Google cranks up service with offer to store 20,000 songs for free

Google wants you to use its Music service, and it’s willing to store 20,000 of your songs for free in the cloud to get you to try it.

The Mountain View, Calif., company announced a new scan and match feature for U.S. users that will let them quickly store their music libraries to the cloud-based Google Music service. Users can then listen to their music on any computer or mobile device.

Songs will stream at up to 320 kilobits per second, although the quality may be lower depending on your Internet connection. Still, the streaming speed allows for high-quality sound.

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If users want to download their songs back to their computers, they will get them at the same sound quality or slightly better than they originally uploaded, according to Google.

The new feature is similar to services offered by both Apple and Amazon, but the major difference is Google’s competitors charge a $25 annual fee.

If you want to activate the feature, simply head to Google Music and you’ll see a banner atop the page “Listen to your music collection anywhere, for free.” Click the “Get Started” button below the banner.

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