August 1,2008
When Chinese search engine Baidu first went public, some folks pointed out that the main reason why people used it a lot more than Google was that it had an MP3 search engine, which let people find music to download. Google, being afraid of copyright infringement lawsuits, chose not to have such a specific search engine. Of course, once it had gone public, Baidu attracted the attention of record labels as well, and was quickly sued. However, Baidu eventually won that lawsuit -- which does seem like the right decision. Baidu, as a search engine, isn't making any copies of the file itself at all. It's merely linking to where those files are, and it's difficult to see how that's copyright infringement.
Of course, the record labels aren't known for giving up easily, and they simply sued again. However, it appears that Google has seen enough of getting beaten handily in the Chinese market by Baidu, and that initial ruling in favor of Baidu and has apparently decided to set up its own MP3 search engine on its Chinese site. The report notes that Google is first looking to get "approval" from the recording industry, though it's not clear what sort of approval is sought or needed. If it's going to be an industry approved search engine, it's unlikely to do what Google needs it to do. That is, it will most likely be quite limited and locked down, meaning people will just stick with Baidu's.
At the same time, it's still difficult to see why a separate search engine is really necessary. What's wrong with just doing a search with specific parameters included? In fact, some have already
automated the process.
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Techdirt: Google Wants To Launch MP3 Search In China
**Follow-up Story: the Launch
Google's Music Search in China Goes Live; Working With Music Labels; Invests in Top100
Quote:
Rafat Ali
paidContent.org
Wednesday, August 6, 2008; 2:07 AM
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has launched its free music search engine in China, in a sector which has seen its fair share of controversies. The users can search for songs by singer, song or album title on Google's search page and then download licensed music files for free...this will only be accessible to users in China. Some details to this effect were leaked earlier in the year. Back then, Universal Music was on board, and EMI and Sony ( NYSE: SNE) were in talks..but Google didn't announce any label partners with today's launch.
Google is working with Chinese music company called Top100.cn for this service, and will split the ad revenues three ways with music labels and Top100. Watermarking would be used to track downloads and for stats in selling ads. Interestingly, Top100 is backed by Chinese NBA star Yao Ming.
Other search sites like Baidu ( NSDQ: BIDU) have been sued successfully by the major music labels, for linking to illegal download sites in their search results. Unlike these sites, Google has tied up with music labels to prevent these issues. Of course Baidu has a 70 percent market share of China, compared to Google's 20 percent....those illegal music links may explain some part of the disparity...reports says Baidu's MP3 searches currently generate around 30 percent of its total traffic.
Updated: Google has also invested in Top100, as part of this partnership, reports Sina ( NSDQ: SINA), though exact amount is not known. This is the second round for Top100.cn, coming after a rumored first round, speculated to have occurred in 2005, of $3 million from NBA star Yao Ming and others, this story says.
In related Chinese digital music news, Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA), the big indie music distributor, has tied up with Chinese digital music distribution firm R2G, and will provide its catalog of over one million recordings to R2G, which will then offer it as paid downloads on its Wawawa music story. LAT has more details on the significance of this deal.
--http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080503100.html
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Bold move. 
A previous article by the same author posed this postulation:
The service would offer high-quality music files embedded with a watermark to track these songs and their downloads. It would be a free MP3 downloads service with revenues through value added services like ringtones and special concert listings. Not clear yet: if the songs will be the local catalog or international ones too.