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Lala shut down by Apple last night, May 31st
- antidaily 16y agoWWDC related? Cloud iTunes??
- hyuen 16y agoThey weren't that great anyways, you had to pay for listening after the first time. This is fine with me, but think about all the teenagers out there, I am sure they have found other ways to access music given their practically zero income. Once I talked to my 14 year old niece, and she told me none of her friends use limewire or similars, they use myspace and youtube downloaders. I think that the effort from Apple to shut down paid competitors may not be the solution to their root cause...
- smilliken 16y agoMore information: http://mashable.com/2010/04/30/lala-shutdown/ http://mashable.com/2010/04/30/lala-shutdown/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/29/apple-to-shut-down-lala-on-may-31/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/29/apple-to-shut-down-lala-on-...
- smilliken 16y agoApple obviously wasn't interested in Lala's users, and I don't expect they were interested in code, so was it a talent acquisition or did Apple just do this to remove a competitor to future online music services? Edit: spelling
- lurch_mojoff 16y agoRegardless of the merits of Lala's service, I highly doubt that the biggest music retailer in the U.S. had a reason to be afraid of any competition from them. Certainly not reason enough to be forced to buy them. Apple are infamously frugal when it comes to M&A, so this must be either "buying technology" or "buying talent". I guess we'll see which once the iTunes "cloud" service is launched.
- alanstorm 16y agoWhen Apple bought Lala they did more than remove a future competitor. They removed a platform from the board that was making Flash (Lala used a flash interface) a relevant technology for some users. The also removed Google's best music search partner from the board. Both of the previous were potential channels where Apple could lose sales. This is just tinfoil hat speculation, I don't have anything to back it up. However, this is the way that high level, powerful executives and a certain class of start-up founder think about markets.
- 27182818284 16y ago>They removed a platform from the board that was making Flash (Lala used a flash interface) a relevant technology for some users. That is a little out there, isn't it? It would be like buying a small company because their servers used GNU/Linux instead of OS X. If they were targeting places that made Flash "a relevant technology for some users," wouldn't they target Pandora, Farmville, graphic design schools that teach freshman Flash, etc?
- crsmith 16y agoWhat's keeping someone else from making a Lala clone if Apple isn't interested in keeping the service around?
- swilliams 16y agoI have to think that it is a pretty big PITA (and cost) to get the proper licenses to sell a library as large as the one Lala had online. That said, I would love it if someone did step up. I have looked at a few similar services, but haven't found any that make for an adequate replacement.
- cageface 16y agoI actually prefer mog.com. It doesn't have all the same social networking features, but those weren't the draw for me anyway. It's certainly a much better bargain.
- rdela 16y agomobile apps "coming" http://blog.mog.com/post/611539321/mogs-iphone-android-apps-are-coming http://blog.mog.com/post/611539321/mogs-iphone-android-apps-...
- gcv 16y agoWhat about Grooveshark? Except for the Flash UI, it's nice. No registration required, free access, extensive catalog.
- mikebo 16y agoThey are not licensed by all the major music labels like lala was. Not a 'legal' replacement.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
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- llimllib 16y agomoment of silence
- brutimus 16y ago"All check refund requests for wallet balances will be mailed to your shipping address no later than June 14th." Does this apply to web song refunds as well? I was just wondering what linux users could do since they obviously won't have a use for iTunes credits.
- derefr 16y agoIt's a bit of a hassle, but Linux users can just buy the songs on iTunes on a different computer and then copy them to their own.
- moolave 16y agoI believe it had something to do with Apple's core competency. If ITunes is already dominating, why create another one?
- hyuen 16y agohey, checkout lizten.in, slightly different in its conception, but could be a good alternative
- igorgue 16y agoGoogle is using iLike now as default for his Google music search.
- jdnier 16y agoLala's streaming catalog was huge (>8 million songs) and included music not available on iTunes. I enjoyed using the service and have since lost any infatuation with downloading and storing MP3s. Being able to listen to anything once was great but the day has already come where you'll be able to rent access (cheaply) to an entire collection and listen to what you want, when you want (e.g., mog.com). Still to come: better tools for organizing the music you're interested in, learning about artists, and finding new music.
- rwhitman 16y agoWhat the world needs is a giant repository of all music (legal, of course) and accessible by an API for streams and downloads. Any access to the API would charge for the rights to play the song, of course, but it would be up to the retailer to decide how the song was paid for, whether it be web-song stream rights, subscription, download sales, ads etc. This would open up a whole new market for music sites without having to directly manage deals with music publishers - we the web entrepreneurs could focus on creative delivery instead of fearing / bargaining with labels. This is a ludicrous pipe dream, obviously, based on how technologically frightened and fractured the music industry is today. But it would make the world a better place I think.
- jrockway 16y agoRemember, the music industry doesn't want you to buy their music. They want to "deal" with you. An example of a company that wants you to buy their stuff is Amazon. Click a button, make an API call, and you have a new server. That's because they are the ones providing value; they are not the middlemen worrying about being cut out of the loop. The music industry is different -- they don't do much more than act as a loanshark to the artists, which the artists put up with because the only way to have your music advertised is with the record labels. If there was just an API where you could sell your stuff, then the record labels wouldn't be necessary. Your laptop, a good soundcard, and free software is all you'd need to "play in the majors". That's not good for the middleman. Bittorrent is an acceptable interim solution.
- dagw 16y agoSounds a little bit like what Spotify does. OK they don't have all music, but it does have a fair amount. They also have a cross platform API (http://developer.spotify.com/en/libspotify/overview/ http://developer.spotify.com/en/libspotify/overview/), and while I don't think you can use the API exactly as you like, I'm sure if you had a good idea they'd be willing to listen. It's not quite your pipe dream, but it isn't too far off.
- code_duck 16y agoI'd never even heard of Lala before Apple bought them. Now, if they purchased and shut down grooveshark, both my mother and I would be grieving.
- mitjak 16y agoCanadian too? I kind of wish I could try Lala and Mog. And Hulu. And NBC...
- physcab 16y agoGrooveshark will give you 1 Month of VIP if you are a Lala user. http://vip.grooveshark.com/lala http://vip.grooveshark.com/lala
- ChRoss 16y ago"Credit amounts will be based on your account activity as of May 31, 2010. iTunes Store credit amounts will be rounded up to the nearest $1 for refunds under $10, or to the nearest $5 for refunds greater than $10." Pardon my ignorance, I'm neither Lala or iTunes' user, is this rounding thing is common?
- wwortiz 16y agoIt probably has something to do with good faith or perhaps even something specifically with itunes gifting system.
- gry 16y agoApple's Lala purchase has little to do with keeping Lala at bay, nor disallowing a competitor to purchase it. Their acquisition history speaks for itself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Apple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisition... While Lala, Placebase and Quattro are notable because they fit in the Google space, the quantity of acquisitions suggests to me Apple is still deliberate about their purchasing -- and a defensive move is not a good enough reason. Lala's purpose at Apple is specific and grand; it provides another something to enrich our world and their ecosystem. I have little doubt.