Google Music unveiled its wares yesterday as it crossed its fingers and hoped to win over users from the plethora of other download and streaming services. Google Music is competing against iTunes, Amazon and other musiq sellers. Google's music store will allow Android smart phone users to buy songs directly from Google, which is something they can't do from iTunes. They'll also be able to share their purchases with friends on the Google Plus social network. But the company has a long way to go.

Currently only available in the United States, Google Music offers streaming, a music store and - natch - social media. Users can upload up to 20,000 tunes to the Google Music cloud and stream them to all their devices from there. The Google Music store, which has been incorporated into the Android app market, already has a couple of million tracks thanks to deals with Universal, Sony and EMI, the Merlin indie network and a number of independent distributors. There's also couple of exclusive live EPs and albums from The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, Dave Mathews Band and Coldplay.

For acts, there's the opportunity to set up bespoke pages using the Google Music Artist Hub (there is an one-off $25 registration fee) and upload, stream, sell direct to fans and set the price while they're at it, with 70 per cent of each sale going to the artist. And if you're on Google+ you can share purchased songs with friends who are also on that social network.