Google announced a music search feature that will offer users direct links to websites which contain information about music artists, song writers and bands, as well as lyrics to their songs, CD titles and musical sheets.

Google Music will allow users to generate online searches based on keywords related to the name of a band, artist, album or song in the main Google search bar, while results will be displayed on top of the page, next to music note-shaped icons.

From the generated results, those items that can be purchased will have links to merchants for online ordering or downloading. The first to sign partnerships with the Google Music service are iTunes from Apple, RealNetworks Rhapsody, eMusic and Amazon.com.

This is the closest Google has come to having a digital music store, but instead the search engine has chosen to create a link between users and digital music providers, as well as provide extra information that helps the user make the right choice when buying songs online.