MySpace and Google team up for musical search
iLike acquisition prompts major deal
Google has teamed up with social network MySpace to make music more searchable, allowing you get snippets of tracks.
The service between the two internet giants, as well as Lala, Pandora and RealNetworks, will also provide links to buy tracks, and uses iLike – the music service that MySpace just purchased as one of the 'listen on' options.
"Today, we're rolling out a search feature that does just that by enabling you to search and more easily discover millions of songs, all via a simple Google web search," said Google.
"If you're searching for music, "time to result" is really "time to music."
Music related query
"Now, when you enter a music-related query — like the name of a song, artist or album — your search results will include links to an audio preview of those songs provided by our music search partners MySpace (which just acquired iLike) or Lala," the company added.
"When you click the result you'll be able to listen to an audio preview of the song directly from one of those partners.
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"For example, if I search for [21st century breakdown], the first results provide links to songs from Green Day's new album. MySpace and Lala also provide links to purchase the full song."
More to come
MySpace's President of Music Courtney Holt explained that this was not the full extent of the service, and major additions were still to come.
"Today's implementation is only the beginning: not every MySpace song or tour date is integrated into today's launch," said Holt in a statement.
"In the coming days we'll continue to add additional MySpace songs, video links, and tour info to Google search results, leveraging the breadth and depth of content available from the millions of artists on MySpace.
"MySpace has the world's largest database of live events, and iLike has already built some of the world's best concert-discovery features available online.
"We're delighted to have implemented the first structured integration of concert data into Google search, and this is only the beginning of our efforts to innovate in the live event space."
Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content. After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.