Google Music Service Release Date Set for Nov. 16
Google will unveil its new music downloading service on Nov. 16, according to multiple reports.
Google e-mailed invitations to an event called “These Go To Eleven”- a homage to the film Spinal Tap and the character who uttered those words, Nigel Tufnel.
There is no word yet on what exactly Google will announce, but experts say it will be the launch of a music downloading and sharing service powered by Google+ and an HTML-5 music player.
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The Google Library, as sources say the service might be called, will allow users to connect through their contacts and access an online database of music. None of the major record companies have publicly announced an affiliation with Google at this point, however.
The launch event will take place at 5 p.m. EST next Wednesday. The event will be streamed on YouTube and websites such as The Verge, who broke the story, will be covering it live.
Google has said the music service will come with a “twist.” Experts have not yet determined what the twist could be, but many suggest users will be able to share music libraries for free using Google+.
Today, Universal Music Group bought the rights to Citigroup’s hold on EMI, the prolific music publishers behind The Beatles, Coldplay and Katy Perry to name a few. The shake-up could impact how many of the major record labels are on board with Google Music before the launch next week.
The four major labels-UMG, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI-were reduced to three labels after the UMG buyout of EMI. For music consumers, it means less people control more music, and the effect of that is yet to be seen.
Google Music may be a response to the wildly popular music streaming service, Spotify. The latter is a free service that allows users, through their Facebook accounts, to stream music from all four major record companies.
