Google Inc. is building a music-download store that would work closely with its Google+ social network and could launch it within the next two weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.

Users of Google Music, as the service is tentatively named, could recommend songs in an online library to Google+ contacts, who in turn would be allowed to listen to those songs once free of charge. The songs would then be available for sale as MP3 downloads, probably for around the usual 99 cents each.

Digital-music services from Spotify AB and Research In Motion Ltd., too, have recently begun using social networking as a word-of-mouth marketing vehicle. It is too early to know how successful these efforts are at recruiting new customers and retaining existing ones, people in the music industry say, but they add that early signs are encouraging.

Google's online library is already up and running under the name Music Beta. A free service, it lets users upload their music collections to remote servers, from which they can then listen to their music from any Internet-connected device.

Executives at Google have told people in the music industry that they plan to start the music-download service this week or next week, even though they are unlikely to secure the rights to sell music from at least two of the four major label groups in time. The song-recommendation feature would work only for music released by record labels with Google agreements in place.

Launching a music service without the participation of all four major label companies can be risky. Users can get turned off quickly if they can't find an artist or a song they want, and the majors distribute more than 87% of the music sold in the U.S.

The issue is important enough that most online music services, from Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store in 2003 to Spotify this year, have waited to launch until they had the four of the big music companies on board.

Ethan Smith

• recommend [,rekə´mend] vt.推荐；使受欢迎 (初中英语单词)
• charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
• available [ə´veiləbəl] a.可用的；有效的 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
• remote [ri´məut] a.遥远的；偏僻的 (初中英语单词)
• distribute [di´stribju:t] vt.分配；分布；散播 (初中英语单词)
• launch [lɔ:ntʃ] vt.发动 n.发射；汽艇 (高中英语单词)
• motion [´məuʃən] n.手势 vt.打手势 (高中英语单词)
• network [´netwə:k] n.网状物 vt.联播 (英语四级单词)
• vehicle [´vi:ikəl] n.车辆；媒介物 (英语四级单词)
• unlikely [ʌn´laikli] a.不像的；未必可能的 (英语六级单词)
• participation [pɑ:,tisi´peiʃən] n.参加，参与 (英语六级单词)