Google to add MP3s to Google Music for Ice Cream Sandwich?

Seth Weintraub | Oct 13 2011 - 8:09 pm PT

The NYTimes thinks so.

According to numerous music executives, Google is eager to open the store in the next several weeks. 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, said these executives, who all spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private and continuing.

Being able to buy MP3s would be a big hole for Google to fill, but it is having a hard time convincing the music industry that it is genuine about stopping piracy. It will be interesting to see what concessions Google gives up to get MP3s and how their system will compare to Apple, Amazon and the other vendors.

Maybe they’ll be able to remove that pesky ‘beta’ tag as well.