You’ve probably already heard about the awesome things announced at Google I/O yesterday, but if you didn’t get a chance to watch it yourself — or you just tuned out because it went on too long — then you can now watch the whole thing online.
We suggest skipping to the best bits, though, because it’s almost four hours long.
OK, so maybe not a huge surprise, but Google is said to launch a paid, subscription-based music service, like Rdio or Spotify, as soon as this week at the Google I/O conference, reports the Wall Street Journal.
According to “people familiar with the matter,” says the WSJ, the announcement of the new service could happen as soon as tomorrow, when Google hosts it’s annual I/O developer conference. The WSJ says that Google has previewed new music initiatives at I/O in the past, so it might just announce the streaming service there, as well.
Google is preparing to take on companies like Spotify and Rdio with a new YouTube music streaming service, according to sources in the record industry, who have been speaking to Fortune. The service, which is expected to launch later this year, could be available for free, but there will be subscription options for those who don’t like to see advertisements.
The latest evolution of Spotify was revealed today at a press event in New York City that showed off Spotify’s new browser app, music discovery features, social additions and more.
Spotify users will now be able to get the same experience they’ve become accustomed to with the desktop client via a new web-based player. The new web-player will allow users to search and play music, create playlist, and use other new features Spotify unveiled today that will help people find newer, better, cooler music.
According to reports from Twitter, the music subscription service Rdio, appears to have secretly launched in the U.K. and France. While Rdio has yet to chime in on the subject, users in those locations are now able to sign up for a free 7-day trial of unlimited listening. Everything seems to work, although I’m hearing quite a few people in the U.K. are unable to stream or download a significant number of albums (probably why we haven’t heard an official announcement from Rdio).
