Google readying Spotify music streaming rival for Q3 2013

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google-headphones.pngGoogle are said to be planning to launch their own music streaming service in Q3 2013 to rival Spotify, according to new reports from both the Financial Times and Bloomberg.

Google may beat both Apple and Amazon to the punch with a streaming service that offers a “library of millions of songs” to subscribers. Both Amazon and Apple have been rumoured to be launching similar services, though none have materialised.

Google’s streaming service would be in addition to the Google Play music store already open for business from the Mountain View company, allowing for MP3 downloads, as well as cloud-locker storage for previously-bought songs.

Bloomberg tip the service to launch in Q3 of this year, but do not share any details on pricing, nor cross-platform compatibility. It may be in Google’s interests to lock any such streaming service to their Android devices and Chrome OS, though record company’s may be less keen to see the already-slim revenue from streams locked into a single platform.

Indeed, Google have been popping out more and more iOS apps in recent months, and the opportunity to further monetize users of a rival platform will likely be tempting.

Gerald Lynch
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