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Slacker Radio, an Internet radio service similar to streaming music giant Pandora, has just introduced a new tier to its subscription service: a $9.99 per month Premium version which offers music on-demand. Previously, as the name implies, Slacker Radio was more focused on a radio-like experience, where you listen to a station built around your favorite artist, just like in Pandora. For example, type in "Lady Gaga" and you'll be presented with her hottest tracks, as well as those from "related" artists.

To ditch the advertisements and skip songs you don't like, a $3.99/month subscription (Slacker Radio Plus) was made available. And today, Slacker has launched another option: a $9.99/month Premium Radio subscription for playing the songs, albums or artists you want to hear on demand. This is similar to a number of other services out there today, including two of our favorites, MOG and Rdio.

Which one is right for you?

Google is finally launching its Google Music service at this week's Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco, a year after its reveal at the last event. The new service will be similar to what Amazon launched in March, an online storage locker where your songs will be stored in the "cloud." In this case, the "cloud" refers to Google's servers. Once your music is uploaded, you can stream it to your Android-powered mobile phone or via the Web to your computer.

While both Amazon and Google's offerings have the same basic concept behind their design, there are some notable differences between the two, as detailed below.

Today, SublimeVideo, a cloud-based HTML5 video player service, is launching commercially with plans starting at under $10 per month. Developers will also have access to a free, unlimited plan which they can use for testing purposes. The service, developed by Switzerland-based development and design firm Jilion, allows Web publishers to easily deploy HTML5 video on their websites, without needing to understand the complexities of different browsers versions and their associated specifications.

Instead, with the SublimeVideo service, a plugin-free Web player is provided that uses HTML5 to display the embedded videos Web publishers want to host online. When a user visits a site using an older browser, a "fall back to Flash" mode switches the player to use Adobe Flash technology for more universal compatibility.

Amazon has just launched a suite of music products that allow users to store their tracks online and them stream them over the Web or to any Android device courtesy of the Amazon MP3 mobile application. The launch has the tech world abuzz, not only because Amazon beat Apple and Google to the punch, both of whom are reportedly working on digital lockers of their own, but because Amazon hasn't even received the record labels' permission to host these tracks on its servers as of yet.

But is Amazon's cloud-based music storage service really all that innovative? Some journalists and analysts are saying it's not. Do you agree?

If you're an independent film lover, than big name online movie sites like Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand and Hulu Plus probably don't do it for you. They're full of blockbuster hits, mainstream movies and TV shows.

If, however, you're into cult classics, film noir, international hits and more, Fandor, the "online service for indie film fans," is for you.

Movie rental company Redbox is planning to launch a subscription-based streaming service. The L.A. Times reports that during a meeting with analysts yesterday, Redbox President Mitch Lowe confirmed the company's plans to expand beyond its movie rental kiosks.

That would put Redbox head-to-head with Netflix, which recently announced it had surpassed 20 million subscribers and is also working on shifting its business from the disc shipping to the Internet-streaming business. Indeed, customers are increasingly turning to the Web to watch movies, rather than to DVDs.

Sony joins a number of music streaming services today with its launch of "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity." The service has been available in parts of Europe since last year, and arrives in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand today.

Membership will start at $3.99 a month, with a $9.99 per month subscription that will give you on-demand access to the Music Unlimited catalog and with the ability to suggest music you might like based on the songs you already own or listen to. The service boasts more than 6 million songs, giving Sony Music Entertainment and its partners in the endeavor - Universal Music Group, EMI Music and Warner Music Group Corp - the ability to sell directly to customers.

Music streaming service Last.fm has been experiencing one of the most serious system outages it has ever encountered. It is just now returning to normal after being down for 24 hours. According to Last.fm database architect, the service has been "experiencing an extended period of downtime in all user-facing services," and it could take some time before those services return to a fully stable state.

While this was obviously a major problem for the company to solve, I wonder: did you notice? I can't say that I did. I haven't scrobbled in months on end. I can't remember the last time I even streamed music from Last.fm. I've moved on to bigger and better things...have you?