• The New York Times, Friday, October 14, 2011 12 AM

Google is reportedly in negotiations with the major record labels to expand its cloud music service, and open an MP3 store. “It would most likely be connected to Google’s existing cloud service, Music Beta, which lets people back up their songs on remote servers and stream them to mobile phones and other devices,” The New York Times reports, citing numerous music execs.

Apple is expected to debut its latest cloud music program, iTunes Match, this coming June, and then launch the service in October. NYT suggests that Google is trying to beat Apple to the punch, but it is unclear whether Google will be able to close the necessary deals with labels and music publishers in time. Google first introduced a cloud music service with limited capabilities five months ago. Previous negotiations with music companies, for a so-called smart locker service, broke down over financial terms and the music companies’ fear that Google was not doing enough to address piracy issues.

Read the whole story at The New York Times »