Google is preparing to launch an MP3 store

As reported by the New York Times, Google is negotiating with major record labels on the launch of an MP3 store that will compete with Apple and Amazon.

According to anonymous New York Times sources from the music industry, Google wants to open a store in the next few weeks. It will most likely be connected to the existing Music Beta cloud service, which allows users to download their songs and listen to them online, including on mobile phones and other devices.

It is possible that Google hopes to present its store before the release of the Apple iTunes Match cloud program, announced in June and expected by the end of October. But, as NYT notes, it is unclear whether Google will have time to agree so quickly with labels and music publishers.
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Prior to this, Google was in talks with music companies about an online storage system that allows users to link their digital music collections to a huge central database. But these negotiations ended without success due to financial conditions and dissatisfaction of music companies that Google is not enough to fight piracy.

Now Google wants to create a wider service, but labels and publishers are not sure that all their claims have been taken into account. As one of the negotiators said: “We want to make sure that the service does not become a bastion of piracy.”

For a music service to be most effective, a company like Google needs special licenses from music copyright holders. Having failed to obtain licenses from labels and publishers, Google launched a stripped-down version of Music Beta in May, and its management publicly criticized labels for blocking deals.