Spotify has had no shortage of bad news recently. But this probably ranks up there: Google has apparently had a breakthrough with two more major music labels to launch the music streaming services it has planned.
And there’s reason for Spotify should be concerned. Google appears to be building a streaming monster in its garage, especially as it races to beat Apple to the punch:
While a Google Play music product could be big, the one music industry execs are most excited by is the one tied to YouTube. The new YouTube product would be designed for the desktop and mobile devices, according to a person familiar with the negotiations between Google and the major labels. Such a mobile offering, coupled with the powerful YouTube brand, could ignite the emerging streaming-music business, now led by Spotify for on-demand music and Pandora for Internet radio.
It’s bridging the divide between on-demand and Internet radio that Google likely finds appealing, not least because it would not only push YouTube even further into your life, it’d also be a service that would hop seamlessly between mobile device, desktop, set-top box, and tablet you take with you to bed. Remember, Google is essentially the world’s biggest ad agency, and the more time it has with your eyes and ears, the happier it is.
And if Google can beat Apple to it, that’s better for them: The more time it has to lock in customers, the less ability Apple will have to try and shut it out in favor of its competing iRadio service, which is slowly but surely also closing deals.
In other words, we have that common yet no less highly entertaining spectacle in the tech world, a massive arms race for your attention. We’ll be curious to see what Apple throws at Google to keep the attention of iOS users.
