Google Play Music showcasing three radio stations in honor of Star Wars Day

It’s May the fourth, and as all Star Wars fans know, that means it’s a day to celebrate the classic, ongoing sci-fi adventure series. Google Play Music is throwing their hat into the celebratory ring with a collection of three themed radio stations heavily featuring the works of the film composer John Williams.

These stations are streaming now, and are most likely at the forefront of your “Listen Now” home page on both the browser and app versions of the service. May the Fourth is the category, and the three featured stations are Cantina Band Swing, Epic Film Scores, and Star Wars’ Finest.

Cantina Band Swing is actually a fairly odd shuffle of music that kicks off with the classic jaunty tune from everyone’s favorite Mos Eisley bar band. However, the station is seeded with a variety of offbeat club and swing music in addition to John Williams, making for a very eclectic mix.

Epic Film Scores is a station that has long been available to Google Play Music listeners, and it features the likes of Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, James Horner, and more. Music ranging from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter can all be found here. If you’re looking to have an epic day, here’s your pick.

Star Wars’ Finest is just what it says on the tin: a collection of leitmotifs and powerful themes from all seven Star Wars films. The force is strong with this one.

Give these stations a spin by pulling up the app. If you haven’t given Google Play Music a try yet, grab it in the Play Store by clicking the button below, and let us know how you’ll be celebrating today in the comments below!

GET IT IN THE PLAY STORE

Google Play Music search bar just got a new look

A server-side change has tweaked the Google Play Music search bar. Gone (or soon to be gone) is the magnifying glass of old, as this new search bar heralds in an era of a Google Now-esque bar with “Google Play Music” stamped neatly in the area where you type (or speak) your search. Some users are already seeing this change roll out, but others are still waiting. However, you can expect the change to hit your device over the course of the next few days.

The new!

This isn’t a massive change by any means, but it is part of an ongoing trend of Google apps getting design tweaks that move them away from strict Material Design philosophy in favor of a cleaner, quicker user experience. All in all, what we appear to be moving toward is a more unified Google app experience that keeps key features, like search bars and menu items, in the same places. That way a user never has to ‘learn’ a new app; they already know where everything is.

If you’ve never given Google Play Music a spin, you should check it out. The free model lets you have unlimited radio streaming from any device, but if you fork over for the subscription, you can upload your entire music collection and add songs on the fly. Listen to whatever you want, whenever you want, on whatever you want. Click the button below to get started, and let us know what your favorite music streaming service is in the comments!

GET IT IN THE PLAY STORE!