Google cranks up social music store

— -- Google on Wednesday starred in its own Hollywood debut — a digital music store with a social twist.

At the Los Angeles event, Google showed off its updated digital music store, dubbed Google Music, that will begin selling music immediately online from the catalogs of EMI Group, Sony Music and Universal Music. A list of independent labels have signed on as well. Warner Music is not yet on board.

The search giant also unfurled a deal with the studios that will allow music purchases to be shared across its Google+ social network. People can share entire albums on Google+ with friends.

"Recommendations from friends are the single most important way that people discover new music. And we think that this social feature has the potential to really transform purchasing behavior," said Zahava Levine, Google director of content partnerships.

Songs will be available from 99 cents and will include access to a library of 8 million tracks and eventually 13 million.

Google's entry into digital music sales turns up the volume in the battle with Apple and Amazon. The three digital powerhouses will be clawing for a slice of the $6.8 billion in online music sales projected for 2012 by research firm Gartner.

Google's social move was a much-needed element to help its music entry stand out in the market, analysts say.

"There needs to be integration with Google+," says IDC analyst Danielle Levitas. It will need to be "compelling to switch your music over from iTunes." She cautioned, however, that Google+ adoption, in general, may remain limited to "certain technophiles," muting the benefit.

Catching Apple's dominant iTunes won't be easy. Since its 2003 launch, the service has become the de facto standard for ease-of-use. That position has only been cemented by Apple's 250 million-plus iOS-based devices that now include iPods, iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch.

Apple's iCloud music storage and iTunes Match service that lets people easily manage music across devices will only make customers more loyal, or "locked in," say analysts.

But Google has now hit more than 200 million activations of Android-based smartphones. And its fast-growing mobile operating system doubled in position worldwide from a year ago, occupying a staggering 52.5% of the smartphone market in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Apple's No. 3 ranked iOS has edged lower to 15% of the market from 16.6% a year ago, according to Gartner.

The music from Google is now available for purchase at Market.Android.com. Google Music is coming to Android phones and tablets in "the coming days," and it requires Android 2.2 and the latest version of the Android Market app.

Google says it automatically syncs "your entire music library" across all devices wirelessly. People will need to download its Music Manager, and then will be able to add their songs from iTunes, Windows Media Player or other stored folders. Users are given free space to store up to 20,000 tracks on the service.

Google also said that artists can create a $25 band page in Google Music. Artists can sell their music within Google Music, keeping 70% of sales.

Google announced partnerships with more than 1,000 independent recording studios.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wants more digital music sales. The company's Cloud Drive gives 5GB of free space to store music for devices. To entice users, Amazon has notoriously tried to undercut iTunes prices, even selling at a loss. Its $199 Kindle Fire tablet, which recently went on sale, serves to further his media sales ambitions. Google's entry, however, may complicate those efforts.

"Google will simply be competing with Amazon for second place in the U.S. digital music market," says IHS Screen Digest analyst Arash Amel.