Andre Yoskowitz
7 Aug 2008 15:49
The search engine giant Google has introduced a beta version of Music Onebox, a Chinese music service that will offer free, legal music and will compete directly with Baidu.
"We are launching Music Onebox to give users an easy and legal way to find the music they're looking for, and to give music labels and publishers a new channel to distribute, promote and make money off of their valuable music content," a Google spokesperson added.
The company says whenever users search Google for arists or bands they are redirected to www.top100.cn, where they can download or stream music. All ad money made by the site goes to the labels and publishers, and Google takes no cut.
Although the new service is meant to challenge Baidu, which has come under fire for linking to pirated material, the selection is so far very limited.