The Verge - Google Music announced with Google+ integration, many labels on board

Exclusive: Google readies its Spotify competitor with Universal and Sony now on board

2013-05-14T21:30:37Z

Google will unveil new subscription music services tomorrow at the Google I/O conference, sources close to the company said. Google has now signed separate licensing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment for both YouTube and Google Play, setting the stage for such an announcement, music industry sources told The Verge.

Google plans to add separate music subscription services to YouTube and Google Play, the entertainment hub for the Android operating system. Earlier this year, Fortune magazine reported that Google had already struck similar licensing agreements with Warner Music Group, the smallest of the top three record labels. But landing Universal Music and Sony gives Google access to the two largest record...

Google negotiating for subscription music service to launch in third quarter

2013-02-23T02:43:32Z

Google has spoken to some of the top music-recording companies about creating a subscription music service similar to Rdio and Spotify, but music industry sources have told The Verge that any launch of such a service is still months away.

Google has specifically talked about a launch of a streaming music service in the third quarter, the sources said today. The Financial Times reported earlier in the day that the launch is "impending."

Google Music adds 'Shared with me' playlist of your friends' songs

2012-05-04T04:49:06Z

One of the main differentiators of Google Music is its sharing functionality: if a friend of yours shares a song on Google+, you get a free listen of the entire track. Now those tracks are being collected in a single place with the addition of an automatic playlist called "Shared with me." Google likens this feature to an email inbox, and that doesn't seem too far off the mark — there's a counter of songs that you haven't yet listened to, and those new tunes appear bolded in the playlist. Of course, there's also a link to buy the song directly if the single listen doesn't whet your appetite. The feature, like Google Music itself, is currently only available in the US.

Google TV gets new Google Music app

2011-11-18T02:37:57Z

One day after announcing Google Music, the company is rolling out a fresh new Google Music app for Google TV. The app streams music directly from your library stored in the cloud and integrates deeply enough into the Google TV system to play in the background and allow you to set up a playlist to serve as a soundtrack to a photo slideshow. Google has promised "future updates" to the music app as well.

Google Music is available now via the Android Market on Google TV, assuming you've installed the Android 3.1 update that brought apps to the platform and signed up for the service on your computer. The app helps Google TV compete with the just released iTunes Match service now available on Apple TV, but obviously we will have to wait and...

Google Music hands-on

2011-11-16T23:04:29Z

Google Music shed its beta label today, and we got a chance to play with the service — once we bought some new Busta Rhymes jams, we checked out the updated Android and web apps. The most noticeable thing about the Android app is that it's a much faster, more stable application, with a lot more content displayed on the screen at once. It got a new, swipe-friendly look, which should be nicely at home on Ice Cream Sandwich. There's a new layout in landscape mode, which shows album art as you browse your music. Weirdly, you can't buy music from within the Music app — you have to go to the Android Market and shop there, though your purchases do automatically show up in the Music app. It's also really easy to pin songs or albums to make...

Google Music gets Google+ integration

2011-11-16T22:30:14Z

No surprise, Google Music is getting deep Google+ integration. For any songs that you purchase, you'll be able to share with friends or circles on Google+. In order to help drive additional purchases, Google will let any friends that you share with listen to the entire song, instead of the initial 90 seconds, for free. From within the Google Music interface, simply click the down arrow near the end of each song title, select share, and a Google+ overlay will appear on screen for sharing with your friends or circles. It's similar to Apple's Ping, but hooked into Google's own social network.

Google Music launching with EMI, Sony Music, and others; offering free, exclusive music

2011-11-16T22:29:56Z

As rumored, Google Music launched its music store today with a range of new content partnerships, letting users buy millions of songs from the Google Marketplace. Sony Music Entertainment, Universal and its subsidiary EMI are launching with the revised service, bringing along their formidable music archives — notably missing, though, is Warner. There's also a host of independent labels on board, giving Google Music a total of 13 million tracks; 8 million of those are live today, with the rest coming soon.

Google's also working with the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Busta Rhymes, Shakira, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band and other artists to offer exclusive content, like six never-before-released concerts from the Rolling Stones. Busta...

Google: 200m Android devices have been activated

2011-11-16T22:17:11Z

At its music-focused event in Los Angeles today, Google just announced that some 200 million Android devices have now been activated around the world, double the mark it hit back at Google I/O in May. For comparison Apple's most recently-announced number was 250 million back in October — so in the grand scheme of things, these guys are neck-and-neck. It'll be interesting to see how the Google Nexus impacts the numbers in the short term, of course — and as upgrades and new devices come online over the next few months, Android 4.0 in general.