Facebook and Google Offer Music Sales
It was probably only a matter of time before Facebook and Google jumped on board the online music store bandwagon.
Facebook will be adding songs to it’s store, where users have a number of different sharing options. You can either pay a dime for a track, which will allow you to send it to friends, but they can only listen to it online, or pay ninety cents to send a copy that can be downloaded.
Google, in the meantime, looks like it’s going after iTunes.
They’ve teamed up with Lala and iLike, and possibly Imeem, for a project dubbed One Box.
The plan is that when you Google a song title, it will take you to the mentioned partner sites to stream it and then purchase the tracks.
The new Google music page will also feature musician news, pics, lyrics and videos opposed to sending you off to an artists site, YouTube, etc. Which is all a plot to keep people on Google longer.
One Box should be launched on October 28, so it could be worthwhile to check it out.
There’s also speculation that Google would be working on a music store modeled after iTunes, but since Google is a search provider and not a content provider, it seems like it a big no.
The Facebook idea is a pretty simple concept and I think it’s a great way to share music with your friends. But, will people shelve out any sort of cash, even if it’s only a dime, when they can send music for free?
The Google concept seems very intriguing. It could be a convenient way in finding everything you want from a band.
It sounds like a one stop music shop. But, I don’t like the idea that it’s just a ploy to keep you on Google. I can see some backlash with that idea. Besides, can anyone, even Google, really compete with Apple?
We’ll just have to wait and see.
