Google decides to shut music service in China

BEIJING - The Associated Press

A woman dressed in a Han-dynasty costume checks her smartphone ahead of a performance in central Beijing. Google finds its music business in China unfruitful. REUTERS photo

Google says it plans to close a music download service in China due to a disappointing response from users.

The move announced on Sept. 21 will further reduce Google’s presence in the world’s most populous Internet market two years after it closed its mainland search engine in a dispute over censorship and computer hacking.

Google launched the music site in 2009 as a legal alternative to Chinese pirate websites. It shared advertising revenue with music companies.

The announcement said the site failed to have the impact the company wanted.

Google’s share of China’s search market has dwindled but the company still makes money selling advertising on its sites abroad to Chinese customers.

Google’s Android mobile phone operating system also is widely used in China.