It's common knowledge that Google have long been working on a music service that aims to rival the market dominator iTunes. After recently submitting proposals to some of the major record labels details of the anticipated service have leaked into the public domain.
Judging by the features reported by Billboard.com, the proposed model is unlikely to threaten the Apple giant, as it boasts an online locker, similar to the service that Tesco are currently working on. This "cloud-based locker" will act as a virtual home for all users' songs, which can be either streamed or downloaded. One novel idea is that the locker will offer social networking features, whereby users will be able to send playlists to other subscribers who can then listen to each song once through in its entirety. This service alone will come at a cost of $25 (€19.25) annually, separate to the cost of actually downloading music, which is expected to be sold at the usual wholesale price of $7 (€5.40) per album and 70c (54c) per track.
Google also intend to launch a web-based music player and mobile app which will allow remote playback of songs from the music locker. Now, is it just me or is someone over-thinking this thing? The beauty of iTunes is its simplicity. All we want is a one stop shop for all our online entertainment needs - a comprehensive music store that allows us to stream and download tunes at the touch of a button, tunes that we can then put on any bloody brand of MP3 player we darn well wish. Now why is that so hard?
