Whoa o whoa, listen to the...Google streaming music?
We may soon be saying such a thing sometime this week - even as early as tomorrow - according to several reports out today.
Sources speaking with The Verge say Google will unveil its own subscription music service(s) Wednesday as part of its IO developers conference.
Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment are on board with licensing deals for both YouTube and Google Play, the publication reported, and both Google vectors are said to be launching individual ways to pay for jams.
iSpy Spotify
Such a tuney turn by Google has been rumored for several months, with most indicators pointing towards a Spotify-type rival that would offer on-demand, streaming content to PCs and mobile devices.
Apple has also been rumored to be developing what many have dubbed "iRadio," though the company has reportedly hit several snags along the music licensing route as it works to launch a Pandora-like service.
Google apparently already has a deal with Warner Music Group synched up in addition to Universal and Sony, partnerships the Wall Street Journal today also backed up. According to that publication, Google's music service could debut during Google IO and would allow paying listeners access to "whole libraries of songs."
The Journal reported YouTube has separately been working to secure licenses from music labels to start a pay-to-view service for music videos. Audio-only songs are potentially also in the mix.
Though no one seems to know how much Google plans to charge for its offerings, the New York Times chimed in with news that it won't include a free tier.
YouTube's service sounds as though it's further back in the development cycle than Google Play's offering, but we have little time left before Google's IO keynote, where many of the question marks should be answered.
