Google Music to launch this Fall [Rumor]

CNet is reporting that Google’s Music service could launch this Fall. This comes just days after TechCrunch reported that URL manipulation revealed that the service will be called… I’ll give you three guesses… “Google Music.”

In my 2009 year end post on this blog, I cited several ways Google and Apple would lock horns in 2010. I understated the music battle that was brewing but I wrote:

This is a relatively minor attack but Google now streams music through its web interface. If you Google for an artist, some songs will appear and you can stream them in their entirety. In some cases, you can  purchase the tunes as MP3s through the providers of the streams. I speculate that Google is merely dipping its toes in the water at this point but you can expect a full blown music search and billboard rankings in the not-so-distant future.

The Fall launch of Google Music rumor almost certainly has to be true. Why? Because Google Chrome OS, which launches this Fall lacks the ability to install software and cannot, by itself, play MP3s. Current rumors suggest that the music service will support cloud-hosting and music purchases. This is somewhat similar to GrooveShark or the service formerly known as Lala that was acquired by Apple and hasn’t been relaunched yet.

I expect that Google Music will be tied tightly into the Google ecosystem. Perhaps it will be intertwined with YouTube, Buzz, Orkut and other social aspects of Google.

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