Google Music Store to take on iTunes, keep its head in the cloud

Wednesday, the company synonymous with search unveiled its sonic roadmap for Google Music. Google dove headlong into the digital music arena this May with a beta version of the same service, and the new and improved offering maintains the streaming spirit of its original offering and adds one key feature: An iTunes-like digital music store. 

Taking its cues from Apple, Google is packing deals with major labels Universal, EMI, and Sony Music to begin selling music through an online store, vending most individual songs for a now standard 99 cents. The Google Music store lives on a new tab on the Android Market, alongside Google's digital app, book, and movie downloads.

Google's virtual record store kicks off with a not-too shabby 8 million tracks, but will boast a sonic catalog of up to 13 million songs soon. By contrast, iTunes offers roughly 20 million tracks worldwide, an advantage likely afforded by Apple's deal with Warner Music — the one recording industry giant conspicuously absent from Google's cache of partnerships. When you download a song through the service, it will be available for streaming across your devices, so you can enjoy your tunes on the web or on the go just as easily. You can store and stream a mix of up to 20,000 songs for free through Google Music, including any tracks you already had on hand. 

When you download a tune on Google Music, whether on the web or through the mobile app, you can share it to your friends on Google+ to give them a full streaming preview of that song to test drive. Google Music also features promoted artists and staff recommendations, if you're at a loss for what to put in your ears and your social networking pals aren't any help.

The company also announced Artist Hub, a direct music distribution platform for independent artists with more than a passing resemblance to the model pioneered by MySpace. Artist Hub is to musicians what the Android Market is to app developers: a platform through which, after ponying up a $25 registration fee, artists can disseminate their music through Google's web music marketplace. Like Android app developers, musicians keen on distributing music through the Artist Hub will keep 70% of sales.

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