Earlier this month, Google confirmed suspicions when it announced its $39 million acquisition of music streaming startup Songza. As the search giant joins Apple and Amazon in the mad rush to provide enhanced music streaming capabilities, Google’s acquisition of Songza, and their integration with search and Google ads, could help differentiate and potentially outpace competitors.
Songza, unlike competing Pandora and Spotify (which Google was rumored to be in talks with prior to the Songza purchase), taps music experts to curate its playlists rather than relying on algorithms. This coupled with its mood analyzing feature elevates Songza from business-as-usual to a curated, highly customized musical experience. It also enables Google to deliver even more personalized content for its advertisers. Once the service is fully integrated with Google, presumably later this year, the possibilities are seemingly endless.
Using data like location, weather, and device in use, Google could deliver a perfectly timed, contextual ad for a Songza user walking down a rainy street in Seattle or working in an office by Central Park. Upon logging in, users are presented with several musical styles based on time and day of the week. It’s up to the user to then narrow down playlist options based on genre and tempo, all the while helping Google build an increasingly accurate user profile. These indicators could help deliver increasingly personalized search results (because seeing a list of local restaurants appear in Google search before even typing your location wasn’t creepy enough), not to mention advertisements served to cater to your mood.
Since moving to encrypted search last year, Google has eliminated users’ keyword data from its analytics toolbox. The motivation behind this move has yet to be fully revealed; however rumors include a full-scale, paid program for advertisers to access coveted data points and more accurately target their audiences. If this prediction does come true, music search and listening habits could be instrumental in building user profiles.
Aside from a few mentions on its ‘About Us’ page, Songza has yet to be fully integrated with Google or its music and video platform, Google Play, but the move is likely to happen soon, possibly in tandem with a rumored YouTube subscription service. However Google decides to incorporate Songza into its line-up, it is sure to shake up the music streaming industry, possibly enough to wake Google’s sleeping competitors.
