Sam Oliver
As rumors swirl of a Pandora-style Internet radio service from Apple, Google is said to be working on a paid subscription music service akin to Spotify.
Google's plans were revealed this week by both The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, which revealed that Google is currently in negotiations with music companies. The search giant reportedly plans to offer a paid subscription music streaming service to complement its own Google Music storefront.
Google's music service competes with Apple's iTunes, and even undercuts it by offering the ability to match and upload a personal music collection for free. Apple's iTunes Match charges $24.99 per year for the same functionality, as does Amazon.
Google's apparent interest in expanding its music services comes as Apple is also reportedly working on an Internet radio offering similar to Pandora. Apple's plans are said to have been held up by negotiations with record labels that own the rights to the music.
"Radio Buy" buttons were also discovered hidden in Apple's iOS 6.1 software update released earlier this year. The images were taken as evidence that Apple is preparing its iOS mobile operating system for the eventual launch of its Internet radio service.
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38 Comments
Well of course they are. Anything anyone is doing in media Google is going to do also.
Well of course they are. Anything Apple is rumored doing in media Google is going to do also.
Well, at least this.
I've switched the default search on my Safari to Bing. Not quite as good, but that's how much I hate these Google twerps. Never thought I'd see the day when the old Micro$oft bugaboo would become an ally.
Google's music service competes with Apple's iTunes, and even undercuts it by offering the ability to match and upload a personal music collection for free. Apple's iTunes Match charges $24.99 per year for the same functionality, as does Amazon.
Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you.
No you can't.
Yes I can.
No you can't.
Mine is free.
(Crickets)
^ Oh look, another troll popped up. Nothing like lying to try and make a point, is there?
Off the top of my head I know Google won't update your music to higher bit rates (like iTunes does) and songs I purchase in iTunes (or Amazon) don't count towards my limit where Google has a fixed limit.
Of course, Google will always have a harder time offering any type of music service given their relationship with record labels. Just the other day the RIAA was criticizing Google for not doing enough to downgrade searches for illegal music. I'm sure that will help their negotiations immensely.