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[SimleuqiR]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/21/us-apple-google-idUSTRE73K7A720110421

Apple Inc has completed work on an online music storage service and is set to launch it ahead of Google Inc, whose own music efforts have stalled, according to several people familiar with both companies' plans.

Apple's plans will allow iTunes customers to store their songs on a remote server, and then access them from wherever they have an Internet connection, said two of these people who asked not to be named as the talks are still confidential.

Music industry executives are pointing to changes in top management at Google as a possible reason for the technology company's uncertain music strategy. On April 1, co-founder Larry Page took over as chief executive with Eric Schmidt moving up to executive chairman. Android chief Andy Rubin led most of the early talks with the labels.

Last week, however, Amazon held talks with some labels to reach agreements for a new, more sophisticated locker service

So how you like them apples Google?

EDIT:

A new contender approaches?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20056446-261.html

Rather than launch its own digital music service, Google is considering whether to partner with an existing service, including the likes of Spotify, to power Google Music.

According to a source with knowledge of the talks, Google has told the labels that it has begun discussions with Spotify in recent weeks, though no agreement is in place. Spotify is the European streaming-music service that also has ambitions of launching in the United States.

The talks with Google and Spotify have coincided with an inability by Google to reach agreements with the four top record labels on licensing a cloud music service, the source told CNET. Google had originally hoped to launch a new music service by the end of the year, and then was aiming for March, but now it's indefinite on when it might debut.

 

[Windu]

and i think amazon beat them both, and i'm sure a bunch of compaines beat amazon too

Soooooooo meh.

edit: heh, yeah it says it right there in the OP! Anyway how long before the music companies complain to apple and google like they did with amazon. hopefully they provide a great response like amazon did.

 

[Futureman]

It's gotta be really compelling IMO for any of this online locker, music storage to work on a mass scale.

Like... really, really easy to set up and use. I guess if anyone can... Apple can do it.

 

[sixteen-bit]

So how you like them apples Google?

fertilized.

amazon wins, flawless victory

 

[iNvid02]

no one is beating apple when it comes to music, that ship has sailed

 

[RSTEIN]

Yes, the more time goes by the more antiquated itunes seems (to me, anyway). It has become a clunky piece of software without enough flexibility.

 

[giga]

I'd imagine this will be a part of the new Mobile Me service with tiered plans.

 

[SimleuqiR]

It's gotta be really compelling IMO for any of this online locker, music storage to work on a mass scale.

Like... really, really easy to set up and use. I guess if anyone can... Apple can do it.

Problem is that Google seems to not know what they want:

"They keep changing what they're asking for," said a label executive who asked not to be named because the talks are confidential.

Apple probably had a vision of what they wanted from the get go (plus they have the most successful online music store) just needed the software and infrastructure to launch the service.

 

[Dan]

Amazon beats Apple on all digital music fronts except for exclusives.

 

[LCfiner]

that would be cool. I was disappointed that last year's september Apple event held no real streaming or cloud improvements. maybe this will be the year they make the big push.

 

[kehs]

apple has more pull with labels than google

serprise serprise

 

[theBishop]

All I want from a "Cloud Music Service" is some FTP space with maybe an HTTP frontend music player.

 

[Buckethead]

Who wants music on a cloud?

So silly.

Just looking for ways to make money.

 

[Archaix]

Who wants music on a cloud?

So silly.

Just looking for ways to make money.

Um...anybody who has a large music library in a world of smaller and smaller capacity on portable media players? It isn't quite there now, but with better online infrastructure and as cell connections become faster, it absolutely makes sense. You don't invest only in technology that's ready for the masses today.

 

[kehs]

Who wants music on a cloud?

So silly.

Just looking for ways to make money.

nobody

sent from /neogaf offline mode

 

[Joe]

Google is the most overrated thing in the world

 

[Mudkips]

Um...anybody who has a large music library in a world of smaller and smaller capacity on portable media players?

What world do you live in where NAND capacity is shrinking?

 

[theBishop]

Um...anybody who has a large music library in a world of smaller and smaller capacity on portable media players? It isn't quite there now, but with better online infrastructure and as cell connections become faster, it absolutely makes sense. You don't invest only in technology that's ready for the masses today.

Yeah, we're hurtling towards a world of thin, flexible displays with essentially zero local storage. Having your shit "In the Cloud" is going to happen, but I don't see why it has to be these restrictive, privacy invading, ad-supported services.

There's also the option of streaming content wirelessly from a small box you carry with you, right?

 

[LCfiner]

Google is the most overrated thing in the world

well, this came out of nowhere.


... do you remember how bad searching was before Google launched?

 

[LM4sure]

So how you like them apples Google?

It's okay. ios came out before Android but Android kills it in every department. Same will be true for the cloud music.

But it doesn't matter anyway. Amazon beat them both.

 

[VALIS]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/21/us-apple-google-idUSTRE73K7A720110421






So how you like them apples Google?

Amazon likes 'em just fine.


edit: I'll end up going with whichever service has an unlimited storage tier for a reasonable (~$30/mo) amount.

 

[8bit]

I want my 100 Gb of carefully selected and curated content playable from every device I own. I kind of get this via audiogalaxy but the content streams from home, a cloud locker would ease this immeasurably.

And yeah, Amazon Cloud player is close but is currently US only for android for no good reason.

 

[Joe]

well, this came out of nowhere.


... do you remember how bad searching was before Google launched?

Google search is A++++++++++++, would definitely search again.

i just don't get the hype beyond search though.

 

[theBishop]

I want my 100 Gb of carefully selected and curated content playable from every device I own. I kind of get this via audiogalaxy but the content streams from home, a cloud locker would ease this immeasurably.

And yeah, Amazon Cloud player is close but is currently US only for android for no good reason.

What's the problem with streaming it from home? Especially in a world of much faster home broadband (which Obama personally assured me is coming).

 

[firehawk12]

Yep, if all this stuff is US only, then fuck these guys.

 

[Coloress_Kafka]

So it's just music I buy off iTunes? Meh

Rdio for life!

Spoiler

Or until they run out of money ;_;

 

[VALIS]

What's the problem with streaming it from home? Especially in a world of much faster home broadband (which Obama personally assured me is coming).

None of the current solutions work well with large libraries. Subsonic might, but it doesn't read tags so your folder names have to be in perfect order. And if you have an enormous library, they probably aren't.

 

[kehs]

None of the current solutions work well with large libraries. Subsonic might, but it doesn't read tags so your folder names have to be in perfect order. And if you have an enormous library, they probably aren't.

none of the solutions youve tried.

synologys nases have built it media servers that work great with the accompanied android/ios applications even with large libraries

 

[LCfiner]

Google search is A++++++++++++, would definitely search again.

i just don't get the hype beyond search though.

oh, I see. I typically still think of Google as search more than anything else so I didn't get where you were coming from.

as for their other endeavors... hit or miss.

---------

as for this new iTunes service, I would hope that, like Amazon, you could upload your own files manually but anything bought from the itunes store would automatically be available with no extra steps.

might be too much to ask for to have that manual upload option, for a variety of reasons. we'll see how this is handled.

 

[VALIS]

none of the solutions youve tried.

synologys nases have built it media servers that work great with the accompanied android/ios applications even with large libraries

....software solution.

 

[theBishop]

None of the current solutions work well with large libraries. Subsonic might, but it doesn't read tags so your folder names have to be in perfect order. And if you have an enormous library, they probably aren't.

OK, so we need a sexy new GPL-licensed media streaming service. I could get behind that. But the core concept of streaming from home is not the issue, right? Your public IP address is just as good as Apples, right?

 

[VALIS]

OK, so we need a sexy new GPL-licensed media streaming service. I could get behind that. But the core concept of streaming from home is not the issue, right? Your public IP address is just as good as Apples, right?

Sure. I've tried many ways of streaming from home, some work better than others, but I'd be thrilled with not having to pay for it like a cloud service.

 

[kehs]

....software solution.

....as opposed to....

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Amazon beats Apple on all digital music fronts except for exclusives.

for us, yes. but in terms of volume of sales? Apple runs the world.

 

[theBishop]

....as opposed to....

Vaporized H2O.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Apple won't allow uploading of your own music, I guarantee it.

 

[theBishop]

Apple won't allow uploading of your own music, I guarantee it.

And I'm assuming not in codecs of your choice.

 

[MThanded]

Apple won't allow uploading of your own music, I guarantee it.

Most likely not which would kill it for me.

Even though I am an apple fan in general i purchase all my music through amazon because its usually much cheaper.

 

[SimleuqiR]

Apple won't allow uploading of your own music, I guarantee it.

And I'm assuming not in codecs of your choice.

Well, the mother ship knows best.

 

[kehs]

i actually think theyll strike a bulk deal that will have you paying something 2-3% of actual cost to have your initial library available.

thats the only way for something like this to take off

 

[qwerty2k]

wish Apple would just give us an all you can eat streaming service already, please Apple take my money, im prepared to pay lots per month for unlimited movie and music streaming.

 

[Casp0r]

As if playing music on my smartphone didn't drain the battery enough ... now you want me to stream it through 3G or Wi-Fi ...

Thanks but with memory so cheap and abundant ... the last thing I want is to have my whole music collection stuck on the reliability of my Internet connection ... which is workable at best.


... whole thing ... doesn't sit right with me. Mobile internet needs to be way way way more reliable for me to believe in this stuff.

 

[Tobor]

And I'm assuming not in codecs of your choice.

They'll support the ones that matter.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

They'll support the ones that they think matter.

Fixed.

 

[theBishop]

They'll support the ones that matter.

So just FLAC then?

 

[MThanded]

As if playing music on my smartphone didn't drain the battery enough ... now you want me to stream it through 3G or Wi-Fi ...

Thanks but with memory so cheap and abundant ... the last thing I want is to have my whole music collection stuck on the reliability of my Internet connection ... which is workable at best.


... whole thing ... doesn't sit right with me. Mobile internet needs to be way way way more reliable for me to believe in this stuff.

I stream my music library from my apartment because its not going to fit on a phone any time soon. Also I can access it from my android phone, ipad or desktop. I use substreamer. When I first started I was very apprehensive but streaming is the way to go because you don't have to remember to sync new songs and you can choose to listen to anything you have at any time.

Also smart streaming employs queuing so if you listen to the same things all the time those songs will already be queued on your device.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Unless it's Lala reincarnated don't even fricking try, Apple.

*wound still not healed*

 

[Tobor]

So just FLAC then?

Haha, good one.

 

[louis89]

What's the actual point of this?

Why wouldn't I just sync my iPod and have all my music in portable form without requiring an Internet connection?

 

[kehs]

What's the actual point of this?

Why wouldn't I just sync my iPod and have all my music in portable form without requiring an Internet connection?

What's the actual point of this?

Why wouldn't I just access my media server, I have access to all my music wherever I am without requiring me to sit around waiting for my sync to finish.

/this post sent from the future regarding syncing.