Going beyond beta

Back as a hot topic in the music + tech arena this week is Google Music, which follows the company’s halfhearted initial step into the cloud-music sector earlier this year with Music Beta. Now it appears that Google will be launching a digital music store in the coming weeks, but with a “twist,” as it is being reported, following Android chief Andy Rubin’s appearance at the AsiaD conference this week. Cnet reports that the twist will likely be social features, which will enable sharing capabilities among users – social enhancements are being touted as a big driver behind Spotify and similar services recent rapid growth. According to multiple reports, the only major label close to an agreement with Google right now for the new music service is EMI, while a number of independent labels are apparently already onboard. Other bits concerning the new Google Music talk include whether or not it will have a ‘mirroring’ component or ’scan and match’ that finds music already on a users’ computer – a feature that Apple’s upcoming new iCloud music offering will feature. Or as noted by Evolver.fm – if Google follows up their digital store by offering their own streaming-music subscription service, it could achieve the same outcome. Currently users of Music Beta have to upload their music to Google’s cloud-based music locker. While seemingly late to the game in all this, some observers are noting what a huge advantage and launching pad Google-owned YouTube will be for any new music service they bring, as the video site continues to reign as the largest free music site around… Following the recent acquisition of Napster, veteran music-subscription service Rhapsody continues on the publicity trail, with executives recently interviewed by Business Insider among others and speaking at this week’s CMJ Music Marathon conference. The biggest question has been about sustainability and relevance in light of all the new similar services, mainly Spotify, and how they plan to compete. But Rhapsody maintains that their business is healthy, they received a boost from all the press surrounding the aforementioned European startup’s launch in the U.S., and with the new Napster customer-base and planned wireless and cable provider deals, they’re doing just fine, and without a free offering to entice new users, for now… And how much of all the optimistic talk surrounding the bourgeoning on-demand and streaming music territory is hype vs. substance? A new report from the NPD Group, studying music listening habits, does show that in America at least, newer ways of accessing music are gaining real ground on traditional radio and CD listeners, with possibly the most revelatory statement being that “a tipping point is approaching when vehicles and portable devices move from a tethered connection to a more integrated one” – read more in the press release… In other quick items… Pandora has named its first chief marketing office in Simon Fleming-Wood… New music service Beyond Oblivion Inc., also known as Boinc and partially owned by News Corp., is reportedly close to finalizing licensing agreements with the four major label groups… Jimmy Iovine isn’t the only Universal Music exec with a penchant for high-end audio, as music industry veteran and co-CEO of Sanctuary 5B Artist Management, Carl Stubner, has been named to the advisory board of high-definition audio company Max Sound… And the popular music curating and aggregating site The Hype Machine has reached 1 million users.

Plenty of talk today centers around Amazon diving into the digital music cloud-storage arena, by unveiling a new service today known as their Cloud Drive and Cloud Player. The basic concept for the most part is the same as what has been discussed by multiple companies for some time now as a new digital-music “locker” type of feature, which allows users to store their content online, in this case Amazon’s own storage servers, with the ability to access it from multiple devices and locations. To catch up on the central concept, Amazon created a nice little cartoon that explains how it works, watch it here… What has most folks chattering however, is that while Amazon is not the first to offer a service like this, it took the step ahead of Apple and Google, and reportedly without any additional licenses in place with the record companies. A rep from Sony was the first to comment publicly, saying that they were “disappointed” with Amazon’s move… This act first, ask later tactic is one that many digital music services have taken in recent years – many times ultimately surrendering to labels at a high-cost or shutting down completely, but none of them had the stature of Amazon. Furthermore according to comments from the company, they don’t believe they need any additional licenses for the current Cloud service, and would only engage in negotiations with labels if and when it is necessary to introduce more new cloud features, whatever those might be.  Amazon is letting their customers decide – after all, user comments and feedback were the genesis of developing the new service, according to a Q&A with Billboard published today. Another interesting twist is that the new feature runs on the Android platform – how that will effect, or play into, Google’s own plans for a music service remain to be seen. The service is not currently available for Apple devices like the iPhone or iPad, and no information released indicates whether or not that will change.

The Video Site Hits the 5 Year Mark; 2 Billion Views a Day

YouTube celebrated its 5-year anniversary this week, and announced some impressive statistics, including the site’s 2-billion views per day and a #3 ranking for most visited sites on the web… Computer processor maker Intel and lifestyle media group Vice make for strange bedfellows, as the two have announced a new partnership to bring together The Creators Project where “curated artworks and installations, screenings, a panel discussion and dozens of performances by creators from all over the world,” which will take place in cities like New York and London over the summer… Mobile start up mspot beat Apple to the punch and unveiled its new free music-in-the-cloud service that allows users to sync music collections across Android phones and PC/Mac computers… Not far behind was Google’s announcement of its acquisition of Simplify Media at the Google I/O conference on Thursday. Simplify’s software allows users to stream home music libraries on mobile devices… Elsewhere, data shows that the iTunes Store now accounts for more than half of all digital music sales, increasing by more than 5% from 2008-2009… Axl is suing Irving… And Harmonix announced strong early numbers for its Rock Band Network…