The idea of a subscription music service for Google (News - Alert) that's on par with Spotify has been in the making for some time now, but new reports suggest that, when Google I/O kicks off, among the many new services and products shown off in that time will be the start of Google's answer to Spotify (News - Alert), thanks to some recently-arrived support from the major record labels.

Google has, based on reports from The Verge, signed deals with both Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, and signed said deals to cover both YouTube (News - Alert) and Google Play. Since the separate deals were established, it reportedly clears the way for music subscription services to come into play for both YouTube and Google Play, which are the primary sources of entertainment for Android (News - Alert) devices. Universal and Sony join Warner Music Group, giving the Google properties access to the largest portion of music out there.

The timing of this move is actually rather fortuitous for Google, as it allows the company to get a jump on rival Apple (News - Alert), which has been trying to wheel out a streaming music service of its own for some time. While Google is said to be emulating Spotify in terms of streaming--allowing users to define what songs are streamed to the various devices accessing the software--Apple is said to be taking more of a Pandora approach, in which songs appear randomly according to tastes.

But there's no denying that Google is already a name to reckon with in music. Admittedly, YouTube is well-regarded as a major force, with Google Play still less than a power--owing largely to the fact that it's still comparatively new. With 800 million unique visitors a month at last report--large numbers of which come for the music videos--there's no denying that YouTube is a big stop on many music lovers' online itineraries.

While an exact price on Google's streaming services hasn't yet been announced--and likely will be at the I/O event--reports indicate that there won't be a free tier for the streaming. However, reports suggest that YouTube is trying to get an audio-only license, and how that will change things is as yet unclear.

Google may well have something impressive on its hands, and while only the fullest details will give the best picture, the early word suggests that it may well have the necessary goods to at least keep pace with the other offerings out there. Making it easily accessible with Android devices certainly won't hurt things, and if it can add in that free tier--even with some limits--it will likely help get some users away from current favorites in favor of a new version that may even have more to offer in the end.