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Google Launching Streaming YouTube Music Service This Year

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Google is said to be prepping a music streaming service under its YouTube brand for launch later this year. According to a report on Fortune, the YouTube streaming service will be separate, but complementary to, Google’s own Play Music service.

YouTube music would be positioned as a streaming subscription service that’s intended to compete against Spotify, Pandora, Nokia Music+, and Xbox Music, for example. Play Music is a digital locker service that allows users to upload and store their own music to the Google cloud or purchase individual tracks, similar to how Apple’s iTunes music store works today.

YouTube-3[1]With Google owning more of a user’s behavior on the web and delivering consumers added value through its personalized study of Internet behavior, potentially these services will merge. YouTube streaming music could acquire a user’s music tastes through content stored on Play Music and vice versa. Potentially, Google Now could be integrated as well to alert users on upcoming concerts nearby based on musical tastes and listening selections through either or both music services.

Google will be offering the subscription YouTube service as a free option and then there will be other paid subscription options as well. Presumably, the free version would have some sort of limitations, like ad placements or time limits on streaming. Pandora recently announced that it is placing a 40-hour per month streaming cap on its service.

Google will be headed into a crowded space, but given the popularity of Android devices on the market today, it may have a large captive audience for the streaming service it hopes to launch, especially at the entry price of free. Rival Apple is also rumored to be entering the streaming space as well with an iTunes Radio service that would stream songs based on user preferences and ‘Genius’ recommendations.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Mandz

    03/11/2013 at 3:23 am

    This is ALL I hear about lately, just release the damn thing haha. Speaking of new streaming sites, I’ve been using this one for the past two days- music.torchbrowser.com and it’s AWESOME. You should totally try it.

    • S.Nor

      04/09/2013 at 4:59 am

      I know what you’re saying… Torch browser music is an excellent site.

  2. andreaeldridge

    03/11/2013 at 3:35 pm

    All this comes shortly after Google unveiled its Glass project, which integrates a small computer into a wearable eyepiece. As it is able to access the internet, any future iterations of the project would allow the users to constantly stream music from their sunglasses. If that isn’t cool, I don’t know what is. Let’s hear it for the Nerds!

  3. Former Google Fan

    04/02/2013 at 11:03 am

    It will be great – like all their products. For the few years they decide to keep it before ripping it out of our hands and shutting it down after countless hours invested in setting it up.

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