But today, oh brother, today. I don't know how many of you opened your Google Talk this morning, but awaiting me in my contact window was a message that both excited and shocked me, and by shocked I mean how did we/I not see this coming? The message read: "Do you want to share your music listening history with Google Music Trends?" Google Music Trends? And it slowly started to sink in.

Billboard has literally owned the music charts for the past 50 years; reporting on what radio stations all over North America were playing and by so, what people were listening to, but who listens to radio anymore - Howard Stern? They also tabulated record sales, but who buys complete records anymore? I know that from where I sit, I would much rather have the radio off than hear the same songs in rotation hour after hour - there is only so much pop one man can stand. And as much as they say Payola scandals are a thing of the past, there are more and more reports of DJs taking money on the side to get songs on the air - how else can Paris cut an album and get airplay? For record sales, when was the last time you heard of somebody selling millions of albums, they even lowered the standards for what merits a Gold album when Napster burst on the scene. People listen to digital music now, whether it is an iPod or knock-off, on their computer or phone, people buy individual tracks and set the soundtrack to their own lives. Gnarls Barkley recently went to number one in the UK without a single for sale in stores, based entirely on downloads. It only makes sense that Google, the proprietor of all things online, be the person telling us what is hot in music, after all its in their domain now.

Now, Google Music Trends is such a breath of fresh air, even offering artist or song searches launched from the Trends page by clicking on the name of the song or artist. As long as you are using Google Talk, and opt-in to share your music listening history, you are playing a part in the charting of Google Music Trends, you and millions of people like you. Sound interesting? I would say it's much more interesting than a weekly publication that could be written 3 weeks in advance because they know what radio stations are scheduled to play. Fewer and fewer bands are breaking out on the Billboard charts, that landscape hasn't changed in decades, but Google Music Trends promises to change on a daily basis. This isn't change based on what is scheduled to play either, though many of you out there may rotate tracks from Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and Paris Hilton hour after hour, there are many others looking for something new. And these charts, like MySpace, are giving the reins over to the users in such a way that no one person can take control, if something is great, more and more people will find out. Sort of like in the old days when I discovered bands based entirely on the recommendations of friends, but now my network of friends has gotten so much bigger.

Google Music Trends allows you to sort by both genre and country, so if you are a big fan of the alternative scene in Britain (which I so vehemently am) then you can see what's bubbling under the surface and is soon to make its way over to North America though so much doesn't, and I can only assume it is because of the shortage of silicone in the British music scene; plastic faces make plastic music.

Google Talk is growing up. It is one year old now and many more features deep, and in the coming weeks, you are likely to see it's taste in music grow as well. Our baby might soon be going through its college romantic stage where it's only hip if nobody else has it. I've been a fan of the applications and functions that Google has been releasing as of late, but this latest one blindsided me, hitting me in a way that only Apple has attempted to before, breaking out of the organization and into the lifestyle. It's good to be organized, but as we all know, there's more to life than that, for instance getting Thom Yorke's 'Harrowdown Hill' to number one on the Alternative Google Music Trends!


Cory Bates
Search Marketing Strategist
Enquiro Full Service Search Engine Marketing

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