I’ve heard this rumor before. It has resurfaced in this Forbes magazine article today:
Google Music Store Would Provide New Revenue Stream
Google is preparing to launch a music downloading service, according to research firm Caris & Company.
“The music industry is broadly unhappy with the fixed pricing and lack of subscription options at the market-leading iTunes Music Store and likely to support alternative services,” wrote the analyst in a recent report.
In the company’s recent analyst meeting, Google highlighted plans to broaden its business by expanding into media downloading and localized ad-search.
In addition to the potential Music Store, Google has expanded the availability of its experimental local AdWords to all customers in the U.S., Canada and Britain. Integrated into Google Maps, the service is expected to allow targeting ads based on the user’s location.
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Hard to say how real this is. Personally, I’d like to see it happen because it would create a broader demand for content with a significantly larger audience than Apple.
It wouldn’t hurt to see Apple with some competition, in my opinion. The whole movement of selling media online is still so new that I can imagine there will be more change coming. Don’t you wonder about Amazon selling digital media audio and videos as direct downloads? What about Microsoft?
Tom
