Google Play has been Google's music store for about two years now, to compete with the likes of Amazon.com and iTunes, now Google is going after a different competitor with the launch of "Google Play Music All Access" and that competitor is Spotify.
While the name might be a mouthful, the service is simple as can be. You can stream songs to your computer or Android device. According to The Verge, Google has deals with the three major record labels, Universal, Sony and Warner Music, ensuring a huge catalog of music to be available at launch.
The service will feature a recommendation engine pushing users towards music they may not have yet discovered based on their tastes. The software will seamlessly integrate local tracks and streaming tracks into one master searchable library.
Unlike Spotify, there will be no free tier of streaming, just one single $9.99 a month tier. There is a 30 day free trial, and if you sign up by June 30th, the price gets reduced to $7.99. Users can sign up here.
This leaves Apple is the lone-streaming holdout. Apple is reportedly in talks with major labels about launching their own Pandora-like streaming service, but has yet to announce anything. Apple's big developer conference is next month and it would be the perfect time to announce such a venture, but one thing is for certain, they are behind the curve.
