Google launching Music Beta cloud player service

SAN FRANCISCO-- Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) will formally unveil its long-awaited cloud-based music player service later today here at the company's annual I/O developer conference. Dubbed Music Beta by Google, the service will enable consumers to upload and store their digital music collections via the web for streaming playback across Flash-enabled connected devices including Android smartphones and tablets as well as the desktop. Users may store as many as 20,000 songs for free--the service syncs activity on different devices, meaning that playlists created on the user's smartphone will automatically show up on their computers. For now, the service is invitation-only.

Like online retailer Amazon.com's similar Cloud Drive initiative introduced in late March, Music Beta by Google arrives without record label licensing agreements, meaning consumers are blocked from sharing songs with friends or purchasing premium downloads from Google.

"A couple of major labels were not as collaborative and frankly were demanding a set of business terms that were unreasonable and did not allow us to build a product or a business on a sustainable business," said Android director of digital content Jamie Rosenberg. "So we're not necessarily relying on the partnerships that have proven difficult."

Both Google and Amazon maintain they do not need licenses to store music for users and play songs on multiple devices because users upload the songs they own, just as they would if they backed up their computers.

David Pakman, who invests in digital media companies for venture capital firm Venrock, questions the commercial viability of services like Music Beta by Google. "This whole upload thing just seems like a significant barrier to wide consumer adoption, because even with broadband it just takes a long time" to create their personal libraries, he told The New York Times. But Amazon forced Google's hand, Pakman adds. "If you're faced with another six months of brutal negotiations and your competitor just launched this, you just get in the market and get a lot of users."

Rosenberg said Music Beta's launch incarnation represents the first step in a broader cloud service, adding that Google hopes to continue negotiating with the labels to expand its services and scope.

Hackers uncovered evidence of Music Beta by Google in March, and last month, a leaked version of Google's Android Music software update included access to the not-yet-live service. News of Google's cloud music ambitions first surfaced a year ago--Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra demonstrated the solution during I/O 2010, stating "We think users are going to love this feature."

Check back with FierceMobileContent and sister site FierceDeveloper throughout the day for more news from Google I/O 2011.

For more:
- read this New York Times article

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