Lala Ate The Poison Apple & Gets Shut Down by Steve Jobs
Lala Ate The Poison Apple & Gets Shut Down by Steve Jobs
Posted 05/02/2010 at 12:41pm
| by Justin Kerr
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Music streaming service Lala faced some pretty stiff competition prior to its acquisition by Apple, but all things considered, it was a fairly innovative service compared to most cut and dry music stores. Lala gave users the ability to stream an entire song for free once, and then gave you permanent online access for an additional 10 cents. Users could later elect to purchase the track DRM free for 79 cents if they wanted to load it on an MP3 player, but the real draw was the low cost and free samples which made music discovery far less expensive when compared to iTunes.
Many were hoping Apple's acquisition of Lala would be a prelude to a subscription service similar to the Zune Pass, but instead they have simply decided to shut it down, with the last day of business being May 31st. It is unknown at this point if Apple is abandoning the whole streaming music concept altogether, or if the shut down is part of a larger plan to roll its features into iTunes in the coming months. It would make sense that an announcement along these lines would probably happen in June along with new hardware, but we'll have to wait and see.
People who bought songs through Lala won't be impacted since they are DRM free, but those who purchased streaming rights to tracks will either need to take an iTunes credit or jump through a few hoops to get a full refund. It's sad to see Lala go, but at least Apple is being fair to former customers.
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lostcause64
May 03, 2010 at 5:30am
...for my anti-Apple fire. I've had a Lala account since I read about it in MaxPC a couple years ago and I really enjoyed it. Since the announcement, I've already backed up my purchased full songs and I'll be buying the remaining songs that are on streaming only. Apple can choke on their iTunes credit.
John
Have you ever wondered why intelligence can normally be found in an individual, but runs screaming in terror from a group? Though, there are exceptions...
schmitt
May 03, 2010 at 1:08am
On May 19, 2003 Roxio acquired pressplay, an online music subscription service. Roxio rebranded pressplay as Napster 2.0. pressplay was a good company. I was a pressplay subscriber for about 2 years.
NewGadgeteer
May 02, 2010 at 8:21pm
I guess there are no jobs in La La Land after all. Daydreaming is something that is best done solo.
lesryaisg
May 02, 2010 at 5:53pm
It seems to be just the way apple works, 'can not beat it' kill it. while others work this way, when companies with mega-influence do it, the ripples are almost always bad.
Leslie
Glycerin
May 02, 2010 at 5:20pm
Every article that MAXPC posts about Apple makes me dislike them more and more... I think Steve Jobs should get the "Douchebag Of The Year" award.
Caboose
May 02, 2010 at 5:26pm
Only the year?
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
carnivorousslushee23
May 02, 2010 at 6:48pm
Haha right on. Every day I hear or read something about Apple and Steve the Douchebag that makes me dislike them even more. Which I used to think was impossible.
#1 Reason why Macs suck:
Intel P45 motherboard: $99. Core 2 Duo E85400: $170. 2GB DDR3-1333 RAM: $80. Not having to throw away your PC and buy a brand new one: Priceless.
heronhaus
May 02, 2010 at 4:42pm
So, "being fair" is buying out a popular company and then shutting it down. I don't think so.
BAMT
May 02, 2010 at 4:17pm
Is there anywhere comparable to what is now gone? I hope I can still find music after May.
Chances of me replacing my hackintosh with a Mac: 25% -> 0%. No, -100%. I'll make another.
gendoikari1
May 02, 2010 at 6:05pm
The Pirate Bay? The usual filesharer has about as much respect for the law as Apple does...
SPAM FILTER MUST DIE
BAMT
May 03, 2010 at 3:51am
Then perhaps such is not me.
Not minding the stereotypical, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_online_music_stores
Maybe Amazon MP3, but _nowhere_ other than LaLa has free, full length tracks.
Walnut
May 03, 2010 at 1:42pm
www.grooveshark.com
Free, full length, limitless streaming. They've been up and running for a couple years now. I keep the tab open constantly.
Walnut
May 02, 2010 at 3:14pm
Why the hell isn't Apple getting more flak for anticompetitive practices? Microsoft sneezes and they get blasted with bullshit that ends up hurting consumers more than anything else, but Apple can buy other (better) services and kill them to bolster their own market share and no one says anything? Seriously?
Neufeldt2002
May 02, 2010 at 4:31pm
+1
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Please fix the spam filter it does not work right.
Khaled
May 02, 2010 at 3:00pm
The reason is obvious, Lala's licenses with music labels are non-transferable.
Expect an iTunes.com service soon :p
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