Earlier this year Google was caught with a Google Music logo on their domain and the masses suspected the company to come out with a music service. More details are being unearthed about the service, which includes Google shopping around major record labels to create a new music service.
Google's service would consist of charging users $25 a year to store songs in the cloud, or as the company seems to call it, a "locker." According to Billboard, customers could access their virtual music locker from any Internet enabled device, which would allow for both streaming and downloading of the audio.
With this cloud storage, there would also be a music marketplace in which you could purchase single songs or a complete albums, much like iTunes, Zune, or Amazon MP3. From the store, the customer would be able to have their newly purchased content uploaded directly to their locker, if they so choose. In the store, Google is also pushing for the ability for all users to be able to stream the song they are interested in one time fully before purchasing. Every stream after that initial one would be cut back to a 30 second version.
As with other digital music provider giants, Google also wishes to provide a social networking experience with their product. These features would not be as in depth as Facebook, or even Ping, however it would provide a baseline connectivity between users. Subscribers would be able to send playlists to each other, which will introduce new songs along the way.
Google is looking for a three year contract from the labels, but there is no set date on when the store and locker will be launched.
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