Google Music Launching This Year?

Google’s big expected music play may be coming to fruition sooner than anyone had expected it to. In fact, we may see it launch before this year’s holiday season.

Android’s Andy Rubin is said to be working closely with the music industry to accelerate talks that will allow Google to acquire the licenses it needs to get Google Music off of the ground. Google faces a long, uphill battle in music: Apple controls 28% of the market, and Amazon and WalMart control 12% apiece.

Those are  tough market leaders to take on. What can Google do to beat that headwind? The internet giant can use three properties to push its offerings in ways that its competitors cannot: YouTube, Android, and Google Search. Each of those three Google properties has millions upon millions of music fanatics, and Google can reach them.

If that will be enough to beat entrenched competitors remains to be seen, but it does give Google a chance.

Google is in talks with the Harry Fox Agency, meaning that talks with individual record labels have succeeded, and that  the company has moved, in the words of the NY Post, to “the next level.”

As we have previously reported, iTunes is suffering from problems with record labels in regards to streaming music licencing. It could be that Google is planning on capitalizing on that weakness, but for now that remains speculation.