Thread: Apple Ruins My Life (again)

Lala - Where music plays

Easily the most innovative Internet service to date, Lala.com allows you to listen to any one of 8 million of its cataloged songs once for free. Additionally, your first 50 songs added to your "web album" (an online personal library that you can access from any computer and stream your songs for free forever) are free, and additional "web songs" are 10 cents each. Web albums are often around 99 cents. You say you want to download a song for use on your iPod or other personal media device? Sure! Lala offers mp3 downloads for 10-20 cents on the song cheaper than iTunes.

Lala also offers a social aspect, where your friends or other users can see what you are listening to, and based on similar musical tastes, be exposed to something that they might not have been otherwise. We know how ridiculous the radio is these days. Good luck finding anything worthwhile on there.

Lala.com developed an iPhone app where you would be able stream this library to your iPhone. Now, I'm sure of you more business-minded folks can imagine the threat to Apple's bottom line: Lala will have essentially removed the need for anyone with an iPhone to ever download a song from iTunes ever again (unless for some reason it's not in the 8 million song catalog from Lala, but is in the 10 million song catalog from iTunes).

However, Apple delayed approval of the iPhone app (for obvious reasons).

As an avid music downloader, I have over 2,000 songs in my library, several hundred of which were bought from download services. Well, over the last 8-9 months, I have not bought a single song from iTunes. I bought 100% of my music from Lala. There was absolutely no advantage to using iTunes anymore.

So what does Apple do? Tighten its virtual media strangle-hold even tighter and buy the Lala company.

Of course Apple enthusiasts are thrilled with this idea, but that's because the same people who are "mac" people are not business savvy (generally speaking, no offense to Apple-lifers).

What can we expect as a result of this? I fear the prognosis is negative.

1. Web song/album prices will go up. Apple will lose profits if they see decreased full-download sales as a result of allowing people to have web-libraries.
2. Why allow users to listen to any track once for free? Traditionally, Apple has had a "controlling boyfriend" attitude when it comes to business. One example: only Apple can manufacture its machines for retail thus eliminating competition for Mac OS-based computers.
3. Integration of the streaming-media concept into iTunes. Whether or not this means that there will be unrestricted web access to your media is yet to be seen.
4. Apple adds m4p (or whatever their file extension is)-type restriction to your locally-stored media files. You already have this now if you buy your stuff from iTunes. You can only play your songs on five computers. You can't download in mp3 format. Your files are only compatible with Apple-manufactured devices. To get around it, you have to waste a CD and burn a CD and then re-rip to mp3.

Here's one of the articles reporting: Apple To Buy Lala? [Confirmed, It Happened!]

I don't know if anybody agrees with me, but this whole thing stinks. If none of the above happens and Apple decides to use Lala the way it was designed -- with its customers in mind -- then I'll be happy. But I don't see how Apple goes that route considering its history and potential negative impact to the bottom line.

I think Apple buys Lala so that it can do more controlling of its customers, not so that it can provide a great service designed by an innovative upstart company.

Try Grooveshark,you can listen to any song any number of times for free all day long and create a playlist too.

cheers
david

Originally Posted by Sirshavesalot

Try Grooveshark,you can listen to any song any number of times for free all day long and create a playlist too.

cheers
david

Thanks. I have used grooveshark before... I think the downside there was a smaller catalog but I'll check it out to see if/how it stacks up against lala.

np I used to like Rhapsody and paid for it, but never felt their catalogue was deep enough,I think grooveshark has a decent playlist esp for indie rock.

Oglethorp btw I'm in Redbank...is there an NJ meetup planned?

Cheers
David

Try Frostwire it's...

*checks for cops*

Nevermind

shavedzombie.....


LMAFO

I thought to mention this or the Bay,but I don't want to get in trouble.

lol
David

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

Thanks. I have used grooveshark before... I think the downside there was a smaller catalog but I'll check it out to see if/how it stacks up against lala.

Grooveshark is a wonderful product of Gainesville, FL, too!

I admit that I still download my music by full album through usenet or bittorrent and don't fiddle with the iTunes Music Store at all. I'm pretty sure you can convert their non-DRM files without burning/ripping.

Another good source is Amazon. I think they've always offered DRM-free music for good prices. Whenever I have a Visa/MC gift card with less than $5 on it, I'll buy a few tunes off Amazon.

There is a program that mimics "burning" but rather than burning to CD via CD-R drive, it uses a virtual drive to "burn" to the hard drive in a format of your choosing.

I converted my entire iTunes library to mp3 using it. I'll be damned if I'm going to let them control what I do with sh!t that I paid for.

I appreciate the suggestions, though, and I'll check them out, but I'm just disappointed that Lala appears to be going the way of the dodo. It really is the best thing going in terms of revolutionizing media. Offering everything available to its users online on the cheap is pretty amazing and legal.

I'm sure Apple will ruin it on multiple levels.

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

There is a program that mimics "burning" but rather than burning to CD via CD-R drive, it uses a virtual drive to "burn" to the hard drive in a format of your choosing.

I converted my entire iTunes library to mp3 using it. I'll be damned if I'm going to let them control what I do with sh!t that I paid for.

I appreciate the suggestions, though, and I'll check them out, but I'm just disappointed that Lala appears to be going the way of the dodo. It really is the best thing going in terms of revolutionizing media. Offering everything available to its users online on the cheap is pretty amazing and legal.

I'm sure Apple will ruin it on multiple levels.

The real revolution will be when artists are selling their music directly to their fanbase without having to pay percentages for agents and labels and online stores. It's easy for established artists to do that now, but we'll get to the point where up-and-comers can follow the same model and achieve success.

thats already happening, and happening a lot. the threat to new artists, be they musicians or authors, is obscurity, not "pirates"