Google lets Play Music make recommendations based on location and weather

Google has announced that its Play Music streaming service will make song recommendations based on location, activity and weather. By using machine learning, Google wants to further find out which music listeners find attractive.

Google writes that the new possibilities of the Play Music service are available to users who indicate via an opt-in that they want to receive suggestions in this way. For example, appropriate music for a workout should start as soon as the user walks to the gym, let the search giant know. The service may select appropriate playlists based on the available user data. The new features should be available this week on Android, iOS and the web version.

In addition, Google will introduce a new home screen of the Play Music service during the worldwide release of the update. From that screen, users have access to a ‘personal DJ’, the company claims. This keeps track of what music users listen to at what times, so that the service can make predictions and suggestions. They should get better over time.

Google is also announcing that users will always have offline access to a playlist of their most recently listened to songs. These do not therefore have to be downloaded manually beforehand.