Google has rolled out its much anticipated music service to let consumers buy and download songs, which is a potential threat to companies such as Apple and Amazon.

With Google Music, Android users can now buy and download music via Android?s Google Market. However, Google?s announcement comes eight years after Apple?s iTunes store launched, which is already being widely used by mobile consumers.

?I think the challenge for Google - and, indeed for Amazon - is to persuade the digital music purchasing population that their storefront is sufficiently attractive for them to migrate from Apple,? said Dr. Windsor Holden, principal analyst at Juniper Research, Hampshire, England.

?While Apple, Amazon and Google are all launching their cloud music services pretty much contemporaneously, Apple has a massive inherent advantage from the hundreds of millions who use iTunes as their default music service, not just on iPhones and iPods, but on desktops and laptops,? he said.

Instant music
Before rolling out a commerce aspect, Google Music was only a storage space for users, meaning that if Android users wanted to buy a song they had to use either iTunes or Amazon?s music store.

Therefore, Android users have already developed a deep relationship with iTunes and it remains to be unseen if consumers will be willing to hop onto Google?s new program.

Additionally, consumers often have large personal music libraries and with the introduction of Apple?s iOS5 operating system, users can keep their music in a cloud that is easy to move from their desktops and laptops to mobile devices.

In order to entice users, Google Music has partnered with more than 1,000 independent record labels ?including three of the top four companies ? to rake in support for its system.

However, Dr. Holden says that Google is at a disadvantage with its service by not having the support of the one remaining big music label, Warner Music.

Both Amazon and Apple have deals with the top four music labels ? Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music and EMI Music.

?Clearly, to attract a mass audience you need deals with the prime content providers, so in this respect Google is currently at a disadvantage to its rivals,? Dr. Holden said.

Google Music offers more than 13 million songs to consumers.

Similar to other key digital music solutions, select songs are free and others are either 99 cents or $1.29.

Social streaming
Google?s new music service is proof that the digital music industry is changing and that consumers are no longer concerned with where they get their music from.

Instead, music fans are looking to download music wherever it is available, regardless of whether it is free or paid.

In addition to Amazon and Apple, Google Music also competes with Facebook?s new music service, which works with Spotify to let users stream music on the social site for free.

Google Music will also compete head-to-head with other digital music companies that have made mobile a priority such as Pandora, which recently said that mobile-only visitors made up 52 percent of its traffic (see story).

?Radio has always been about an experience that can be as portable as a signal and power sources permitted, and for generations, there wasn?t a lot of innovation,? said Mike Carson, chief marketing officer of Myxer, Deerfield Beach, FL.

?But with the adoption of the Internet and more recently, the rise of smartphones, technology has at last raced ahead of the prior limitations,? he said.

Google Music has a strong tie with the company?s social network Google+.

Consumers who purchase songs on Google?s Android Market have the opportunity to share the selection via Google+.

Google+ users can then listen to songs once for free.

Music is increasingly playing an important role in social networks as consumers are looking to their friends and family for music recommendations.

Additionally, consumers are using their mobile devices as the main channel to connect with social sites, leaving an opportunity for marketers to use mobile for brand promotions and campaigns.

Myxer is a social radio platform that includes applications for iPhone and Android devices and a Web-based portal.

Myxer claims to differentiate itself from other services by combining music with marketing initiatives. For example, marketers can create and sponsor specific listening rooms and then share them via social network sites.

?We strongly believe that consumers will demand choice and embrace low-cost solutions that are the most convenient and add the most value to the entertainment experience,? Mr. Carson said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York