Google Music debuts online

Google Music debuts online

SAN FRANCISCO - Internet powerhouse Google Inc has added a music search facility to its search engine. This facility will allow users to access the details of the works of certain artists as well.

Announcing this new feature, Marissa Mayer, the vice president of search products and user experience at the Mountain View, Calif-based Company said that this addition completed Google's profile since music was one thing that users wanted and Google did not have in its armory.

"In analyzing our traffic, we found that a huge number of users conduct music-related searches," the company said in a statement. The music search works by displaying the artist, name of the band, reviews, lyrics and whenever available a picture. And is users want more information, they can click on more music.

This will lead them to song titles as well as the online retailers where they can purchase the title. The initial sources to what will undoubtedly attract a number of big and small music companies are iPod owner Apple Computer's iTunes service, eMusic, RealNetworks Rhapsody and Amazon.com.

"This has been one of the longstanding unfilled user needs," Mayer stressed. "We saw a search need where we weren't providing users with the highest-quality results that we could." Mayer denied that Google was attempting to build its own music store. "We are getting people to the iTunes store," she said. Google's attention appears to have been grabbed by the fact that music is what most people come online for.

Currently, the sales and distribution of music is a huge untapped gold mine online and Google appears to have recognized this even if it is rather late in the day as it were. The introduction of Google Music comes just days after Microsoft Corp. and MTV Networks Co. inked an agreement to sell music under the name Urge. This service will debut online early next year.

Detailing the service, Google produce manager David Alpert said in his blog that Google will also provide special result fro specific searches, "Now you can search for a popular artist name, like the Beatles or the Pixies, and often Google will show some information about that artist, like cover art, reviews, and links to stores where you can download the track or buy a CD," he wrote. In the backdrop of this news, Google shares were up $1.47 to $418.96 in early trading.