Chromecast is Google’s HDMI plug-in (you’ll sometimes see it called a “dongle”) that enables the TV display of anything appearing in the Chrome web browser. A deeper level of ease and integration happens when media companies build Chromecast compatibility into their services — e.g. launch partner Netflix. Recently, music services have jumped on board. (See our coverage of Songza and Chromecast here.)
Streaming music to one’s TV might not be the most intuitive use-case scenario, but it’s getting more popular. One reason is that the television sometimes is attached to the home’s best sound system. So, while WiFi speaker systems get attention, and are undeniably cool devices, they are expensive and often don’t sound as good as a home theater rig.
Given this trend, it’s not surprising that Beats Music and Rdio have announced their Chromecast integrations. It might be more surprising that other services aren’t jumping on the train, although, admittedly, Chromecast is not a roaring locomotive yet. But the device seems to be developing as a meaningful distribution point, or at least a check-box for any music service that follows the ubiquity strategy — distribute everywhere.