14 DAY TRIAL // Google's rumored upcoming music service gets a few more details fleshed out but so far there isn't much consensus on what it is and how it will work. The details that did come through, though, point to a service that is less revolutionary than first envisioned and may be just an enhanced search option that will include song streams. The new features will be included in Google's OneBox, a widget that is part of the regular search results and which offers additional information on weather, stock quotes, movies and, yes, music too.
Google will partner with iLike and Lala and possibly others – Imeem is also an option – to embed streams of a song that may be related to a particular query. These services usually offer a 30-second preview of the song for streaming and download options but Google's service may actually include full-song streams and apparently the company has secured deals with all four major music labels.
The OneBox is already used extensively by Google in its search results to include various types of additional results like news, images, video, blog posts, maps and so on, virtually any type of dedicated search Google provides. At one point there was a music OneBox that provided additional information on artists and bands like albums and songs. But the constant changes and updates at Google seem to have pushed it aside, at least for the moment, but it now looks like the feature will come back in a grand way.
The new music OneBox will offer more than just some information; it will include streaming songs as well and it should probably be connected to Google's existing music search service, which it does a good job at hiding. The announcement for the new partnerships is expected to come October 28 but so far there haven't any official comments from any of the parties involved.