Google to launch new music service to rival Apple’s mighty iTunes

Lee Bell
October 20, 2011
5 Comments

google music serviceApple might be selling iOS apps as fast as McDonalds sells its burgers, but in a bid to rain on Apple’s $39.3 billion parade, Google have announced a new music service to hit them right in their iTunes.

Being the company’s first major move into music, Google’s new service – named simply, Google Music – will allow users to store music tracks online in a cloud and play them remotely through mobile devices. Sound pretty similar to Apple’s iTunes Match? Well, it’s kind of the same thing -  scanning a user’s computer for all their music files and uploading them online to be listened to remotely.

With its announcement of its new Android OS yesterday, which will run on iPhone rival the Galaxy Nexus, Google have been throwing some powerful punches Apple’s way lately. However, it seems this time Google are keen not to just do yet another Apple rip-off product. Head of development at Google’s mobile arm Android, Andy Rubin, said: “The service will have a little twist…a little Google in it,” adding Google wouldn’t “just be selling 99 per cent tracks”. Let’s hope that 1% twist isn’t just a free OST download of The Sixth Sense – which if you haven’t seen already: BRUCE WILLIS IS A GHOST THE WHOLE TIME.

Putting dear old Bruce Willis aside for a moment,  Rubin did not let on what the “little twist” might be. It is understood though that Google will sell songs via an online store, similar to iTunes, but additionally, will allow users to store tracks on its already live cloud service Music Beta.

To match the power of mighty iTunes in another instance, the big G has apparently signed deals with music label EMI and is in talks with several other majors including Universal, Sony Music and Warner Music so it can stream their artists tracks. It seems the search giant is pretty serious about its new musical move.

The service could launch as soon as next month in the US, with UK users having to hang on in there a little longer. But with iTunes such an integral part of music downloading, is there much demand for a Google version? Google has already tried to imitate Facebook through its Google+ social networking site, and look what happened there. Will this be failure round-two? We have so many questions – what do you think?

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Tags: Apple, Article, galaxy nexus, Google, googleplus, iPhone, iTunes, music beta, samsung
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