Google finally launched its much awaited digital music store to its US consumers on Wednesday. This will open another front in its epic battle with Apple. The service was an invite only in its beta version earlier.
Google Music is available via music.google.com, and the updated Android apps will be released in the coming few days.
Google Music will enable you to upload your collection and then stream it to other devices be it a computer or mobile browsers. It is compatible with Safari as well which is the default browser on Apple devices. The service is free of charge contrary to the earlier hints by Google that it will cost some subscription amount. The user can upload upto 20000 songs without paying anything and these are then stored in the cloud which is very nice feature.
Google will be selling songs via the Android Market which currently features apps, movies and books and songs will be priced for free, 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. The users will be able to listen to 90 second song previews before buying.
Some of the artists whose work is available include The Rolling Stones, Shakira, Pearl Jam, Coldplay, Busta Rhymes etc. Google has managed to secure free music as well along with exclusive tracks from big names. The Rolling Stones will be releasing stones will 6 live concert albums that have not been released before. Busta Rhymes will launching and début his new album on Google Music. Google has tied up with music labels like Universal, EMI, Sony Music and independent labels like ioda, The Orchard, and others. Warner is still not on board.
The service has been integrated with other Google services especially Google Plus. You can buy a song and you have the option of sharing that song with your friends. They will be able to listen to the song in their Google Plus stream. They do not have to buy it or log in to a different account. This takes care of the social networking aspect.
Google expects to loosen Apple’s stronghold in the music arena with this new service.
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