It seems like every time we turn around these days there’s a new development in the cloud. Consumers are really getting into using the cloud on a regular basis and that’s great. One of the things a lot of us love doing is storing our MP3 music files. With songs being pretty cheap and whole albums available to those who want them, it’s a whole lot easier these days to have your entire music collection in the cloud so that it just can’t get ruined the way it could when we had records, cassette tapes or CDs. This is great and there are lots of cloud services to choose from where you can store music. Some of these are focusing on the streaming of music, too, which is great. It’s like having your own never ending jukebox you can continually add to and play from anywhere over any device.
That said, when Microsoft decides to do something special with SkyDrive, you know it’s going to be big news for music fans. That’s why we’re delighted to bring you this juicy, exciting bit of news that could mean some big things for SkyDrive and your music collection, too.
The Rumor: SkyDrive Getting a Music Player
The tech world thrives on rumors and when they can be nearly confirmed, they certainly do tend to spread a whole lot faster. It’s been suspected that Microsoft would start catering to music fans for quite a while. In fact, according to a recent post on Live Side:
Back in May 2011 when Microsoft first announced Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’, we reported on some indications that ‘Mango’ might support music streaming from SkyDrive (although later denied by Microsoft). Later on during E3 2012, Microsoft announced the Xbox Music service, and speculations of music integration in SkyDrive had surfaced once again, with sightings of music album arts appearing in SkyDrive folders.
This is the kind of talk that gets music fans excited. Given the Microsoft brand’s clout, having music stored with them would most likely mean that it would be safe and that the service would be there over the long run, an important consideration for anyone deciding to choose a cloud service. Their Xbox Music service is already a hit with gamers everywhere and cloud storage will be offered for that service by 2013, according to official Microsoft communication with the press. The company stated:
Cloud Storage. Available in the coming year, a scan-and-match feature will take you beyond the 30 million tracks globally offered through Xbox Music. It will add all the music you own to your Xbox Music cloud catalog, including music acquired through other services.
That’s going to give music fans a lot of leverage to create the perfect collection for themselves. It would make sense to use the same or similar technology to offer cloud music storage right over SkyDrive is the logic that speculators are using. Live Side investigated and actually pulled up some images that are believed to be associated with the rumored SkyDrive music streaming tool. By snooping around in the code for SkyDrive, they located what looks to be a dead giveaway for a future player. The line they displayed even showed the words ‘MusicPlayer‘ in it. A fairly convincing piece of evidence, to say the least.
This Could Be a Smart Move for SkyDrive
The would of cloud services is incredibly competitive and Microsoft knows this. It wouldn’t be beyond the realm of logic for them to consider putting in a player for their service. After all, some of their chief competitors such as Amazon and Google already offer something similar with their Cloud Player and Play Music services. If SkyDrive is going to keep up, it is most likely going to have to be aggressive in doing so. While Xbox Music is a great service for those who own an Xbox, plenty of people do not nor will they. By making a music cloud service available to PC, smartphone and tablet users, Microsoft would be covering one more important base.
Some people even think integrating Xbox Music with a SkyDrive cloud music capability would be an excellent combination. It could definitely add to the appeal of services that Microsoft sells. It remains yet for Microsoft to announce this rumored feature, but judging by the buzz around the tech blogosphere it’s got lots of support.
Is It the Right Time to Make This Move?
There are those in the blogosphere that don’t think SkyDrive needs music streaming capacity because they’re already using Xbox Music and would rather keep their music there. Others feel that integrating these services would be a great move. How consumers will respond to this when and if it comes to pass is anyone’s guess, but it’s got the potential to generate real interest online. What we’d like to know, though, is how do you feel about the possible inclusion of a streaming music feature for SkyDrive?
Is it an idea whose time has come or do you prefer to stream your music through other services? We want to know your opinion of this news and, if you’ve got any suggestions for what you think Microsoft ought to do, we’d love to hear that, too. So go ahead and leave a comment below. Remember, you can ask any questions you like, as well, and we will respond to you just as quickly as we can, and dont forget to check out our Best Cloud Storage page!
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