. Uploads your iTunes library to the cloud so you can play anywhere. Took a fair bit of setup. Works well for me but I’m all-in with Apple.

everettpsycho

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#2566243 16-Sep-2020 21:05

I used to use GPM, then moved to Spotify as it was cheap with spark, now back on YouTube music as I got an amazing deal on YouTube premium.

I still think YTM is just not as good as GPM was. The UI isn't as nice, the algorithm isn't as good and to follow an artist it subscribes you in full YouTube as well. I don't want to see their videos I just want them in my music library.

I'm tolerating it because it's cheap not because it's good. It achieves what I need it to in having music go listen to at work and in the go and removing YouTube ads is its biggest selling point for me. It just feels like they alienated the GPM fanbase as the people on that service did like it and it just worked like it should. I still don't understand why I can't cast YTM from a laptop to any speakers or chromecast devices, only from the phone. It's just a weird omissions like that that make it feel half baked.

michaelmurfy

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#2566254 16-Sep-2020 21:41

@SerjTank Unless if you understand security well and are willing to take risks I strongly recommend against running Apache on Windows and forwarding ports to it especially if this is on your local computer. Consider getting a Raspberry Pi and running it on that (while creating a share to your media over the LAN) or shoving all media on an external HDD mounted on the Pi.

If you don't want to do that - Plex is incredible at this and you can purchase a one-time lifetime Plex Pass plan if you really like it. They've got some excellent mobile apps now too.

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SerjTank

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#2566336 16-Sep-2020 23:50

Interesting - thank you for presenting those alternatives. Most users here seem to be happy with mainstraim, paid-for solutions. Can anyone recommend some place else where I might be able to get more detailed information - should I try my luck with Reddit?

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dafman

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#2566435 17-Sep-2020 08:58

everettpsycho: I used to use GPM, then moved to Spotify as it was cheap with spark, now back on YouTube music as I got an amazing deal on YouTube premium.

I still think YTM is just not as good as GPM was. The UI isn't as nice, the algorithm isn't as good and to follow an artist it subscribes you in full YouTube as well. I don't want to see their videos I just want them in my music library.

I'm tolerating it because it's cheap not because it's good. It achieves what I need it to in having music go listen to at work and in the go and removing YouTube ads is its biggest selling point for me. It just feels like they alienated the GPM fanbase as the people on that service did like it and it just worked like it should. I still don't understand why I can't cast YTM from a laptop to any speakers or chromecast devices, only from the phone. It's just a weird omissions like that that make it feel half baked.

Your comments mirror my experience and thoughts, particularly the intrusive and unwanted pushing of YTM music playlists across to YouTube - I have no interest in music videos and now they are crowding out my Youtube!

More and more, Google don't want consumers thinking for themselves. GPM allowed users to manage their music library with limited input or interaction with the Google algorithm - now, with YTM, I now have an uninvited guest sitting on my shoulder, constantly poking their nose into my listening and crowding out my own library with recommendations and dishing up autoplays I have no interest in.

Like you, I only remain because they've bundled it into Youtube premium.