Google Play Music plans new artist showcase

Google Play Music new canvasGoogle Play Music is launching a new effort to promote promising up-and-coming artists. The streaming service is working with media studio Milk to host a series of performances from select artists. The resulting audio and video content will be available on Google Play Music, as well as on Milk’s and the artists’ web presences.

“We’re very interested in investing in artists at an early stage in their career and sticking with them to create meaningful partnerships they and our users can benefit from,” said Eric Davich, Google Play Music’s global content marketing lead.

The Google streaming service has been making small additions and expansions to its core offering in recent months. Last month it announced a YouTube integration and has plans to launch podcast content. Davich hedged on Google’s plans to get too serious about new verticals, though.

“Our product itself is very lifestyle-oriented,” Davich said. “The concierge feature that is in the Google Play Music subscription app is very contextual in nature. We’ve left it open a little bit for potential collaborations for something beyond the standard offering we are doing.”

Anna Washenko