In a PDF report (download from Searchblog), Bear Stearns Analyst Robert Peck speculates that Google will launch a music store soon. Sure they will, and it will take lessons from video. Gary Price groks it here. From Peck’s report:
Why is Google Tunes attractive to Google? According to Nielsen/Net ratings, unique visitors to Apple’s iTunes site
increased 241% YoY to 20.7M, for a 14% reach. Further, Nielsen indicates that iTunes users form a distinct target
audience with brand preferences along autos, alcohol beverages, magazines, and television.
*** We would expect Google to rollout a Beta service within 3-6 months. We note that Google has not confirmed our
expectations, and that our thinking is based on Mosaic theory. However, we do think this fits with Google’s recent
moves and its ultimate goal of organizing the world’s information.