Apple acquires interned digital music start up, Lala: Reports
05 Dec 2009
According to media reports Apple has acquired digital music start up Lala, the company that streams music to customers via the internet.
Analysts say this could be bad news for Lala users since it is unlikely that the innovative deals negotiated by Lala will survive through the acquisition.
Lala users have for over a year been purchasing rights to limitlessly stream their music for ten cent per song.
If the deals with the music label were to go kaput, Lala users may lose the right to stream those songs, which means that the money users have been spending on web songs may do down the hole.
If the deals are nullified Apple would hopefully renegotiate them to at least cover existing purchases until it releases its own streaming music service.
The Palo Alto, California-based Lala allows users to listen to songs in its catalog of 8 million, for free through the web for free through the web. Users pay 10 cents for unlimited playback of songs which can also be downloaded as mp3 versions for 89 cents. The mp3s come without digital-rights management restrictions which makes them compatible with iTunes and Windows Media Player.
