I kind of lean with Gizmodo on the preference for subscription streaming services... I mean I pay £10 a month for Spotify Premium myself so I'm voting with my wallet already on the issue. But they are still a long way from becoming an industry standard. Google has more momentum on their side as far as the integrations, and the opportunity for independent artists isn't really offered at all through Spotify et al directly.
Giz was a little harsh, but I do kinda see their point. But you know, like most Google products this is the beginning of their plan. Same thing I said to people cussing Android after the G1 launched and look where we are with it now. Same thing I said about G+ and this week was their highest pageviews week since they went public.
A streaming subscription service WOULD have been better, but in a sense, when you're adding stuff that's free to your Google Music library, that IS essentially what you're doing but in a different way.