The Wall Street Journal has reported that Google will be launching its new MP3 store sometime in the next few weeks. The new service’s launch is said to be scheduled by the company, and the record labels are starting to spread the news to their partners.
The Google MP3 Store is being worked on by the company to tie in with the Google+ social network. Users of the service will be enabled to recommend songs to their Circles, and users can listen to the song once in full for free. If they want to listen to it again, they have to purchase from the Google MP3 Store.
“Executives at Google have told people in the music industry that they plan to start the music-download service this week or next week, even though they are unlikely to secure the rights to sell music from at least two of the four major label groups in time,” the report reads.
Currently, it seems that EMI is on board with licensed music, while Universal is still talking with Google, and is not yet sure if they are on board before the service’s launch. Sony and Warner Music seem to be out of the loop for now, maybe because they want to see if it will be a success. The publication also reported that two indie labels are on board for launch.
Some news say that Google failed to obtain agreements with Sony and Warner because of privacy issues, which they were claiming that the company hasn’t done enough to satisfy them, especially on its existing products like Android and YouTube.
via: Wall Street Journal
