Apple's Lala purchase could bring browser access to iTunes content
Apple's acquisition of the streaming music service Lala could pave the way for iTunes content and purchases to be accessed from multiple locations via a Web browser, one analyst has predicted.
The purchase of Lala supports the idea that Apple is building a cloud-based system to allow access of content across all of its products, Maynard J. Um of UBS Investment Research said in a note issued to investors Monday morning. The purchase could tie in to Apple's $1 billion server farm project which found a home in North Carolina this past summer.
"We believe the Lala acquisition fits into our view that Apple is building a data center for a service to provide seamless access & mobility of digital content across all of its products, including media-focused content of iTunes and user-generated content of MobileMe," Um said. "Lala gives Apple browser/Web-based technology to access music anywhere."
Apple made its first integration between the browser and iTunes in November, when iTunes Preview was quietly released. Links generated via iTunes direct to a Web site that gives customers the option to view content without launching Apple's desktop media suite. Previously, users who did not have iTunes installed were prompted to do so in order to view content.
Apple's purchase of Lala was confirmed last week, though the terms of the agreement have not been revealed. The private, Palo Alto, Calif., company has a catalog of over 8 million songs, and allows users to match songs on their PCs to its licensed content, and then play them anywhere on the Web through a browser. DRM-free songs can be downloaded for about 89 cents, while Web-only streams are about 10 cents.
"Lala also allows users to browse friends' collections, create/listen to playlists, & get updates when new or recommended music is added to their sites," Um said. "The service is similar to Apple's Genius feature except driven by real people (vs. algorithms)."
He believes that the purchase of Lala will widen Apple's "halo" that draws consumers to purchase Apple products. By allowing iTunes content to be more easily accessed across a variety of Apple-branded devices, the purchase could further future hardware sales.
UBS Investment Research has maintained its $280 price target for AAPL stock, and reiterated its "buy" rating.
In October, Lala, along with iLike, entered a partnership with Google to allow users to quickly discover song previews, artist info, pictures, video and more. Currently, Google searches for artists or songs can return a full, streaming, embedded song at the top of results, courtesy of Lala.
Apple has the largest net-cash sum of any technology company. In September, it was reported that the Mac maker has $31.1 billion in cash and investments.
The purchase of Lala supports the idea that Apple is building a cloud-based system to allow access of content across all of its products, Maynard J. Um of UBS Investment Research said in a note issued to investors Monday morning. The purchase could tie in to Apple's $1 billion server farm project which found a home in North Carolina this past summer.
"We believe the Lala acquisition fits into our view that Apple is building a data center for a service to provide seamless access & mobility of digital content across all of its products, including media-focused content of iTunes and user-generated content of MobileMe," Um said. "Lala gives Apple browser/Web-based technology to access music anywhere."
Apple made its first integration between the browser and iTunes in November, when iTunes Preview was quietly released. Links generated via iTunes direct to a Web site that gives customers the option to view content without launching Apple's desktop media suite. Previously, users who did not have iTunes installed were prompted to do so in order to view content.
Apple's purchase of Lala was confirmed last week, though the terms of the agreement have not been revealed. The private, Palo Alto, Calif., company has a catalog of over 8 million songs, and allows users to match songs on their PCs to its licensed content, and then play them anywhere on the Web through a browser. DRM-free songs can be downloaded for about 89 cents, while Web-only streams are about 10 cents.
"Lala also allows users to browse friends' collections, create/listen to playlists, & get updates when new or recommended music is added to their sites," Um said. "The service is similar to Apple's Genius feature except driven by real people (vs. algorithms)."
He believes that the purchase of Lala will widen Apple's "halo" that draws consumers to purchase Apple products. By allowing iTunes content to be more easily accessed across a variety of Apple-branded devices, the purchase could further future hardware sales.
UBS Investment Research has maintained its $280 price target for AAPL stock, and reiterated its "buy" rating.
In October, Lala, along with iLike, entered a partnership with Google to allow users to quickly discover song previews, artist info, pictures, video and more. Currently, Google searches for artists or songs can return a full, streaming, embedded song at the top of results, courtesy of Lala.
Apple has the largest net-cash sum of any technology company. In September, it was reported that the Mac maker has $31.1 billion in cash and investments.
Comments
On the brightside this could add some good functionality to iTunes.
This is great news. Nice to see they'll be taking iTunes further.
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Time to removal from this thread, 10,9,8,7 ....
Stupid traditionalism.
I still can't see Apple retaining the 'listen to any tune all the way through once for free'! It's way to easy to record that stream. I also suspect Apple are acquiring talent as well as preventing the purchase by certain others. The end result of this purchase as in the form it will take is far from clear yet IMHO.
mp3.com did something like this 10 years ago until they were sued out of existence.
Having been looking at the richness of -webkit-xxxxxxxxxxx properties, I always asked myself why did they need specialized browser like iTunes.
Stupid traditionalism.
I don?t follow. iTunes does a lot of things not easily done with a browser. On top of that, the iTunes Store uses the WebKit browser to render pages in iTunes 8.
mp3.com did something like this 10 years ago until they were sued out of existence.
Is this the same business method as mp3.com?
mp3.com did something like this 10 years ago until they were sued out of existence.
With Spotify you can listen to anything you want, as many times as you want...for free! Today!
Do people copy? No, because there is little point.
I know I bang on about Spotify on here allot, but the model does rock.
Intelman on 07 Dec 2009 - 15:36
I'd rather have the Zune Pass so I can have an "unlimited amount" of music on my portable device.
#2Shadrack on 07 Dec 2009 - 15:51
Apple shouldn't need to buy into a streaming music service, unless it is just to gather up all the contract deals with the RIAA and stuff.
They should be offering something to compete with "Zune Pass."
Lala, someone actaullt sat down and decided to name their company Lala, what were they watching the Teletubbies or something? ...
Your opinion only. I think it's a great name. It's alliterative, memorable, pleasant to say and related to the product (music).
Time to removal from this thread, 10,9,8,7 ....
You could have copied it but removed the links.
Now even if they remove it, you are spamming the list.
Typical Apple. Always looking ahead.
This is great news. Nice to see they'll be taking iTunes further.
Typical Quadra 610. Never one to have a real thought before praising Apple.
The article is speculative nonsense. Apple may or may not do anything with Lala. They may very well be buying it to bury the concept as has been mentioned in other threads about this subject.
But hey, what the heck. Congrats Apple on buying a company for completely unknown reason!
If that's the case, it makes it sound like Apple was just kind of going about its business, LaLa comes knocking, and Apple goes "Hey, hold on, we could use this tech to synchronize our user's iTunes libraries with the cloud! Let's make it central to our plan going forward!"
Now, I suppose Apple could have been actively investigating such tech, or even have started an in-house effort, and the LaLa people were just at the right place at the right time, but still. I'd like to think giant shifts in Apple's offerings were contingent on more than luck.
Typical Quadra 610. Never one to have a real thought before praising Apple.
The article is speculative nonsense. Apple may or may not do anything with Lala. They may very well be buying it to bury the concept as has been mentioned in other threads about this subject.
But hey, what the heck. Congrats Apple on buying a company for completely unknown reason!
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/2009...e-really-paid/
Apple paid $80 million for Lala
"On Friday I reported that Apple was buying Lala at a fire sale price, which meant that investors in the music service wouldn’t get their money back. I was wrong," Peter Kafka reports for AllThingsD.
"Apple ended up paying around $80 million for the company, according to multiple sources. That’s less than half of what investors were valuing the company at in 2008, but it’s more than the $35 million the company raised throughout its life. Which means that some investors could get their money back and more," Kafka reports.
"Meanwhile the LaLa team, which should begin reporting to Apple today, gets credit for selling the company at any kind of premium at all. It’s not a home run, but it’s much better than it could have been," Kafka reports.
"LaLa’s real asset was its technology team: In the end, Apple bought the company to get its hands on the company’s engineers, who had built a slick streaming service as well as an iPhone app that Apple has yet to approve," Kafka reports.
"LaLa?s real asset was its technology team: In the end, Apple bought the company to get its hands on the company?s engineers, who had built a slick streaming service as well as an iPhone app that Apple has yet to approve," Kafka reports.[/I]
I have doubts we?ll ever see that app. I think Apple is more likely to incorporate it into iPhone OS v4.0 so that you can choose it from your iPod app and stream from the background.
I would like to see a completely web-based app that streams your iTunes library. I think they need one if they think Chrome OS is destined to get any real marketshare.
PS: Thanks for the info. I like the source link and a snippet of data much better than your simple via link to MacNewsDaily links with no accompanying info as to why we should click the link.
The thing I don't quite get is the report that LaLa approached Apple.
If that's the case, it makes it sound like Apple was just kind of going about its business, LaLa comes knocking, and Apple goes "Hey, hold on, we could use this tech to synchronize our user's iTunes libraries with the cloud! Let's make it central to our plan going forward!"
Now, I suppose Apple could have been actively investigating such tech, or even have started an in-house effort, and the LaLa people were just at the right place at the right time, but still. I'd like to think giant shifts in Apple's offerings were contingent on more than luck.
Apple has been open in the past to changes, or as they would put it, enhancements to their digital hub strategy. One can see it in looking at the beginnings of the iPod and Tony Fadell, or the mistake in putting DVD-RAM instead of CD-RW in their Macs. Apple's original strategy focused on video, and then they switched to music and rapidly caught up and went ahead. Even the iPod mini was conceived late and rushed to market.
In this case, I think lala showed Apple its in-development iPhone app and its vision of the future. (There's plenty of cases where Steve Jobs calls in small companies to discuss their vision and products.) Apple may have looked at what they had in development and decided that if these guys want to sell, Apple could get there faster. There are several pieces to lala, so it's not clear what pieces Apple may use. Is it the uploading libraries, the free full-length play, the 10 cent forever web streaming, or something else yet to be introduced?
As for burying the concept, does anyone have examples where Apple bought a company and buried everything they did previously? It's clear that some things get shelved when a company is bought, but usually not everything. Except for Apple's purchase of Power Computing for $100m, I'm having trouble thinking of one where Apple buried everything. (And by buried, I mean not even reusing the technology in another product, as they do for most software companies they buy.)