Google’s annual I/O conference kicks off Tuesday, and with it comes rumors that the search giant will launch their cloud-based music service -- without the approval and support of the big music labels, or even a store to purchase tracks from.
AllThingsD’s MediaMemo is reporting that Google, perhaps inspired by Amazon’s recent Cloud Player service, will take to the stage at their annual I/O conference on Tuesday to announce the long-awaited Google Music service. According to Peter Kafka, the service will essentially mirror Amazon’s offering -- which riled music industry executives when it was launched back in March -- sans a music store, but likely allowing more free storage.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because Google announced the service, which will tie in neatly with its Android-based smartphones and tablets, at last year’s I/O -- then hit a brick wall over the last 12 months as they found the music labels uncooperative.
“Unfortunately, a couple of the major labels were less focused on the innovative vision that we put forward, and more interested in in an unreasonable and unsustainable set of business terms,” explains Google’s Android digital content chief Jamie Rosenberg.
That didn’t stop Amazon, who unleashed their own Cloud Player service in March to a lot of fanfare, mostly because the service pushes Amazon MP3 purchases right to a user’s “cloud locker” where they can listen to them from any web browser or Android device. (iOS now works too, but it’s not an optimal experience.)
So what will Google Music have that Amazon Cloud Player doesn’t? Not a whole lot, save for the ability to store up to 20,000 songs for free. By comparison, Amazon’s service offers 5GB of free storage -- roughly 2,000 songs -- but has the upper hand since Amazon also has a robust music store to purchase MP3 tracks and albums.
Google Music will also be limited to an “invite-only beta” starting Tuesday, but Rosenberg claims that the service will gradually roll out to all U.S. Google accounts “within weeks of launch.” The company hasn’t worked out all of the particulars as far as pricing models and future plans go, choosing instead to launch the service in the traditional Google method -- as a beta experience that will grow over time.
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