Google Opens New Online Music Store
Sets Sights on Apple's iTunes
Back in May, Google initiated a beta test for its very own music service. About one million Americans immediately signed on, and in the ensuing months used the service for an average of two-and-a-half hours each and every day. Now, Google Music is available to everyone and it's got Apple's iTunes service in its sights.
Google unveiled its service on Wednesday and immediately made it clear that it intends to challenge iTunes, Spotify, Amazon MP3 and Rdio for top spot in the online music service market.
Tracks on Google Music cost about the same as they do over at iTunes and Amazon, ringing in at about a buck per song and between $8 and $12 per album. However, Google Music does offer a larger storage capacity for big-time music fans, with no charge being allotted to those who download and store less than 20,000 songs. That's substantially higher than the 5GB limit imposed by Apple and Amazon. Those services ask between $20 and $25 per year for heavier downloading.
Google is also designing the service to help users find new songs and then share them with their friends. The service takes into account user preferences and bases recommendations on their favorite artists. The company also says it will have music experts on hand to review and recommend new albums when they come out.
Google Music is also integrated with Google+, the firm's new social networking platform. It's said users of both services will be able to share songs, though it's still a little unclear as to how this will avoid copyright issues.
Most major studios (with the exception of Warner Music) are on board, including EMI, Sony Music and Universal. Google says it's working hard to expand the number of labels supporting the service and even offers small-time acts the ability to upload their own tunes and album information. They'll then get 70 per cent of the revenue from sales back.
Google says that the service will kick off with a catalog of about 13 million songs, though it expects that number to creep up rather quickly.
The question now becomes: does Google Music offer enough to lure people away from the old standby, Apple's iTunes? Some critics don't think so. "The technologies might be current, but the ideas behind Google Music are tired," said one expert. "Speaking of old and tired, were you really pining away for another a la carte music store? Probably not. Most of us have been buying tracks from iTunes and Amazon for years."
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