Forbes is reporting that Wall Street analysts apparently have reason to believe that Google is developing a music service in an attempt to take on iTunes. As a result, these same analysts are maintaining an “outperform” rating and a target stock price of $550.
It sorta makes you wonder if these analysts have actually used the Google Video service – or iTunes for that matter.
As Jim just noted in his most recent post (see below) even Google has realized they’ve botched the beta launch of their video product. They’re nowhere near having the user experience or seamless end-to-end content delivery that iTunes offers it’s users. One can only imagine that a Google music service would be even more of a mess (after all, they’re likely to have more content).
On the other hand, a Google music service that allows musicians around the world to easily add their music to a global marketplace, set their own pricing, and deliver music in a DRM-free format might just work. It wouldn’t necessarily be an iTunes killer, but it could be a profitable service that competes in a parallel universe that iTunes isn’t necessarily interested in (ie, music by unsigned bands).