Google tunes in to music search

Google, following in the footsteps of Ask Jeeves, has added a music listing feature to its search engine pages

16 December 2005 0:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Google, following in the footsteps of Ask Jeeves, has added a music listing feature to its search engine pages that details the work of certain featured artists.

According to the company, the move is because many of its users search for music terms like popular artists and albums.

Searching for a popular artist name using Google.com, like the Beatles or the Pixies, will now show some information about that artist, like cover art, reviews, and links to stores where you can download the track or buy a CD via a link at the top of your web search results page.

Currently the music search feature mostly works for artists popular in the US and a more limited number of artists from other countries on its American .com search domain.

The company said in a statement that it is planning to expand the selection of music to classical, world-wide artists, and lesser-known performers.

Due to the many album names and songs being also plain English words, the search is currently restricted to artists only.

Online sources include Apple, eMusic, and retailers selling compact discs, including Amazon and Wal-Mart.

While the music search feature holds out the possibility of Google taking a cut of any music sale resulting from directing the user to an online music store, a spokeswoman said there was no plans to charge anyone for the service.