In a somewhat under the radar move, Google (GOOGL) purchased digital music service Songza for $39 million

In a somewhat under the radar move, Google (GOOGL) purchased digital music service Songza for $39 million. Of course, $39 million is just pocket change for Google, which has something like $57 billion in cash on hand. Still, the move is significant as it comes after Apple's $3 billion purchase of Beats. Now, Beats also has a successful hardware division (headphones), but AAPL was surely after its music streaming subscribers. Apparently, customized music playlist creation is the holy grail for figuring out consumer behavior. I can only assume that advertising on streaming music services is highly successful (see Pandora). Digital music streaming is a highly competitive field, but with Google and Apple involved, you can bet there's going to be some significant consolidation in the industry ahead. (VIEW LINK)