Google May Unveil Online Music Service Later Today

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Google’s apparently decided they’re going to unveil its music service – with or without the support of music industry execs. Let’s get ready to rock ‘n roll.

According to several reports, Google’s is preparing to show off its cloud-based music service, Music Beta, during today’s I/O conference in San Francisco. We’ve heard before that Google has been trying to get the service off the ground, but has been hitting snags with music labels. I guess they’ve thrown that to the wayside now.

In actuality, Google won’t be deliberately stepping on the toes of major labels; but negotiations could further delay the launch of its music service. In an attempt to prevent stalling, Google is expected to kick off a reduced version of its service… which will make it look very similar to Amazon Cloud Player.

The Wall Street Journal says it would let users load music that they already own onto a server, which would let stream their songs to multiple devices. All in all, it’s not what Google envisioned at all. But with Amazon already out with their service, and Apple expected to debut something similar this year, Google’s timing becomes all the more crucial.

There are a few key differences, though. Google will offer more free storage than Amazon’s 5 GB. Word on the street says it might contain up to 10 times the space Amazon currently offers. Google also won’t be able to sell songs, like Amazon and Apple can currently do.

The whole thing will roll out as an invite-only beta to users today, says AllThingsD. According to the New York Times, Verizon Xoom owners will also get first crack at trying it out. Guys, be prepared to bookmark music.google.com.

(via AllThingsD)

More on TIME.com:

Sneaky: Amazon Cloud Player Now Works with iOS (Sort of)

Apple May Have Purchased iCloud.com for $4.5 Million

Apple Beats Google in the Race to the Music Cloud