Shelly Palmer is positively euphoric over Google’s new approach to music searches (mmmmmm… I can search, sample and buy all at once… uuuuhhhhh) but I can’t help but think there’s a potential dark side here. The partnerships Google has established with the likes of imeem, lala, myspace, Pandora, and Rhapsody (full disclosure: I am positively euphoric about Rhapsody) for music access and distribution may well be a model for future content partnerships of all stripes.

Is this fundamentally different than the kind of paid search positioning that eviscerated the Yahoo brand and allowed Google’s democracy and authenticity to rise and reign in the first place? The approach is undoubtedly more sophisticated, nuanced, and — in its own limited way — democratic, but is Google on a slippery slope to undermining what makes Google Google?