Google set to launch cloud music service

Google is to announce its long-awaited music service at this week's I/O developer conference.

Google is expected to show off a service that will allow users to upload music to the comapany's servers and then stream it to their computers or Android smartphones.

Similar to the cloud-based service announced by Amazon back in March, the service will be dubbed "Music Beta".

According to reports, the announcement was brought forward after Amazon's launch, but doesn't include options such as sharing music with friends or buying songs because such features would require licenses from music firms.

We’re not necessarily relying on the partnerships that have proven difficult

“A couple of major labels were not as collaborative and frankly were demanding a set of business terms that were unreasonable and did not allow us to build a product or a business on a sustainable business,” Jamie Rosenberg, director for digital content for Android, told the New York Times.

“So we’re not necessarily relying on the partnerships that have proven difficult.”

As such, the invitation-only service will only allow songs to be uploaded to the cloud to be accessed as if they were stored locally, although uploading large collections on all but the fastest broadband connections could prove frustratingly slow.

According to the New York Times report, Rosenberg said Music Beta was only a first step into the music market and the company would continue to negotiate with the industry in a bid to offer a full service, including a music store.

Google said the service would allow users to store 20,000 songs, while Amazon's system is limited to 20GB. However, it is unclear if the service will be rolled out in the UK, where format shifting is still seen as a breach of copyright rules.