Music to Google's Ears

Google (GOOG Quote - Cramer on GOOG - Stock Picks) now wants to win the hearts and minds of music fans.

People who seek information on the No. 1 search engine about a band will now find links to Web sites where they can download its songs and albums, says Search Quality Product Manager David Alpert in a posting on Google's internal blog.

"Right now the music search feature mostly works for popular U.S. artists and a more limited number of artists from other countries, but we plan to expand it to classical music, worldwide artists, and lesser-known performers," he writes.

Apple Computer's (AAPL Quote - Cramer on AAPL - Stock Picks) iTunes, Real Networks (RNWK Quote - Cramer on RNWK - Stock Picks), Amazon.com (AMZN Quote - Cramer on AMZN - Stock Picks) and eMusic have all agreed to be merchant partners with Google, according to CNet News.Com.

Google's move comes less than a week after Microsoft (MSFT Quote - Cramer on MSFT - Stock Picks) said it would collaborate with Viacom's (VIA Quote - Cramer on VIA - Stock Picks) MTV Networks in creating a digital music service called Urge. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has no plans to build its own music store, CNet says.

Shares of Google, which gets more search queries than its four largest rivals combined, rose $1.12 to $420.08.

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