Google enters music streaming market

Larry Page, CEO of Google, surprisingly appeared at the Googles developer conference where he accused a competitor ( most likely Microsoft Corp.) for trying to steal the spark of Googles shares. He was probably referring to the recent advertising Microsoft ran which poke fun at Googles alternative to Microsoft Office. Page answered the provocation saying that developers should be able to write apps to run on everything. Recent weeks Microsofts shares slightly dropped probably influenced by unconvincing feedback on Windows 8 product. Page pointed that there is lack of technology progress meaning the industry is moving too slowly.

Google have entered into music streaming business gaining advantage in front of Apple. Google launched a subscription music service defined as a breakthrough in the music industry. The product easily won the support of many music labels turning the product quickly into a success. Now Apple needs to catch up with the newest streaming services offered by Google if they intend to keep most of the digital music users on their side. Google market share of digital music industry is only 10% at the moment but has a trend of growing.

Googles announcement of entering digital music market didnt have the expected effect on companys market share as Google share price dropped. Having in mind companys product its a surprise there was no strong ad-supporting model included. The price is $9.99 for subscription instead of the ad model where users listen to ads but free of charges. It seems that Google is limiting itself in its approach to music service according to the analyst James Marsh. Probably its very early, as the product was launched on May 16th but Google could have used its experience in ad-supporting businesses to really push up the bar for its product, getting ahead of competitors.