Google Inc is set to launch an online music locker service called Music Beta to allow users to store and access their songs wherever they are. Users of the service are expected to be able to listen to songs they have uploaded to the service in a so-called streaming mode but won’t be able to download the files themselves. This is similar to one launched by Amazon.com Inc in March although it will store considerably more music. But Google hasn’t secured licenses from the four major recorded-music companies, so the service would not allow people to download music.

Google has been working on a music service as a feature of its Android mobile operating system to better compete with iTunes, which is the anchor of Apple Inc’s content services. So for Google, the new service is a way to compete with the iPhone by giving Android users the ability to easily use their music collections.

Music Beta is starting off as an invite-only service. Users will be provided enough space for roughly 20,000 songs and will be able to stream the files to Google-linked devices with internet access. The service will only work on devices that support Flash, though, which means that it will not be compatible with Apple products such as the iPhone and the iPad.

However, the system is likely to be unveiled at the annual Google I/O developer’s conference in San Francisco.

Via Hollywood Reporter