G-Tune-Google rolls out music service.
by amed
Tag
google
Google rolled out its much anticipated music service, Google Music, on October28, 2009 at roughly the same time Verizon and Motorola rolled out the Droid, a smartphone based on Google Android.
Google Music (http://www.google.com/music) is basically a search engine for music, just as search engines like Google can locate a website if you type in one of the words in the web address. Google Music searches for songs if you type in song lyrics.
Theoretically this means that if you hear a catchy tune on the radio or somewhere else you can type in a few words from the lyric and Google Music will locate the song. Since there are tens of thousands of songs it’s hard to see how well this system might work. It could be programmed to pull up popular or recent songs or songs from big bands and artists. The site lets you search via song title, lyrics, artist, genre and other methods.
So far media reviews have indicated that Google Music isn’t much better than other music services. Given Google’s power and reach this could quickly change. Especially since Google is partnered with MySpace to create this site. MySpace recently bought Ilike or Lala a popular music search engine.
Google hasn’t said how this search will aid downloading but it won’t take people long to figure out how to download songs. Downloading songs is now one of the most popular activities on the internet. Google’s own blog states that two out of ten searches are for music.
Given the huge popularity of downloading on devices like the iPhone and Droid that enable people to play songs anywhere. It’s a clear indicated that Google makes its way into this huge market. Their formula to success may possibly be based around advertisement to be able to compensate artist, as it does with AdSence and webmasters.
One challenge will be to overcome piracy, especially if music pirates could create sites that will peddle pirated songs designed to come up on Google Music instead of legitimate sites. Google hasn’t addressed this issue it but will loom large especially if musicians sue Google over royalties. Another problem will be paying out royalties to major musicians.
The Google model could be very valuable to up-and-coming musicians and to bands and artists that don’t have major contracts and seeking exposure. They could use it to sell their music directly to the public, as an alternative to reach broader market then the traffic of iTunes.
The bad economy could help Google Music if it could sell songs and albums at a much lower price. This could kill off what’s left of music retailing and deal a serious blow to commercial radio which it relies heavily on airplay of songs to attract listeners. Once more, Google seems poised to change the world and start defining new rules.
