Apple Looking to Acquire Music Streaming Service Lala?

[lightpeak]

How different is lala than iTunes, really?

(Re: The name Lala being dumb) lol Because it wasn't invented by Apple. Don't you know-- nothing of real value ever exists unless it's created by or later purchased by Apple.

Maybe Steve Jobs can do for a term used when you don't know the name of a song what he did for a piece of fruit.

 

[iBug2]

GREAT idea.

The online iTunes "store" is utterly useless.

lala is the model for the future.

Yeah right

That's why I spend around 250$ a month to iTunes store purchases.

 

[str1f3]

The cloud is a lie! It simply doesn't exist! Whether data is stored on your hard drive or on a servers hard drive, it's still stored on a hard drive, plain and simple! It's beginning to look a lot like 1984 all over again, the personal computer is about to be reduced to a dumb terminal and a handful of large corporations will be in control of all of our data!

Lol, you sound like Dvorak. If it's a lie I wonder how you get email! The cloud can be useful for storing media to stream (which is what I think this acquisition is about). I don't think it is as good for actual work to be done. At least not yet.

As always the case, don't trust the cloud as your only backup.

 

[Speedy2]

Apple wants the people who created LaLa to work for them and/or the intellectual property.

Again. What could LALA have in terms of manpower or IP that Apple doesn't have themselves? Apple already offers a streaming service for video (and if you want to call the 30-second-clips in iTunes a streaming service, also audio). And I'm pretty sure they couldn't have negotiated better a rights deal than Apple could do.

 

[lightpeak]

I quite liked Lala until they made it US-only. Hopefully Apple will use its existing worldwide negotiations to expand it back out again.

Proxy Masker

Just tried it now w/ and w/out and it works like a charm.

 

[elppa]

Spotify and Last.fm already hold the dominant position in this area. Lala isn't going to do anything for Apple.

Good call. I think they should go after Spotify.

Plus, they seem to have a good idea how to write a good Mac OS X application, which has a good UI and isn't a multi-hundered megabyte monstrosity. Oh and it integrates natively with Growl, unlike iTunes.

 

[powers74]

wonders

Never would have seen this race to be media king coming, not in a million years.

 

[cmaier]

Good call. I think they should go after Spotify.

Plus, they seem to have a good idea how to write a good Mac OS X application, which has a good UI and isn't a multi-hundered megabyte monstrosity. Oh and it integrates natively with Growl, unlike iTunes.

+1

 

[jamesdmc]

I just discovered Lala two days ago. I have a paid subscription to Rhapsody that expires in July next year and I was just beginning my search for a replacement. A quick Google search turned up Lala and I've been checking it out ever since. I really like it. I'm not exactly sure what direction Apple would take it, but my first thought was: price increases. Lala sells many full albums for $2.50 less than what Apple charges and most singles for only 89 cents. I could see the new owners raising the rent to match the iTunes store.

 

[hob]

Good call. I think they should go after Spotify.

Plus, they seem to have a good idea how to write a good Mac OS X application, which has a good UI and isn't a multi-hundered megabyte monstrosity. Oh and it integrates natively with Growl, unlike iTunes.

Yeah, spotify ftw... I got it on my iPhone, £9.99 a month - haven't really synced up music with iTunes since... Just need something to automatically download all of my podcasts now and could ditch the USB cable altogether...

 

[RTee]

"Lala recently partnered with Google to offer in Google's search results"

Get em before Google does maybe?

 

[non-prophet]

Apple + Lala = Cloudy iTunes

Well, this seems just too obvious to pass up making a comment on. Back in July and August when Apple was negotiating with North Carolina about building a data center it seemed a curious choice given the descriptions of the size of the facility. Now it seems obvious. Lala will give Apple immediate, or near immediate, ability for users to sync their iTunes collection with a Lala version and have access on what I imagine will be any Apple network device. The cloud is here to stay, and I would welcome being free from having device disk space decide how much music and video I can carry around with me.

This is from one of MacRumor's N.Carolina stories.
"One of the leading theories about the size of the NC project is that Apple is planning future cloud computing services that will require lots of data center storage."
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/08/18/apples-north-carolina-data-center-to-focus-on-cloud-computing/

I wonder how long until our iphone Apps can also be stored on Apple servers? What about, well, data??

 

[bestb3284]

Apple beating Google

This is all about Apple's strategy to try and keep an edge over Google. Think about it, Google is trying to move everything from physical storage to the internet with it's Chromium OS. Apple doesn't want to fall behind a potentially revolutionary business model of hosting a client's every computer need from music, to movies, to creating and sharing documents. Google is a major threat to Apple by trying to enter almost every market that Apple is in currently.

This may be a good thing for the consumer, but not so much for Apple if they can't handle the competition!

 

[mutantteenager]

Wow if this was Microsoft, I guess it would be 'anti-competitive'. You know, buying up the competition, and therefore stifling innovation.

I guess because it's Apple, it's a great day for the consumer?

 

[japanime]

Apple would surely rename it. It would be stupid, since no one knows LALA, especially not outside the US. And I can't imagine SJ allowing anything Apple not being called Apple.

Wrong. Plenty of folks know about lala.com. It's a great alternative to those of us who find the iTunes interface to be clunky. Lala also offers better pricing on album downloads, plus a way to upload and store all of your music on their servers. I've been using it for about a year and love it.

 

[str1f3]

Wow if this was Microsoft, I guess it would be 'anti-competitive'. You know, buying up the competition, and therefore stifling innovation.

I guess because it's Apple, it's a great day for the consumer?

Please tell me when this situation with MS happened. Nobody made a stink when they brought Danger or other acquisitions. MS's M.O. is to copy another companies' idea and do a half-assed job of it.

Wrong. Plenty of folks know about lala.com. It's a great alternative to those of us who find the iTunes interface to be clunky. Lala also offers better pricing on album downloads, plus a way to upload and store all of your music on their servers. I've been using it for about a year and love it.

I'd wager that more people know who iTunes is and is the #1 music seller and is installed on 70% of all computers. The Lala name is irrelevant anyway way since it will no longer an iTunes competitor. Apple will not want to have users sign up for two different services. They will want you to use your Apple ID as it makes things simpler.

 

[RazHyena]

As posted by others, this seems like simply beating Google to the acquisition. For whatever reason.....I'm just not interested in streaming music.

 

[elppa]

This is all about Apple's strategy to try and keep an edge over Google. Think about it, Google is trying to move everything from physical storage to the internet with it's Chromium OS. Apple doesn't want to fall behind a potentially revolutionary business model of hosting a client's every computer need from music, to movies, to creating and sharing documents. Google is a major threat to Apple by trying to enter almost every market that Apple is in currently.

This may be a good thing for the consumer, but not so much for Apple if they can't handle the competition!

I wrote over this before, but why do people assume Apple is like some little bug that is going to get crushed. Apple is already beating Google in almost everything but ads!

Apple has more experience making hardware
Apple has more experience building platforms
Apple has more experience in marketing to consumers
More people use Mobile OS X devices than Android devices.
More people use Safari than Chrome
More people use Mac OS X than Chrome OS
Plus Apple has a small, but significant retail operation

Wow if this was Microsoft, I guess it would be 'anti-competitive'. You know, buying up the competition, and therefore stifling innovation.

I guess because it's Apple, it's a great day for the consumer?

This would be valid if there wasn't plenty of other competition… Zune Pass, Spotify, Last FM etc. etc. etc.

As posted by others, this seems like simply beating Google to the acquisition. For whatever reason.....I'm just not interested in streaming music.

Come back to me when the USA gets Spotify.

 

[chevyorange]

I love Lala.com. I have swapped a LOT of CDs on there. I think now they don’t really make this their prime concern but when they started out you listed all the CDs you owned that you no longer wanted. It would match you up with someone that had something you wanted and you swapped. All for a buck! Postage paid much like Netflix. Loved it.

The trading has dropped off and I kinda don’t go there very often anymore. Not sure what Apple will do with it but it will be interesting to see.

 

[w00master]

Reports are starting come in saying that the acquisition is a done deal:

http://gizmodo.com/5419424/apples-lala-streaming-music-acquisition-is-a-done-deal

Personally, I think it's great news.

w00master

 

[str1f3]

Reports are starting come in saying that the acquisition is a done deal:

http://gizmodo.com/5419424/apples-lala-streaming-music-acquisition-is-a-done-deal

Personally, I think it's great news.

w00master

Gizmodo is pointing to the NYT and they're saying it's a done deal. Interestingly enough Lala came to Apple with the proposal and Apple is more interested in their cloud engineers.

I really hope some kind of streaming service comes to fruition in iTunes for movies as well as music. I've already bought all the music I consider fundamental and am at the point where I would stream the rest rather than it using up hard drive space. Hopefully like the Zune they will allow you to dl 10 songs a month. Wouldn't also mind a reduced price for MobileMe users.

 

[lord patton]

I've already bought all the music I consider fundamental...

That's an interesting way of putting it... which music do you consider fundamental?

 

[QuarterSwede]

It seems to me that Apple has wanted to get into the streaming music business but they didn't like the subscription model. Lala's idea is beautiful. If you want to stream songs just pay 10 cents. If you then want to buy them you pay 89 cents (or even if you don't want to stream them). It's brilliant. It gives you the flexibility to only pay for the songs you want to stream and for a dirt cheap price.

And for what it's worth, when Apple buys smaller companies they always absorb into Apple so the Lala look and name will disappear. Apple would assimilate what they want of the service into iTunes/iTunes Music Store.

 

[str1f3]

That's an interesting way of putting it... which music do you consider fundamental?

Great artists and great albums across all genres like Zep, Beatles, Stones, The Clash, Radiohead, Liz Phair, Otis Redding, Miles Davis, Sam Cooke, Nirvana, The Pixies, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Black Keys, Muddy Waters, A Tribe Called Quest, Outkast, Sonic Youth, Beethoven, Mozart, etc..

I may pick up a few albums now and then but I'm not as hardcore as I used to be. I'd be happy with a streaming service in which I can download 10 free songs a month. With that service I could experience more of what's out there without putting a dent in my wallet.

 

[str1f3]

It seems to me that Apple has wanted to get into the streaming music business but they didn't like the subscription model. Lala's idea is beautiful. If you want to stream songs just pay 10 cents. If you then want to buy them you pay 89 cents (or even if you don't want to stream them). It's brilliant. It gives you the flexibility to only pay for the songs you want to stream and for a dirt cheap price.

And for what it's worth, when Apple buys smaller companies they always absorb into Apple so the Lala look and name will disappear. Apple would assimilate what they want of the service into iTunes/iTunes Music Store.

I'd prefer something closer to the Zune or paid Spotify model. I would be the type to really use the service and paying per stream isn't really cost-effective to me.