Google to launch iTunes competitor, Google Music

According to a recent Cnet report, Google has begun internal testing of its Google Music service which industry insiders say is usually done before the launch of a product.

Google Music has been in buzz since last year
There have been rumors about Google working on an iTunes competitor for quite a long time.

iTunes is currently the most popular and most used online music service portal on the web. One might wonder what influence Google’s entry into the music service market will have.

It all started when Sanjay Jha, chief of Motorola Mobility, said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that Motorola Xoom would be running on Android Honeycomb and would offer video and music services.

Experts in the music industry are already quite excited at the prospect of the launch of an iTunes-like music service by Google.

The internet search giant had also hinted of a music service for the Android back in 2010 at the Google I/O conference.

It had said that Android would allows users to stream music to their Android phones from an internet-connected PC, and even purchase music from the Android app store.

However, Google shied away from making any explicit statement about beginning a music service. It had simply said that Android is committed to offering better applications to users and that Google would make sure that the strategy unfolds in a much bigger way later.

In addition, Billboard had reported back in September 2010 that Google was in talks with major record labels with the intention of starting its own music service.

The report had made it clear that Google's vice president of engineering had projected the idea of the service to the record labels. As the Cnet report says, these four music negotiations are still going on and that Google is now seeking music rights for a cloud-based service.

Cloud-based music rights are something new among music services, and Apple is said to be in similar talks with record labels.

iTunes set to get a strong competitor
Currently, the Android platform only includes a music application for the Honeycomb version, and there is a possibility that the application could soon allow users to purchase music.

Experts in the music industry are already quite excited at the prospect of the launch of an iTunes-like music service by Google. Finally, iTunes is going to have a mighty contender.