Its amazing what can happen in a day. On May 1, Lala posted a notice on its website that it will be closing down on May 31. Yesterday's post is now only a glimpse of what people could have experienced.
I hope to get more details on why the sudden close is occurring. Sit tight and keep the musing streaming.
About Me
- Adam Deutsch
- Musician, J.D., Blogger, Lover of Technology, and Obsessed with the evolution of the music business in the digital age. There's always a better way.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Lala, Apple Owns its Stiffest Competition
Cloud computing is going to change the way we consume music. The revolution begins with Lala.com, a site offering ownership in place of streaming radio. Unique features offered by lala include the ability to try music before purchasing it, and the ability to purchase two different licenses that offer more or less user control over the music being purchased.
Step one; try your music. The days of the local music store are essentially gone. I recall going to a local chain store at the mall that allowed customers to listen to an album in store before purchasing it. Good luck doing this at a big box store like Walmart or Best Buy. Lala restores this feature by enabling users to listen to any song once in its entirety before acquiring a license. You can even listen to an entire album straight through without making a purchase. If you like what you hear, move to step two.
Step two; listen online. Particularly useful to persons who have internet access on their mobile phone, or who generally live their lives within reach of internet devices, lala offers a cheap license for unlimited lifetime internet streaming of its songs. For only $0.10 a song can be acquired. In most cases, the internet license for an album will cost less than a cup of coffee. As the internet slowly creeps into our on the go lives, from car stereos to mobile phones and tablets, this feature may be the best deal available for legal ownership. The only real downside of this feature is that you must have an internet connection to access your music account. Lala allows users to up their license, thus if you acquire the limited internet use license you can always splurge to buy full ownership of the music for ten cents less than it would otherwise cost.
Step three; take your music with you anywhere because you own it. If a limited internet only license is too hi-tech or too limiting for your lifestyle, go all out and buy the full use license. Lala charges $0.89 per song, remarkably less expensive than the iTunes price. At this price, you own the mp3 track and download it to your hard-drive. You will also have access to listen to the song online remotely, if you are away from home.
Apple, Inc. acquired Lala in late 2009. iTunes is currently the largest music retailer in the world (in sales), yet Apple offers lower prices through Lala. It is unclear whether the full purchase price of $0.89 will last, perhaps it is being used as a short term effort to boost consumer use of Lala. Since being acquired by Apple, Lala has expanded its music offerings and has licensing agreements with the big four record companies, EMI, Universal Music Group, Sony-BMG, and Warner Music Group. With several smaller labels on board, consumers have the opportunity to acquire lots of music for very little money. For the tech-savvy individual who likes having tangible ownership, Lala was practically made for you.
Step one; try your music. The days of the local music store are essentially gone. I recall going to a local chain store at the mall that allowed customers to listen to an album in store before purchasing it. Good luck doing this at a big box store like Walmart or Best Buy. Lala restores this feature by enabling users to listen to any song once in its entirety before acquiring a license. You can even listen to an entire album straight through without making a purchase. If you like what you hear, move to step two.
Step two; listen online. Particularly useful to persons who have internet access on their mobile phone, or who generally live their lives within reach of internet devices, lala offers a cheap license for unlimited lifetime internet streaming of its songs. For only $0.10 a song can be acquired. In most cases, the internet license for an album will cost less than a cup of coffee. As the internet slowly creeps into our on the go lives, from car stereos to mobile phones and tablets, this feature may be the best deal available for legal ownership. The only real downside of this feature is that you must have an internet connection to access your music account. Lala allows users to up their license, thus if you acquire the limited internet use license you can always splurge to buy full ownership of the music for ten cents less than it would otherwise cost.
Step three; take your music with you anywhere because you own it. If a limited internet only license is too hi-tech or too limiting for your lifestyle, go all out and buy the full use license. Lala charges $0.89 per song, remarkably less expensive than the iTunes price. At this price, you own the mp3 track and download it to your hard-drive. You will also have access to listen to the song online remotely, if you are away from home.
Apple, Inc. acquired Lala in late 2009. iTunes is currently the largest music retailer in the world (in sales), yet Apple offers lower prices through Lala. It is unclear whether the full purchase price of $0.89 will last, perhaps it is being used as a short term effort to boost consumer use of Lala. Since being acquired by Apple, Lala has expanded its music offerings and has licensing agreements with the big four record companies, EMI, Universal Music Group, Sony-BMG, and Warner Music Group. With several smaller labels on board, consumers have the opportunity to acquire lots of music for very little money. For the tech-savvy individual who likes having tangible ownership, Lala was practically made for you.
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