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ITunes Match allows any user of an iOS device – such as an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch – to download a copy of any of the songs they already own in their music collection on a "registered" computer to one of those devices. Meanwhile, Apple earlier this week launched its iTunes Match service, also US-only due to licensing restrictions imposed by the record companies. "You can purchase individual songs or entire albums right from your computer or your Android device and they'll be added instantly to your Google Music library, and accessible anywhere," it said. In a blogpost on the launch, Google said that its online music store "offers more than 13m tracks" from Universal, Sony Music and EMI as well as a thousand independent labels. But without a music service, Android-based smartphones and tablets may not be as attractive to consumers seeking a product that offers a seamless media experience.Īpple and more recently Amazon, which has launched its Kindle Fire tablet and has a music purchase service, pose the biggest challenge there. 1 smartphone operating system, powering about 200m devices worldwide. But they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its Android-based mobile efforts can match offerings from competitors.Īndroid is the world's No. "It's a launch, but it's kind of like a work-in-progress."Īnalysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google's revenue. "They've got to get that catalog filled pretty quickly," said Mike McGuire, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. The absence of Warner Music means Google Music will lack some famous names such as Led Zeppelin and Prince which are available on rival stores such as Apple's iTunes. Song prices range from 69c to 99c and $1.29, the same as on Apple's iTunes.
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Songs are available in MP3 format encoded at 320Kbps. The Google Music offering comes with exclusive content from the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Busta Rhymes, Shakira, Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band. The service is not available outside the US because Google has not completed negotiations with record labels to allow it to sell songs elsewhere.
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