Buzzwatch: by web or by mobile, Google’s aggressive Music push

If rumours being churned out today are true, then Google is making some pretty aggressive moves into the digital music market. The company is pegged to be releasing a music search-and-purchase service, for both on-line and mobile, called either “Google Audio” or “Google Music” depending on where you read. And with apparently official screenshots of the service being sent out by Google, we have to wonder whether is speculation at all.

What’s going on?

It all started with TechCrunch, where it was reported that Google has spent the last few weeks getting content together for a music service launch. It wasn’t clear if the service, which would be available to mobile owners in the US, would allow users to download music or just to stream it.

Pretty soon after, this new service started being referred to as Google Audio – and people were excited. Google already offers a pretty comprehensive suite of mobile services. With the kind of resources and connections that Google has, the company is more than capable of creating a truly mobile music service. And with the sheer volume of new products and services that Google has been creating, how long was it until it got involved in music downloads? As James Siminoff, CTO for Ditech, said at CTIA earlier this month, Google is too big to not expand into every tech market it possibly can. It’s inevitable.

So how likely is it that this is the first signs of Google’s expansion into digital and mobile music? While the “Google Audio” was still pretty much uncorroborated, it was anyone’s guess. But that’s not really case anymore. It is now being widely reported that Google is launching “Google Music”, backed by start-ups iLike and LaLa. The news originated on TechCrunch again, where it has even provided apparently official screenshots from Google as to what the new search service might look like:

Pics from TechCrunch
What we think?

Those pics looks distinctly “on-line web” to me, and not particularly mobile. However, we’ve got the single-minded nature of Googles mobile moves to look at. Along with the fact that mobile devices are the natural home for music download services, and the Google Audio rumours, it’s not much of a stretch to see Google creating a Spotify-type service. After all the company does have a noted tendency to look at what works, and incorporate that into its own services.

Moreover, are there two different services being launched here?

Google Audio and Google Music could easily be two separate services. It’s hard to say because Google has remained completely silent on either topic. But from the information that is out there, it looks a lot like Google Music may be a simple revamp of Googles music search facility. You can already search for music over Google, you just can’t download or stream it afterwards. The company seems to have a deal going with the major music labels; Universal , Sony Music, Warner and EMI. This could just be so that Google has the capacity to act as a download and payment service for music searches over their on-line engine. Google Audio, on the other hand, looks like it will be a separate service placed on Google Experience devices – like YouTube or Google Maps. Unfortunately, until Google tells us we won’t know.