29 October 2009 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter

Google launches OneBox music service

Google has introduced its new OneBox music service, offering free streams and downloadable MP3s to rival Apple's dominance of the online music market and to provide an alternative to illegal file sharing.

BBC News reports that Google's OneBox service is currently only available in the United States, in partnership with Lala and iLike, the MySpace-owned music service. The service allows users to search for tracks by song title, artist or even by entering fragments of lyrics, with a pop-up widget offering to the ability to stream the entire song or to download the MP3.

Google launches OneBox music service

Forrester analyst Mark Mulligan has stated his belief that OneBox may present a viable alternative to the ongoing problem of illegal file sharing. He explains: "Apple can do little about iPod owners downloading from BitTorrent.

"But Google on the other hand can."

Mirroring Google's dominance of online search, Apple currently leads the online music market with a 70 per cent share, but according to Mr Mulligan, "a heavily integrated Google music offering" alongside torrent results could present a compelling alternative for users.

Speaking at the OneBox launch event in Los Angeles, Google's vice president of search, Marissa Mayer, revealed that the terms "music" and "lyrics" are among the top 10 search terms of all time, explaining why Google have finally moved in on the lucrative market. Ms Mayer stated: "At Google, we see millions of music-related queries every day.

"It is clear to us that for our users music holds a very special and particular place."

Google's new service hopes to mirror the global success of competitors such as Apple and Spotify, and the company is currently looking for partners in other countries to introduce its service internationally.