napster once again on the front page: Google Music Service is a Me, Too Proposition to Boost Android

Makes perfect sense that Google would let users search through millions of tunes. This is where I think they can really sink in their claws. While Apple has a virtual monopoly on digital music, no one has a monopoly on display ads served on a mobile phone. It seems like most other services combine one or two. What struck me, however, was the note that Google also plans a subscription music service that would launch next year. The option to purchase, obviously, will be the driving force of the business. I like the idea of playing these tracks on any medium I choose.

If Google can nail down them all, it could find itself as a major player in music sales. Apple’s move to offer an ad platform for its iPhone was smart. Presumably, the same rules would apply, wherein you can listen to the full track once. But it also felt like a me, too, to compete with Facebook and Twitter, the social kings of shared content for the Internet age.

Google’s decision to create a Web music store and later a music download service seems like a long shot for a company I fear is spreading itself too thin. Adding insult to injury, RJ Pittman, the director of product management at Google who led Discover Music and helped Google broker with the music companies, left Google to work on “cool stuff at Apple.” Could that “cool stuff” include the cloud music service we’re all expecting from Apple. It’s a nice little marketing ploy to boost song sales, and it sits in a logical place. Okay, here it is. This Google music service rumor and speculation leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I disagree.

What we are talking about here, however, is new competitors in the digital music industry. Apparently Google has caught onto this and wants to capitalize. I mentioned the Napster and Rhapsody ones, that they’re not compatible with both the older generation iPod, which many people still use, and a large swath of smartphones. Apple charges way too much for its tracks and albums, especially the DRM-free and high-quality ones. Not that it doesn’t have $25 billion or so in the bank to burn. Why would Google do this. Easy enough. I like Napster because they offer you purchase credits along with your subscription price.

Sure, there are still illegal ways to download music and there probably always will be but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Apple can’t take all of the glory and who better than Google to let them know that. Thankfully, Google might soon supply the answer.

Furthermore, considering Google is first and foremost a search engine based company, these reports also suggest that the company will provide song downloads straight through search results. Almost all digital music services come with drawbacks. Typically you can play the full song once in each browser, after which you can hear just a short sample. There are some parts of the company that are doing cool stuff. Back in the day if you wanted to buy music without leaving your home you were pretty much forced to use an illegal service such as the late, great Napster. How many of these aspects can Google include in its service. One thing we do know is that the service, whatever it entails, will be compatible with Android devices. Another service I looked at, E Music, isn’t really a subscription service. It’s not unlike how Apple decided it needed a mobile ad platform and bought and built one. Sounds like many of us will have to go out and buy extended life batteries.