Five reasons why Apple wants Lala
It was reported yesterday, December 4th, that Apple was in serious acquisition talks with Lala, a music cloud service. By 6pm the two companies reportedly ’struck a deal,’ according to New York Times, though details have yet to be released. (Update: Apple has acquired Lala)
Here are five reasons Apple would want to acquire Lala, and how it might affect you:
1. iTunes in the Cloud
The most widely used music player is iTunes, and so far it has remained a desktop application. I’m sure iTunes will continue to be a desktop application, but by integrating Lala’s technology, the next iTunes player may also be your web browser. By syncing your desktop iTunes library with your online version of iTunes, you’ll be able to listen to your music on any internet device that utilizes Flash.
Apple knows that the future is in the cloud, so it makes perfect sense for them to move iTunes into the cloud. By purchasing Lala, Apple is able to have iTunes ready for this transition to the cloud. Knowing that future netbooks will use web-based applications on web-based browers, users will be able to access their iTunes library in the cloud.
2. Streaming Music on your iPhone or Touch
Lala has already created an iPhone application, which they have claimed is supposed to be made available yet this year, Apple will most likely approve this application with their name stamped on it. Since the iPhone and Touch utilize flash memory, their storage space is limited. Streaming music from your library in the cloud will allow you to free up space on your iPhone, so you have space to buy more applications, videos, games, and take more photos. Imagine fitting your entire digital music collection on your iPhone, and that’s what this application will allow. Lala revealed that they designed the yet-to-be-seen application to cache several hundred songs on your Touch when you’re outside WiFi connection so you can continue to listen to music.
3. Web Songs and Web Albums
Lala sells web songs for .10 cents each, meaning most web albums are roughly $1.00. Since you can’t download web songs, web music stays in your library in the cloud for ten pennies. It’s unclear whether Apple would continue to offer web music, but our speculation is that they will. By introducing the concept of cheap web songs to millions of iTunes users, Apple will see a massive revenue increase. This could be a tremendous boost for the recording industry.
4. Social Networking and iTunes
The concepts of social networking is not foreign to us, so it only seemed natural that Lala offers social networking aspects into their service. In a Lala + iTunes web application you’ll be able to track what your friends are listening to, interact with each other, gain points and become influential listeners, etc. In actuality, this deal will pit Apple against Last.fm, a social network for music fans.
5. iTunes and Google
In the recent weeks Lala brokered a deal with Google to stream Lala song links when someone searches for a song. Though Lala is not the only site promoted when someone searches for music on Google, Apple’s deal will mean that iTunes will become more visible on Google.
Keep in mind that Google is releasing Google Chrome OS next year. Google’s new OS is a browser-based operating system, which means they’re placing the OS in the cloud. In other words, the web browser is the operating system in a browser-based OS. Millions of notebooks will be sold with Chrome OS installed, on solid-state flash drives. Apple knows this and wants to have iTunes available on Google’s new operating system.
For more information about Apple’s acquisition of Lala:
Wired: Apple’s reported Lala talks could lead to cheaper cloud-based iTunes
Apple in ‘advanced’ acquisition talks with Lala