Report: Google’s Had It Up to *Here* w/Music Labels

Google is apparently just about fed up with the major music labels in its negotiations to put together a music service to compete with Apple’s iTunes Store. AllThingsD reported that a source “familiar with [Google’s] thinking” said that the negotiations are “broken,” with another source saying Google’s music plans have recently “gone backwards.”

Google has wanted to launch an online music store that would offer Android users the same kind of access to music enjoyed by Apple’s iTunes customers. The company has wanted to pair such a store to an online music locker that would allow its customers to access their music libraries anywhere and everywhere (they have a connection to the Interwebs).

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka also noted that the music label sources have told him that things were going swimmingly, and that they thought they were close to a deal with Google. Some of those source also claimed, however, that Google has been changing some of the terms it wanted, and this had proved a sticking point.

Amazon’s recent move to launch an online digital locker without seeking permission from those same labels to do so may have also thrown a wrinkle into Google’s talks. Being frustrated with the labels on licensing music for an online store, the search giant could opt to go the locker route without offering music for sale.