Google's new music search

A breakdown of the players, the product and the results

It's phenomenal how Google continues to innovate on search and create new products to make everyday online activities easier.  It's next target for optimization: music search.  The search giant announced a new feature called music search, which basically will change the way we discover music on the Web.  

Google's music search is a response to the fact that, "Every day we (Google) get millions of search queries about music," according to Google.  In a nutshell, the new feature will allow users to search for anything music-related in the normal Google searchbox, and if functioning correctly, will display a neat little box with plenty of ridiculously convenient features.  For example, users will be able to play a song directly from the Google search results page, which results in a small popup box from where the user can listen to or buy the song.

 But it's not happening without the help of several other players.  Google's partnered with the likes of MySpace, iLike, Pandora, imeem and Rhapsody to make these results and its little search results possible.

MySpace and Lala are both playing a role in the instant playback of the tune you're looking for.  Currently, MySpace isn't implemented just yet, but both will provide direct links to purchase the music if a user decides to buy the song.

Internet radio site, Pandora will have a link to a page with a bio on the queried artist.  From that page, users can create a station based on similar music, following the same way Pandora functions.  

The imeem link will take users to a similar page with information on the artist, selected musical tracks, and links to download music.

And if you're a Rhapsody subscriber, because it 'aint free, you can click that link and you'll be taken directly to a page with all that artists tracks.

And finally, Google also announced an agreement with Gracenote, which will help users who don't know the name of the song or artist, type in some lyrics and get a potential music search result.

So for now, it's a winning situation for Google.  The search giant is not paying record companies for the rights to these songs, but instead letting the partners do the hard work.  Google is sticking to the idea that it wants to continue to make search easier.  In a blog post the company said,

"This feature doesn't just make search better. It also helps people discover new sources of licensed music online while helping artists to discover new generations of fans and reconnect with longtime listeners. Our users love music, and this tool introduces millions of music seekers in the U.S. to a new generation of licensed online music services, from MySpace and Lala to Pandora, imeem and Rhapsody."

Here's a video produced by Google showing how it all works.