I recently came across a news article involving Google that highlighted their intention to launch a music store that could compete with Apple’s iTunes before the Christmas holiday. The report states that Google’s new music service would give users the capability for both digital downloads and a cloud-based subscription service. This cloud-based service could be a unique differentiator for Google over Apple. According to the report, the cloud would act like a “music locker” allowing people to store their music collections on its servers, and allow consumers to stream their music to any internet enabled device. The report says that Google plans on charging about $25 a year for the service. (To me this seems like a very reasonable and competitive price for an iTunes and Rhapsody type hybrid).
I feel that the unique feature of giving every user of the Google music store a cloud based “locker” accessible from anywhere is going to be a major challenge for Apple and its current business model with iTunes. I think it will be very interesting to see how Apple responds. There are a lot of questions that come to mind for Apple and this new cloud based locker idea for music consumers. Is Apple going to respond with a similar offering in a future version of its iTunes store? Can Apple afford to offer this cloud based locker capability (what effect will this have on its pricing structure)? Should Apple even bother to offer a cloud based locker? Does Google’s music service pose a serious threat or will this end up like the Nexus One web store situation?
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/09/15/googles-music-strategy-revealed
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