On Tuesday, Google redesigned and rebranded the Android Market app store to include digital content from the recently launched Google Music store.
This comprehensive, one-stop shop known as the Google Play Store streamlines the user experience of buying and managing Android apps and online entertainment and is seen as a response to one of the search engine’s critical flaw when it comes to offering digital content: fragmented branding. It also incorporates e-books sales and movie rentals.
So far, the Android Market has sold about 13 billion mobile apps, a little over half the amount that has been sold through the Apple Store. Google is hoping that this new integration will tempt customers into purchasing more than just one app or song, but a combination of media to make for a fuller shopping cart.
Google is hoping that incorporating all their digital content under one solid roof to amplify sales might lure Warner Music Group to offer up their catalog. Notable holdout Warner is currently the only major record label not interested in doing business with Google.
Back in January, Warner Music chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. said that Google had to “decide whether or not it wants to have a content platform” before negotiations could materialize. Now with the launch of Google Play Store, it seems like the search engine has made a decision.
[via Rolling Stone]
