Google trying to open MP3 store

RACE AGAINST TIME: Tell us if you’ve heard this one before. Five months after it introduced its Music Beta cloud-based music service, Google is in negotiations with the Big Four to expand that service and also open an MP3 store, the N.Y. Times reports. According to numerous music execs, Google is eager to open the store in the next several weeks. Google may be hoping to announce its store before Apple opens iTunes Match, which is expected to be operational by the end of this month. But it’s unclear whether the tech giant can close licensing deals with the major labels and publishers in time to open a full-service store. “We want to make sure the locker doesn’t become a bastion of piracy,” one senior label executive told reporter Ben Sisario. In a separate story, the Wall Street Journal says that EMI is the only major close to working out a deal with Google. (10/14a)