'Google Music' may launch next week

Search giant Google may finally unveil long-rumored new features for its music service on November 16, tech sites reported over the weekend. The site “The Verge" cited sources who said the November 16 event for “Google Music" may have music purchasing and a sharing feature for Google+ among its possible new features. “No word yet on what will be announced, but we expect to see music purchasing added to the service as well as new Google+ sharing service following a glimpse in October of an HTML5-powered music player," it said. A separate article on CNET said Google had emailed invitations to an event it called “These Go To Eleven" – referring to the mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap" and its lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel, who had an amplifier with volume knobs that went to 11. CNET quoted its music industry sources as saying Google does not yet have licensing deals with four major labels including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and EMI. It said Google had been negotiating with the labels, and sources have said that the top labels want Google in the market, but not all of them have been able to reach terms with the company. But it also cited sources who said last month that about a dozen large independent labels have reached agreements with Google. Previous reports speculate the service will let users buy tracks, just as they can from other online music stores. But Google will add a feature, according to those reports, that will let users give songs to their Google+ friends to listen to one time for free. Earlier this year, Google debuted a beta version of a music service but it did not include the ability to buy songs from labels. Instead, it let users upload their music libraries to Google’s servers, making those tunes available to stream from any browser or Android-based device, such as a phone, a tablet, or Google TV. — TJD, GMA News