Another major Googler has left the nest, but not for Facebook's more fledgling surroundings. Google CIO Douglas Merrill is jumping ship to run the digital business at EMI Music, which is struggling like every other music machine in the face of digital downloads.

The position is clearly a step up for Merrill, who had no small role at the search engine, helping Google through its IPO and running all billing and revenue technology and processes for Google worldwide. He then bumped from one big project to the next, including the launch of Google Checkout in 2007 and spearheaded Google's radio advertising business in 2007.

According to the EMI statement, Merrill was then "asked" by Google CEO Eric Schmidt to boost Google's strategy and business development in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Ewwwww.

Now, these may well be the two fastest growing broadband populations in the world as EMI claims, but it still pales in comparison to his new role as president of EMI's digital business, where he will guide the company's digital strategy, innovation, business development, supply chain and global technology activities. That's a lot on the to-do list.

And, if we are to take Merrill's statement why he left Google to heart, what Schmidt was having him do was not at all what he wanted to do: "I have two passions. One is creating platforms and tools that make it easier for consumers to achieve their goals. The other is music. This exciting new role at EMI is a unique opportunity for me to be able to put those two passions to work together and help deliver EMI's objective of providing the best services in the world to consumers and musicians."

I'll buy that, and as Michael Arrington points out, Merrill sports a rock star hair-do. Danny Sullivan addresses the challenge-challenged theme here, but it's quite possible he just flat out didn't want to do what he was doing at Google.

Expanding business in the Middle East versus saving the music industry worldwide? Hmmmm. I can hear where those scales are tipping, and they're tipping toward Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue and other artists on the downtrodden label (Radiohead left last year in a bitter dispute). 

Merrill starts work at EMI on April 28 and will be based at EMI's Los Angeles headquarters in the Capitol Tower. Perhaps he will take the Web expertise he gleaned from the other smart folks at Google and help save EMI from itself.

And at least he didn't leave for Facebook like Sheryl Sandberg and Ethan Beard recently did. That would be a bummer, man.