Google Music service has finally launched in the UK and across Europe, undercutting the likes of Amazon and iTunes by offering free cloud storage for up to 20,000 tracks.
The tool, available via the Google play store online and on Android mobile phones, is launched a year after it began in the US. The delay was caused by licensing disputes with record labels.
Google had announced that it would be expanding the Google Music service to countries outside the US during its announcement of the Google Nexus 4 andGoogle Nexus 10 back in October.
Tracks can be purchased for 79p each, and album prices seem to be competitively pitched against the service’s main rivals, iTunes and Amazon MP3.
The ability to upload music tracks is available across the board. The service is accessible through a downloadable desktop Music Manager program, and also requires the free Google Play Music app on the Google Play store.
This has been the default Android music player for some time now, but isn’t included with every Android device as standard.
By contrast, Amazon’s Cloud Player service offers 5GB of online storage and the ability to stream 250 of your tracks for free. Adding extra storage will cost from £6 per year for 20GB, rising to £320 p/a for a full terabyte.
Apple’s iCloud offers 5GB storage free (approx. 1,200 MP3s) while additional storage will set you back £14 per year for 10GB (15GB in total), 20GB (25GB in total) will cost £28 per year, and 50GB (55GB in total) is priced at £70 per year.
Watch a video describing how the service works below:
Watch the promo video here:
Google Music
