Google Play Music gets contextually active with Concierge in SA

Google Play Music has officially launched its Concierge service in South Africa, bringing automatically generated, contextual playlists to the country.

Play Music subscribers will receive playlists based on the time of day, mood or activity when they update the app on their Android or iOS device.

“Choose an activity to get options for several music stations to make whatever you’re doing even better — whether it’s a station for a morning workout, songs to relieve stress during traffic, or the right mix for cooking with friends,” the company said in a press statement.

Other possible contextual playlists include one for Monday morning, a playlist for the shower and a playlist for focusing at work.

Users can also add, remove and reorder tracks in the playlist, while the ability to download them for offline listening is a welcome addition for markets like South Africa.

The underlying technology came from Google’s 2014 acquisition of Songza, the streaming service having popularised the idea of contextual playlists based on mood/activity.

Now, about bringing podcast functionality to South Africa…