MP3.com Founder Robertson Muses On Apple’s Cloud Strategy

Don’t look for Apple to build a music subscription service with its recent acquisition of Lala, says digital music veteran Michael Robertson. Apple’s combination of the iTunes store with Lala’s streaming services will likely renew a value proposition that Robertson himself explored with the MP3.com service a decade ago: online access to music that consumers have already purchased.

“As Apple did with the original iPods, Lala realized that any music solution must include music already possessed by the user,” Robertson writes on TechCrunch. “The Lala setup process provides software to store a personal music library online and then play it from any web browser alongside web songs they vend. This technology plus the engineering and management team is the true value of Lala to Apple.” By TechCrunch

With Lala, Apple Contemplating Web-Based Consumer Access

Where Apple’s iTunes requires users to download music onto a specific computer, Lala.com lets users buy and listen to music through a Web browser, meaning its customers can access purchases from anywhere, as long as they are connected to the Internet. Apple is considering adopting that same model for songs sold on iTunes, a change that would give consumers more ways to access and manage their iTunes purchases — and wouldn’t require them to download Apple’s software or their purchases. By The Wall Street Journal

Apple Acquiring Streaming Music Site Lala

Apple has not disclosed the terms of the deal or what the company intends to do with the 4-year-old Lala. The company scans users’ hard drives and creates a duplicate music library that owners can access from Web-enabled devices. The company also sells songs for a dime each. By CNET

Google To Include Music Players In Song Search Results

Pages for music-related queries at Google.com will now include pop-up players from online music store Lala or social networking site MySpace (which acquired music recommendation site iLike in the last month) that will allow listeners to view album art and hear entire songs once for free. MySpace’s player also links to musicvideos and tour information. Though Google’s feature does not allow users to buy music directly through the search site, Lala and MySpace supply links for the legal purchase of songs. By Variety

Give The Gift Of Music On Facebook

On the heels of yesterday’s leak about a Google music search service, Facebook teams with Lala.com to add digital music to the virtual gifts that Facebook members can buy for one another. “Web songs,” which members can stream from their profiles, cost 10 cents each, while downloadable, DRM-free MP3s cost 90 cents each. Facebook

Google To Launch Music Service?

Update: AP has further details on Google’s planned music search engine.

Google plans to launch a music service on Oct. 28 in partnership with streaming sites LaLa and iLike, according to blog TechCrunch. By TechCrunch

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