TechCrunch
YouTube Launches Free Audio Library With 150 Royalty-Free Tracks
YouTube currently offers more than 150,000 audio tracks on its site that video producers can use as background music for their videos. Those tracks, however, can’t be downloaded or remixed, which makes it hard to use them in creative ways. For users who want to do a bit more with their background music, however, YouTube today is expanding this library with a selection of 150 new royalty-tracks. The music in this new YouTube Audio Library can be downloaded, remixed and used for free forever.
The tracks, which are available as 320 Kbps MP3 files, YouTube says, can be used for “any creative purpose” – even outside of YouTube. The team says it searched “far and wide” for musicians and producers to work with on this project. It’s also soliciting submissions for additional musicians who would like to add their music to the collection.
Overall, the quality of the music is a step up from most of the 150,000 other YouTube audio tracks. There’s a decent mix of genres ranging from ambient and classical to pop and R&B, and songs are also classified by moods (angry, dark, happy, romantic etc.).
With 150 songs, this is obviously still a very small library, but it does give its users more options to use high-quality music for their videos without running into the kind of copyright issues that have long plagued the service.
Google Shopping Express Launches In San Francisco Peninsula, Debuts New Apps
After previously dogfooding and then beta testing its same-day Amazon Prime and eBay Now competitor Google Shopping Express, Google says that today the service is launching to all those in its initial target markets in San Francisco and the wider Bay Area, from San Francisco to the Peninsula. As TechCrunch previously reported, Google Shopping Express allows consumers to shop for everyday items from a range of national, regional and local stores, and then have products delivered to your doorstep the same day.
Currently, the service is working with retailers including American Eagle, Blue Bottle Coffee, Lucky, Office Depot, Palo Alto Toy & Sport, Photojojo, Raley’s Nob Hill Foods, Staples, Target, Toys“R”Us/Babies“R”Us, and Walgreens. And with today’s public debut, Google is also announcing the additions of new retailers DODOcase, Guitar Center, L’Occitane, REI, and Whole Foods Market.
Consumers can shop for items in the newly launched Google Shopping Express apps for Android and iOS, launching later today, where pricing is the same as it is in store. The apps let you use your retailer loyalty program, as well, in order to get the same savings you would otherwise receive. Google may also charge a delivery fee on top of the product pricing for non-members, and the service offers a subscription-based membership program. Interestingly, Google did not mention pricing for this membership today, pointing users to sign up for a six-month free trial instead. That speaks to the fact that the finalized pricing is likely still in flux. Even GSX’s Terms of Service don’t detail what prices may be, but we had heard earlier the goal is to be competitive with Amazon Prime.
Shoppers can use the service to select a delivery window, from morning to 9 p.m. Delivery drivers will then be routed efficiently based on customer orders, and will show up driving Google’s new hybrid fleet of vehicles branded “Google Shopping Express.”
The product is one of many now competing in the same-day delivery space, and challenges the likes of Amazon Prime, eBay Now, which just announced expansions in Europe, Postmates, and Instacart, which also just expanded beyond San Francisco to new market Chicago.
Interested customers can visit google.com/shopexpress to get started.
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