Google Announces Google Music, Artist Hub

Google announced a new online store and storage space yesterday called Google Music. The program, which has been compared to iTunes and Amazon mp3, is meant to be used on computers, phones and tablets.

Songs that are purchased from the store, which is in conjunction with T-Mobile’s Android market, would be instantly available on all devices that are connected to the app. Songs can also be shared with friends using Google+ for a one-time listen. Rob Wells of the Universal Music Press said that the program would be a huge leap forward in fighting piracy by creating a new, legitimate place to consume music.

CNN reported that market research indicated that more than half of all smartphones sold worldwide in the last quarter run on the Android software, and Google reported that 200 million devices were activated.

Another huge part of the announcement yesterday was the Google Music Artist Hub, a music sharing network that has been drawing comparisons to BandCamp. In the announcement, Google representatives said that the market would be available to artists for a one-time fee of $25 with no annual fee to keep individual albums online.

Representatives also said the Artist Hub would give artists increased freedom by allowing them to change their album price at will. Artists will also be able to sell their tracks directly through their YouTube pages in the future. You can take a look at the Artist Hub here.

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