- Google Play Music is a streaming music service found on Android phones, but is also available for the iPhone and for desktop computers.
- You can download music from Google Play Music for offline listening on many different devices.
- If you sign out of your Google account, any downloaded music will be deleted from that device.
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Google Play Music is Google's premiere streaming music service (for now – eventually, Google plans to replace it with YouTube Music).
It's a versatile service that lets you upload and stream your own music collection as well as listen to artist-themed radio stations, much like Pandora. And if you pay to subscribe, you can play specific tracks, like Spotify.
You can also download music to your phone or computer for offline listening as long as you remain logged into Google Play Music with your Google account. If you log out, those tracks will be removed from the device.
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How to download music from Google Play to your phone
Since the Google Play app is so similar on Android and iPhone, you can follow exactly the same procedure to download tracks no matter what kind of phone you have.
1. Start the Google Play app.
2. Tap the album or playlist that you want to download. If you are a Google Play subscriber, you can also tap a radio station.
3. Tap the Download icon.
Download music from Google Play to your computer
1. Open Google Play Music in a web browser and log in if necessary.
2. Click "Music Library."
3. At the top of the screen, click "Albums" or "Songs."
4. For the album or song you want to download, click the three-dot menu and then click "Download" (if you're downloading a song) or "Download Album" (to download the entire album).
You have one other option as well. You can download music using Google's Music Manager program.
Music Manager is a desktop media player and music manager, similar to iTunes. You can install it from Google's Music Manager web page.
After logging into your Google account and setting up the program, you can click "Download" to copy your music library to your computer.
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Dave Johnson
Freelance Writer
Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.
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