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Exclusive: Google is planning to roll out a music streaming service to capitalize on the power of YouTube...

Sources in the record industry told Fortune that it is not yet clear if a subscription-based model is more lucrative (and therefore preferable) to an ad-subsidized approach. Free nets more customers, but the subscription model has consumers actively paying for music -- a good thing, if you're in the music business, which just posted its first year-on-year increase in sales in thirteen years....

Google is entering an already crowded field: Spotify, Pandora (P), Rdio, Soundcloud, and Muve Music all offer customers similar access to large online music libraries. Apple is rumored to be building a "radio" feature in its iTunes program that would deliver streaming music based upon a user's tastes -- a service something like Pandora -- that further merges the experience of being in a "store" to purchase music, and then listening to it in a "player."

They're all fighting over a still small pie. U.S. consumers have been fairly slow to join -- and stick with -- subscription music services. The most popular, Muve Music, has just 1.4 million customers. (Spotify is close behind, with about 1 million.) Its success is in large part due to the fact that it bundles its price into a cellphone bill, as if it were a cable operator charging for an MTV/VH1 package. The mobile carrier that owns Muve, Cricket, is then able to sell subscriptions at less than $5 a month, far lower rates than Spotify, which generally costs about twice that much.

Soundcloud, a free music streaming site that is user-curated and is, in many ways, similar in spirit and practice to YouTube, has recently begun partnering with major artists and large companies, such as Snoop Lion (nee, Dog) and Red Bull. Soundcloud boasts that it is the fastest growing music streaming site, with its users uploading about 10 hours of content a minute. In 2010, YouTube users uploaded 35 hours of content per minute; in 2011, they posted 48 hours per minute; as of last May, it was up to 72 hours a minute. It's not all music, but a lot is.

A global partnership with Spotify, announced today at Mobile World Congress, heralds a major push into Europe for Ford SYNC, the voice-activated in-car connectivity system, and Ford SYNC AppLink, which enables customers to control smartphone apps safely from the driver’s seat.

Paul Mascarenas, Ford chief technical officer and vice president, research and innovation said that Ford SYNC will feature in 3.5 million Ford vehicles in Europe by 2015.  Helping the company reach this target will be the all-new European version of the EcoSport. Unveiled at Congress, the Ford EcoSport is one of the first Ford vehicles in Europe to offer Ford SYNC AppLink.

The integration of the music streaming service with Ford SYNC AppLink-equipped vehicles in both Europe and North America marks Spotify’s first direct collaboration with an automotive manufacturer. With 20 million users and five million paying subscribers, Spotify is currently available in 17 European countries, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Pascal de Mul, global head of hardware partnerships, Spotify, said that AppLink will enable drivers to access Spotify songs and playlists using voice commands including: “shuffle”, “repeat”, “star/unstar track”, “choose playlist”, “play music”, “recently played”, and “now playing”.

Ford also announced that it is working with three partners on European-tailored versions of AppLink apps previously launched in the US. Kaliki Audio Newsstand provides audible playback of newspaper and magazine articles; Glympse allows Ford drivers to share their location and estimated time of arrival with friends and family; Aha uses the cloud to safely enable internet-based entertainment and information allowing drivers to search for infotainment such as social media feeds, places to eat or stay and weather.