Google tunes into music search

Search results offer discography, cover art and links to music stores

Google has launched a new service to help users find music, artists, song lyrics and CD titles.

Users searching for a band name through Google's search engine receive a link to Google's music results at the top of the page.

The page displays a list of the band's past albums and cover art as well as several links to music stores selling digital song downloads or CDs.

The service lists mostly American pop artists and bands. Google said that it plans to add more international artists, classical music and lesser known performers. The number of linked music stores is also set to grow.

Google already has similar search enhancements that guide the user to the proper result. The search engine recognises stock market ticker symbols and links them to financial websites. A street address will receive optional links to mapping services from Google, Yahoo or Mapquest.

"We do this sort of thing a lot, adding a bit of special information to results for important searches," said David Alpert, a search quality product manager with Google.

"The more information we can make easily accessible with a simple search, the better."

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