Google Inc.'s Android unit has been negotiating with music companies to start a paid subscription music-streaming service akin to Spotify AB, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is, in fact, working on its own music streaming service, which will (eventually) be available on a subscription basis to Android OS users.
Citing that the service is similar in its operation to that of Spotify, the publication writes that Google has been “negotiating with music companies” to get the terms of the service just right.
The WSJ adds that Google has, separately, also began the process of “trying to obtain licenses from music labels” to “start a paid subscription service for music videos” on YouTube — a deal which “potentially,” it says, may also include licenses for “audio-only songs.”
The report follows on from speculation last month that Apple could, too, also be set to launch its own radio-esque music-streaming service, sometime later this year. The analyst who relayed the report as the time described the company’s new (rumored) music offering as a ‘Pandora-like “iRadio” service to complement [Apple's] well-known iTunes service.’
Read the full story at WSJ (Subscription Required)
3 
18 
11
