Google to include music in search - reports
The search giant will start to stream music on its search results page and allow users to buy it, according to several news reports.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Google will soon allow users to to listen to music and buy songs on its search results page, according to several news reports.
The search leader has partnered with streaming music sites Lala.com and iLike.com to give searchers the ability to stream music directly from Google. If a listener wants to purchase the song, links will take them to Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iTunes Store or Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500) to buy the music, the reports said, citing sources.
Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) did not return requests for comment for this story.
The music results will appear at the top of Google's search results page, displayed similarly to results for weather forecast searches and movie searches. The music search initiative is expected to launch next week.
All four major record labels -- Warner Music Group (WMG), EMI Group, Sony Music Entertainment (SNE) and Universal Music Group -- have licensed their music to Google for the music search results.
Google is not expected to get any direct revenue from the purchases or streams.