Google Planning Music Store

Company aims to have service up before iTunes Match
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 14, 2011 3:14 AM CDT
Google Planning Music Store
Google is getting ready to take on iTunes, industry sources say.   (Getty Images)

Google is pushing further into the entertainment business with an online music store that it aims to have up and running within weeks, sources tell the New York Times. Music industry execs say the MP3 store will probably be linked to Google's Music Beta cloud service. Google wants to have the store open before Apples iTunes Match service is rolled out, the sources say, although it's not clear whether the company will be able to cut deals with record labels in time.

Music execs say that Google hasn't done enough to address their fears that its "smart locker service" for customer music service could become a "bastion of piracy." Google has declined to comment on its plans. It's possible that instead of offering a download service exactly like Apple's or Amazon's, it could be planning a service to sell low-cost cloud access to music, much like the LaLa service Apple bought and shuttered, Prefix notes. (More MP3 stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X