google music

Google Music, an online music store and "free locker"
for digital music, was rolled out to the public on
Wednesday.

On Thursday, however, questions abounded as to
whether the service will amount to simply a "me too"
move, following Apple and Amazon's well-worn trail
through the digital-music forest, or a significant step
toward making Google an e-music player.

And while much of the always ready-to-attack tech
blogosphere was less than enthusiastic, it's
legitimate to ask whether that's even the real
question.

In a way, the product is just one more front in the
battle between Android and Apple.
Away from the desktop, iTunes users must have an
iPod, iPhone or other Apple device to play the music,
movies and other content they download.

By selling more widely usable mp3s, Google Music
will be viable across multiple devices. And, of course,
Google would prefer you to choose a device running
its Android operating system.

"In the end, this isn't about helping Google 'catch up
to iTunes' -- it's about filling the big, gaping, musical
hole in Google's mobile business," Peter Kafka wrote
for All Things D.

While no single Android phone has approached the
popularity of the iPhone, Android smartphones as a
whole have become a serious force, capturing more
than half the overall market during the last quarter.

(Android phones amounted to 52% of the global
market compared to about 15% for the iPhone,
according to Gartner).

Gizmodo's Adrian Covert, who it's safe to say was
unimpressed with Google's offering, says that
nothing that was rolled out on Wednesday would
entice iTunes or Amazon users to switch.

Google Music is expected to soon offer 13 million
songs from three of the four top record labels
(Warner Music, which shares a parent company with
CNN, balked) as well as independent bands and
includes free cloud storage for up to 20,000 songs.

(Apple's similar iMatch costs $25 a year).

"The technologies might be current, but the ideas
behind Google Music are tired," Covert wrote.

"Speaking of old and tired, were you really pining
away for another a la carte music store? Probably
not. Most of us have been buying tracks from iTunes
and Amazon for years."

But: Is enticing users to switch even the goal? For
someone trying to decide between buying an Apple
or Android device, iTunes could be a deciding factor.

Google Music, at least in part, could take that bullet
out of Apple's gun.

"There are two things the critics decline to
acknowledge: that Google is providing a simple, free
service, and that all Google products start out
underwhelming and gradually expand," Devin
Coldewey wrote for TechCrunch.

"Android was a
mess when it showed up. And it's still a mess -- a
mess blowing up to the tune of half a million devices
a day."

And with a long-term investment of resources (and,
presumably, the successful wooing of more record
labels), the Google Music vs. iTunes tilt could
eventually rival the current iPhone vs. Android fight.

"Apple now faces its arch rival in the retail-music
sector where Apple is a juggernaut," wrote CNET's
Greg Sandoval.

"But it also means that iTunes will
face a company with deep pockets, a history of
success in music (YouTube is one of the popular
music distributors on the Web) and popular consumer
devices, Android phones and tablets, that can help
market the music store. This is something few
previous rivals possessed."

But first, Google will have to get over the cool
reception the launch got in some quarters, largely
dinging the company for lacking innovation in a
product that got a star-studded, splashy roll-out.