On Friday, June 20, Google introduced its latest feature that will allow Android users in the U.S. to listen to a band or artist through a music streaming app like Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Rdio or Google Play after searching for them.
According to TechCrunch, Google moved toward music app integration to help mobile users who may be curious about a new musical group or artist or simply want to listen to their favorite band.
Apps like those mentioned above have also been siphoning some music-related search engine traffic away from Google, which could also be a likely motivator behind the new feature, TechCrunch reports.
Currently, Google’s music app integration feature only works when a user searches for a musical artist, according to SearchEngineLand.com. For example, searching for Nine Inch Nails will bring up a link to the band’s page on Spotify in the search results, but a search for “Came Back Haunted” won’t.
The feature is also exclusively available to phones in the U.S. with Android software installed. Desktop and iOS capabilities haven’t yet been developed.
Today, many mobile users eschew Google entirely to search for a new artist, instead going straight to the music app on their phones to search, TechCrunch reports. As a result, it may take some time for users to understand that they can use Google as an app launcher for music-related searches. It remains to be seen if mobile users will take advantage of the feature on a noticeable scale.