Talks of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) being in accelerated negotiations with a music publishing group Harry Fox Agency, to launch its Google Music store to counter Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes hegemony seems to be gathering storm.

Citing industry sources, New York Post has reported that Google's Vice President Andy Rubin, the man behind Android OS, is in hurried talks with Harry Fox Agency to be able to launch Google Music Store by the year's end.

Harry Fox Agency is the largest owner of mechanical music licenses in the U.S., acts as a conduit for music publishers, and currently owns rights to around 27,000 songs.

A mechanical license grants the holder the right to copy recorded songs for which they do not hold a copyright. It's an agreement with the composition copyright holder, to reproduce the composition -- recording, printed sheet music, and lyrics.

Currently, Google sells much of its music through Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) and iTunes. It also derives revenues from sale of music through YouTube. Although the name for the service has not been reported, the logo for "Google Music" was discovered last month on Google's servers.

The slated launch is due to coincide with its launch of Android 3 in winter. Google's Cloud music service floored audience last month when it demonstrated how one could purchase music through an Android web page and download it to Android phones immediately at the push of a button.

The timing to push for such a strategy seems perfect as Android has emerged as a formidable opponent to iPhone. Presently, Apple's iTunes owns a 28 percent of market share, with Amazon and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) each holding a 12 percent stake. With YouTube in the kitty, combined with its search engine prowess, Google can surely add flavor to the cloud-based subscription business model, giving Apple a run for its iTunes business.

However, much depends upon the pricing of the product, and one waits to see how it would impact Apple's pricing of iTunes services.

International Business Times, The Global Business News Leader