The Delicate Sensibilities of Google Play
January 15, 2013
Is Google practicing big-brother protection or is this just a misapplied algorithm? Mashable charges, “Google Play Scan-and-Match Feature Censoring Explicit Lyrics.” Designed as a way for users to get their personal music libraries into the cloud, the new Google Play Music Manager works by analyzing uploaded songs and matching them to licensed songs in its huge database. Some users, though, are complaining that Google has taken it upon itself to swap out songs with explicit lyrics for their sanitized (or “radio edit”) versions.
The video embedded in this post proposes that Google is attempting to shield itself from parental wrath. It also points out that Google Play’s contract hedges:
“Please note that when applying our policies, we may make exceptions. . . These exceptions are of course especially important in the context of music; they are also especially difficult lines to draw. We reserve the right to apply our policies in our sole discretion, and we are always evolving our views on complex issues.”
It is no surprise Google included the “you can’t sue us for capricious behavior” language; they see the insides of courtrooms quite often enough as it is. However, that doesn’t really make these unauthorized swaps any more acceptable, no matter how “complex” the issues. (Is censorship really such a complex issue? )
There is a “Fix Incorrect Match” button that seems to have resolved the issue for some users, but the folks at Mashable do not know whether it is an across-the-board fix. For what it’s worth, both iTunes Match and Amazon Cloud Player have also been said to produce incorrect matches, though not specifically because they were playing language-police.
Cynthia Murrell, January 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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