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>That said, why hasn't Google yet created a desktop application for Google Play Music?

I don't understand the need (and I guess that Google does not either).

Is it because you need an offline mode ? That's the only addition I can think of.

With the play music chrome extension, the website responds to media keys, so outside of a dedicated app icon in the tray (even though the miniplayer has one), I don't see what a desktop app would bring.

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Even without extensions, those things are possible or will soon be possible[1] on the web out of the box (except tray icon but persistent notification with actions can be done to achieve something similar).

1. https://github.com/whatwg/mediasession#use-cases

You can also play your local music with apps like Spotify. No desktop client is a huge issue for me.

The only reason Spotify needs the ability to play local music is to play music that is not on Spotify. Most other services, including this Google one, let you upload your collection to play on any device.

Why would I want to waste bandwidth/traffic quota on music I have locally?

because that way you don't need to keep these files locally.

My collection is quite large, it is backed on a hard drive and also available on Play Music.

Since they have a good matching algorithm, uploading an album is often instantaneous.

It is probably not for everyone, but I really like this service.

Ok, maybe I worded that to strongly. It is a great feature as an option, but IMHO the software should still be able to use local files if they are available.

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