“Google Music” Slightly Less Impressive Than Its Name Might Indicate

noah | October 21, 2009 12:30 pm

News of an imminently launching “Google Music” burned up the Twitter this morning, but as with many topics that are popular on the microblogging site, this one probably won’t be as awe-inspiring as its name lets on. Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports that the search-engine titan’s musical efforts, which will be announced at an Oct. 28 press conference, won’t amount to a celestial jukebox as much as they’ll result in a streaming-enhanced search engine for digital-music stores:

The search giant is working on a new service that will provide searchers with streaming music, which sounds a whole lot like a content play at first blush. But Google will only be offering limited bits of music, and it will be using other companies to actually provide the tunes. Sources describe the service, which will be called “One Box”, as a refined set of answers for music queries. The idea: Punch in, say, “Madonna”, and you’ll be presented with one or more songs, which may be partial clips or full-length versions, then guided to other sites where you can purchase the music.

The streaming part of the equation will apparently be supplied by music services iLike and lala, who are partners for the “music discovery” press conference today. (Featuring OneRepublic and Linkin Park. Do people still need to discover those acts? Huh.) They’re no doubt excited about the shot in the exposure-arm they’ll get from being the default music-search partners for Google, although whether that exposure will turn into dollars is—as with so many other music-business equations these days—the biggest variable. Google Steps Gingerly into Music with “One Box” [MediaMemo] [Image via Google Logos]