We’re a little more than 24 hours away from what should be a major event for Google Music but a report suggests that the music-buying service may launch without two of the major music labels.
CNET’s Greg Sandoval reports that Universal Music Group has signed on to the deal but Google Music will be missing Sony and Warner. Sandoval has a great track record when it comes to digital music stories, so I tend to believe this report. Additionally, T-Mobile is hosting an after party with Google and Maroon 5, Busta Rhymes and Drake are scheduled to appear and each of these artists are with Universal.
The Google Music service is expected to offer a store for Android users to buy full albums or tracks and Google’s promised a bit of a twist and this could be a free song of a day, or a social-sharing feature through Google+. Having this type of baked into Android will help Google keep up to pace with iOS and iTunes and it makes sense, as you can also rent movies from the Android Market.
The lack of all the major record labels or at least a majority of them could mean that Google Music stumbles out of the gates. That’s not very surprising really, as we’ve been hearing of Google’s music ambitions for more than a year with very little to show for it. Google is also more than willing to push out a service or software that’s in beta, just ask Logitech.
[Via CNET]