The Next Step on Google’s World Domination Tour?

Maybe.

I remember when I was a freshman in high school and people in my art class started talking about “Google.” Many of the students (and our teacher) had not heard of it. That was back when the curious Internet user had his or her choice of search engines—Yahoo, AltaVista, AskJeeves, and so forth, and Google was just a newcomer to the crowded party. Slowly but surely, for better or for worse, Google started taking over. The word Google has even expanded its reign in our vocabulary, moving beyond mere proper noun and taking also the role of verb. Skilled searchers even speak of their mastery of “Googlefu.”

And Google, somehow—the details are still unclear to me—made money. Lots and lots of money. And they have expanded their reign over all things internet: Google Maps edged out MapQuest and the like; Gmail is one of the most popular web-based email services. There’s also Google News, Google Finance, Google Scholar, Google Books…

Even in the current economy, Google has enough capital to risk a few bucks here and there on more risky ventures. This week they’ll be announcing their step into the world of music. But there are a lot of skeptics out there predicting this will not be a successful scheme.

Richard Metzger at Brand X, in his unambiguously titled article “Will Google’s new music app really be all that?” predicts the fall of Google’s new music app, as it will be utilizing the “underwhelming” music service LaLa, when crazily popular European streaming service Spotify is slated to come to the US later this year. Google will allow users to search for a song and pull up information on the performers, lyrics, etc., and Lala will allow the user to stream the song—once. After that, it’s time to buy if you happen to want to listen again.

As Business Week reports, Lala is thrilled with Google’s choice to use their service—and not just Google, but Facebook as well (just as you can buy little illustrated “gifts,” for your Facebook friends, you will soon be able to pay to send them a song—ten cents for them to listen online whenever they wish, about a dollar for them to download it onto their computers and mp3 players).

Within the next few months, new ways of searching, streaming, and purchasing music will be coming to America. The winner, as usual, is to be decided by the consumer. Will Google dominate the music scene, as it has taken over so many other facets of our lives? Or will this venture count among their losses? Either way, it’s probably safe to assume that Google will be okay.