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Reports today indicate that Apple is in talks to buy music streaming service Lala. Apple could be largely concerned with acquiring the technology or the people behind Lala. The streaming service has made a name for itself, but lacks a large customer base. Even with its recent inclusion in the Google music search tool, there are no indications that Lala is profitable. Apple’s massive music-buying customer base, could be just what Lala needs.
Lala currently offers users an opportunity to stream a song one time at no charge. Permanent access to that song will run 10 cents. Purchased tracks are not downloaded, but are rather stored on Lala’s servers. For 79 cents the tracks may be downloaded to the user’s computer.
Warner Music Group lost quite a chunk of change investing in Lala, so it will be surprising if Apple offers a large sum of money. However, if Lala could be integrated into the iTunes ecosystem as a subscription streaming service it could give Apple a huge source of revenue.
Update: Techcrunch is reporting the deal is done. New York Times reporter Brad Stone has tweeted that Apple has gone through with the deal and the NYT is updating their story. Stay tuned for more.
Comments are closed on this article
Dearnhardt3
May 03, 2010 at 9:02pm
Fuck you apple you just killed one of the most invative music sites. whats next last fm or pandora????
Ruins
December 06, 2009 at 4:51pm
As a former subscriber to Zune Pass I wish apple sucess with a streaming music service. Zune Pass software was a nightmare on the three machines I installed it on. One Vista and two XP Pros. I am sure apple will make software that works unlike microsoft and its Zune software.
gnslinger
December 05, 2009 at 9:12am
I've been waiting for Lala to come out with an app for the iPhone so I could stream the web songs I had purchased. Now it looks I may be able to do it through iTunes, which is just as good for me. Hope it happens.
greyjasper
December 04, 2009 at 7:14pm
lala was one of the good guys. This really pisses me off. More then the normal apple crap. Fuck it.
barchu02
December 05, 2009 at 7:24pm
I hate apple's slimy practices too. Apple is truning into a monster.
