Amazon (AMZN) Pushes into Cloud, Rating Maintained by Lazard

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian likes what he sees with the push by Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) into building a “cloud-based” digital music store, saying it's “the next logical step for Amazon in facilitating digital media consumption” and that “The service also pre-empts similar services likely coming from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG).”

"Amazon’s move confirms that a land grab is playing out between Apple, Amazon, Google and, more recently, Facebook, racing to secure market share in all forms of digital media: music, videos, books and other content. Critically, the common denominator for all these services is the requirement for a large-scale web-based infrastructure, which all of these companies possess. We believe that Amazon is particularly well situated here, able to leverage its AWS infrastructure for these services," Sebastian concluded.

Amazon.com customers will be empowered to store music purchases they make on the servers of the company and play them back on their mobile devices.

Sebastian maintains a "Buy" rating on Amazon, with a price target of $220 on the online retailer.

Amazon was trading at $174.34, gaining $4.99, or 2.95 percent, as of 2:38 PM EDT.

Amazon.com (AMZN) Launching Content in the "Cloud"

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) says they're in the process of readying a service which will allow consumers to access music and video in the "Cloud" via various devices.

As usual in the professional content sector, building a service is different from securing content rights, as Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has discovered with its Google Music, which still has to make its appearance months after being announced.

Amazon executives have spoke to several media firms that they are probably going to pursue licenses for a more extensive service after it makes the expected announcement this week.

Some see the possibility of Amazon.com being able to offer the service under existing contracts, although it could be limited to in-home screens and not mobile devices.

Amazon closed Monday at $169.35, falling $1.63, or 0.95 percent.

Google (GOOG) Music Close to Challenging iTunes (AAPL)

In what may become the first legitimate contender to Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iTunes, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is reportedly internally testing its Google Music service in anticipation of a soon launch.

Cnet said, "Technologically speaking, then, Google Music - a streaming service users would access from Web-connected devices -appears close to being ready. However, the sources said the actual launch is being held up by the lack of one vital component. Music."

Google managers told counterparts at the top four record companies last year that they hoped everything would be in place for a launch by late 2010, sources said. More recently, Google tentatively planned to demonstrate the service earlier this month at the South by Southwest conference.

Negotiations with at least some of the top publishers and with the four largest record labels are ongoing, according to sources. The delays are largely due to the complexity of the subject matter. Google is after cloud music rights and not just for songs acquired from Google Music.

What's certain is the labels want Google to join the digital-music fray. The possibility that an iTunes competitor of Google's caliber will soon hit the scene has music industry executives giddy.

Google was trading at $582.48, down $4.41, or 0.75 percent, as of 1:01 PM EDT.




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