Intermezzo: Google Readying Music Service
Apple’s dominance in selling music will be challenged in a big way by Google according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. The article states that the search engine giant is “preparing to launch a music download service by the end of the year followed by an online subscription service in 2011.” In the first quarter of 2010, 28% of all music purchased in the U.S. was bought through Apple’s iTunes store, so Google has plenty of work to do if it wants to steal a sizable chunk of that business.
While the first battleground for the brewing Apple/Google war will be on the download front, the future of the industry seems to be in “cloud-based” subscription services, which allow users to access their music through the internet so they don’t have to store the files on their devices. We can’t wait to see what Google has in store.
Let’s take a quick hop around the ‘nets for a fresh batch o’ links…
- Wilco announces a summer-themed photo contest
- Pearl Jam debuted a new song called Of The Earth
- Check out this gorgeous version of Slip Slidin’ Away
- STS9′s Murp & Talib Kweli will join Break Science at CB9
- Boston Herald features a review of last night’s Phish show
- Half of Umphrey’s McGee sang the anthem at Wrigley Field
Finally, The New Deal have just announced an intimate show at West Chester, PA’s The Note on Saturday night, where the untz-driven trio will treat fans to “4+ hrs of music, including DJ Sets by all three members of tND, fan-requested covers, band giveaways and for the first time – Live Vocals.” The New Deal was previously scheduled to perform at the Electric Factory on Saturday but that show has been postponed until September 24.
Scott Bernstein
Scott Bernstein co-founded Hidden Track in October 2006 and was managing editor until taking over as EiC in January 2008. Scotty also writes for Relix Magazine and curates YEMblog.com.
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Thanks, the article was very useful! And to find and download music you can also use http://www.usemeplz.com search engine, think that is rather good searcher. Like it most because it’s design is very simple and there are no annoying spam banners on the site.