A decade late, Google chases Apple music

Google Inc is entering the online music market almost a decade too late to pose a threat to Apple Inc, the largest seller of songs on the web.

The service would let users store songs online and listen to tracks on multiple devices, people familiar with the matter said. Apple opened the iTunes store in 2003 and made the legal downloading of music from the internet popular.

Google’s new challenge to Apple escalates the rivalry between the two companies, already locked in a fight for smartphone users and mobile-advertising customers. The internet- search giant also faces budding competition from Amazon.com, which has bolstered its music-download and storage service, and Spotify Ltd, whose partnership with Facebook Inc has buoyed US membership this year.

“They’re coming into this market rather late in the game, where there are large, established players,” said Ray Valdes, an analyst at Gartner Inc in San Jose, California. “You can say it’s a saturated market.”

Google, the owner of the biggest internet search engine, has expanded into music, television and movies to bolster sales of devices running its Android mobile software. The company, based in Mountain View, California, is also seeking rights for its Google+ social-network users to share music with each other, people familiar said.

Randall Sarafa, a spokesman for Google, declined to comment.

SONY, VIVENDI, EMI
On the eve of the debut, Google reached an agreement with Sony Corp’s music unit, a person with knowledge of the situation said yesterday. Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group and EMI Group Ltd have already signed on, said two people with knowledge of the plans, who weren’t authorised to speak publicly. Songs would cost 99 cents to $1.29, though Google may offer discounts, said one person.

Warner Music Group hadn’t yet reached an accord with Google because of pricing and piracy concerns, two people familiar with the matter said earlier this week.

Apple first unveiled its iPod music player in 2001, and in 2003 started the iTunes music store, offering songs for 99 cents apiece. The company, which makes its own hardware and the software that runs it, has benefited in the past decade as consumers shifted from CDs to online music services. Apple’s iTunes service works on its own devices, such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad tablet, as well as personal computers from other manufacturers.