Google opens music store in challenge to Apple

I have an iPod but competition wit Apple is a good thing that will benefit everyone in the long run.

Everyone wants to be like Apple nowadays.

Wow, those free Busta Rhymes tracks are a game changer! Apple should be quaking in fear.

no access to google music from japan :(

any safe way to make google believe i'm in their allowed list of countries?

Great, all we need is good music now.

Hmmm. Competition is good, so I like this move (about time). But it looks like it is only for Android phones, so it won't open competition at all. iPhone will link to iTunes, Android to Google Music.

Yes Takahiro, you sure can. It is called a VPN. I use one when I am on the road so I can watch sports and movies stateside. Works very well, but I purchase mine as it is better than the free ones. You can write to them here info@hidemyass.com or go to their home page. Excellent service also.

2020: If you're in love with your iPhone than maybe that's so. But if you switch to an Android phone watch for third party software that will transfer your iTunes music. Now that's going to really stir things up.

Competition is always a healthy thing, although aside from Apple no one seems to be able to be ORIGINAL anymore. If Google opened up the market and allowed people in nations other than the US to access a US music site they would win over a LOT of people. Sadly, due to protectionist measures and differences in the various industries this won't happen.

If Google opened up the market and allowed people in nations other than the US to access a US music site they would win over a LOT of people.

THIS. Companies are just completely missing the boat with their region blocking. It just impedes sales, and determined people can still get around it.

Though I wouldn't say Apple is particularly original. In design, sure, but in the electronics they do a really good job of marketing high priced stuff that has the same functionality as cheaper stuff.

pawatan - True. Apple are not really that original, but they market themselves very well to make people think what they are doing are original, and have been successful doing that. Prime example would be the iPod. Plenty of MP3 players around before it, but they managed to get people to believe an MP3 player had never existed before they had released one.

Google Music is shaping up pretty well on Android. Been using it with a VPN here in Japan for a while.

pawatan: Like what? if you're talking Kindle vs. iPad the only functionality that's the same is the ability to read eBooks. Other than that iPad has WAY more functions. True, it's the costliest of the lot, be it computers or iPhones/Pads, but definitely the best. iTunes has been in households around the world for AGES now, and without some sort of bonus I can't see how Google will suddenly take all their business. SOME loyal Android users, for sure, once the site picks up.

Anyway, about the region thing, I can understand it to an extent -- you can already buy films on iTunes US that haven't aired yet in Japan, which could cause problems, but still... it stinks.

soldave: "Prime example would be the iPod. Plenty of MP3 players around before it, but they managed to get people to believe an MP3 player had never existed before they had released one."

Because the others were often limited in their capacities and functions and didn't offer an all-around package (including iTunes). I don't think I see any of the other ones any more.

google is being investigated for anti-trust, you can't have everything

smith

Like what? if you're talking Kindle vs. iPad the only functionality that's the same is the ability to read eBooks. Other than that iPad has WAY more functions.

Well, I wasn't referring to the Fire but to other Android pads. Iconia Tab, Eee Transformer and the like. ASUS has a new Tegra 3 based Transformer pad launching soon that looks like it could be a real game changer. Fire is kind of a different beast. Personally I like the Android phones much, much better than the iOS phones, but of course it's personal preference.

ITunes has been in a lot of households for a long time but it has some critical flaws, such as your related device being tied to that machine, only running on Windows/OSX (no Linux!), lack of support for many file formats. Amazon MP3 market has eroded a lot of iTunes's dominance in the countries where it is available (Japan doesn't count, the MP3 market on Amazon Japan is awful) so it's not inconceivable that Google could further erode that.

In the end more choice is better than less, ne?

Poke me when it's not US only.

Anybody know off the top of the head what % of all sales that artists are able to keep in iTunes? Obviously, artists would prefer to go first where they get to keep more - and that could be the game-changer.

Hopefully, Google's software won't copy iTunes. A lot of users don't like iTunes yet have no choice but to use it because everything with their i-gadgets have to go thru iTunes - and that's exactly one of the reasons they don't like about it. They don't want to be restricted by iTunes' limitations.

As they say within the tech industry, if you want something to become a standard, you have to let it go - meaning you have to let others have a go with it and tinker with it. If Google frees up their software, let others develop extensions for it, let users configure how it works - or better yet, let other software work with their Android gadgets instead of being forced thru Google's software, that would open a whole world of choices configured to each particular user's preferences - rather than one-size-fits-all.

IIRC, Itunes/Apple takes a 30% cut of anything sold via their iTunes store.

The rest is than given to the uploader not sure how the monies are distributed between record company/artist/etc.

So for many smaller guys a competing online store that takes a smaller cut might be preferable.