Listen up: Google Music opens in the cloud

Santa Clara, California – Google has launched its own cloud-based music store, Google Music, initially only available in the US.

The service enables users to store up to 20,000 tracks online for free, and listen to them using any Android device or web browser. Music can be purchased from the new store in Android Market and is automatically synchronised with the user’s laptop, phone and tablet device – also enabling offline listening.

Google Music also adds a social layer to the service, offering the ability to share single tracks and entire albums across its social media site Google+.

Services such as Google Music and Apple’s recently launched iTunes Match show the way people are consuming and sharing music is evolving. For more information about the changing market, look out for our forthcoming Future of Music report.