exploremusic

Apple has ruled the digital space for music downloads for years, although they are now getting some competition (see, for example, www.hmvdigital.ca). And yesterday, Google quietly introduced an iTunes competitor.

The announcement was so buried in a presentation of the features of a new version of Android, their mobile OS, that you really had to be paying attention or you’d have missed it. Basically, it’s a new section of the Android Market, that OS’s version of the App Store. The Market has a new section called—yes—“Music.” Users hit the Market, search for a song, click “download” and the song comes to your Android-powered phone.

That’s about all I can tell you right now. Google would probably have said more if they had all the details finalized (like cutting final deals with labels) but you can bet that we’ll hear more soon.