It’s a big day for Google Play Music: the Spotify and Apple Music rival has officially been named as the ‘default music player’ on Samsung’s new iPhone challenger, the Galaxy S8 and S8+.
Launched today (April 21), the S8 offers users a 5.8-inch quad-HD Infinity Display and is winning five-star reviews from the tech press.
Those who buy the device will find Google Play Music installed, with a three-month free trial at their fingertips.
In addition, they will be given the opportunity to upload up to 100,000 downloads into the service’s Cloud locker, with twice as much storage as regular GPM customers get.
(To be clear, as an Android device, S8 users will still easily be able to download Spotify and Apple Music apps.)
According to Kantar Worldpanel, Samsung’s previous Galaxy devices, the S7 and S7 Edge, were the fourth and fifth best-selling phones in the US in the three months ending November 2016… with Apple‘s iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 6 taking the top three spots.
Samsung’s new Google partnership was announced in a blog today by Elias Roman, Lead Product Manager, Google Play Music.
“We’re thrilled to bring this special version of Google Play Music to Samsung customers anywhere, and we look forward to bringing the best music experience to your Samsung device.”
Elias Roman, Google Play Music
He confirmed the Google Play app “will be the default music player and music service on new Samsung phones and tablets globally”.
The three-month trial of Google Play Music offers ad-free and on-demand access to more than 40 million songs and thousands of playlists, in addition to access to YouTube Red (where available).
Google Play Music will also work with Bixby – Samsung’s voice-activated interface (and a rival to Amazon‘s Alexa and Google’s own Home).
“We’re thrilled to bring this special version of Google Play Music to Samsung customers anywhere, and we look forward to bringing the best music experience to your Samsung device,” added Roman.
“Together, we’re committed to delivering the perfect soundtrack to make your everyday moments better.”
Samsung launched its own streaming music service, Milk Music, in 2014.
A similar ‘web radio’ offering to Pandora, Milk Music flopped and was eventually closed in September last year.
In late 2015, it was rumored that Samsung was considering an acquisition bid for Jay Z’s TIDAL – but the company later ruled itself out of any buyout.
Telco Spring eventually bought a 33% stake in TIDAL for $200m.Music Business Worldwide
