Apple Backing Away From Cloud Music Proposal: Report
Cloud-based music distribution — a service many in the tech press expected Apple to add to iTunes following its acquisition of Lala — appears to have been tabled at the company. As of yet, Apple has not struck the requisite licensing deals with major labels to unveil such a service, according to CNET. What’s more, the company is telling label executives that if it adds any cloud-based features to iTunes in the next few months, they will be “modest in scope.” CNET speculates that Apple may be shifting its cloud focus to video distribution.
Apple’s Prospective Streaming Service Is Music Industry’s MacGuffin
The more label execs deny knowledge of what Apple intends to do with Lala, the more analysts convince themselves that the music business is headed toward an access-oriented, digital-distribution dénouement.
See paidContent’s coverage today of Warner Music Group’s second-quarter earnings. During the company’s analyst call, CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr demurred when asked to speculate on the prospects of Apple launching an access-oriented version of iTunes based on Lala’s technology. (WMG was an early investor in the soon-to-be-shuttered streaming service.)
Bronfman said, “I don’t think Apple’s really that clear to the market (regarding its Lala plans), so I wouldn’t suggest it will not have an impact, but I certainly won’t speculate what kind of impact it will have.”
Which answer the media blog reads as “careful, evasive action.”
Of the implications Apple’s iPad has for music, Bronfman was more concrete. “To suggest that [the device] will create a new and large revenue stream in the short term is probably more optimistic than I want to be today.”
By the way, WMG reported mixed results, with a 15 percent increase in digital revenue and overall revenue decline of 1.3 percent. paidContent
Apple Shutting Down Lala; Cloud-Based iTunes Still Up In The Air
Streaming music service Lala, acquired by Apple in December, told users this morning that it will shut down on May 31, issuing iTunes Store credit to those who have purchased 10-cent streaming “web songs” on the site.
The news has tech blogs abuzz with speculation that the next move for Apple will be the introduction of an iTunes.com site, through which users will be able to access their digital media collections from any Web-enabled device. (MediaPost has a comprehensive roundup of the coverage.)
Blogs such as paidContent say that it’s high time for Apple to introduce a cloud-based media service, with the rise of Web-based streaming and consumer acceptance of subscription models. “iTunes’ a la carte reliance looks archaic and one-dimensional, tooled for a market that’s plateaued,” the blog asserts.
However, none of the techbiz pundits subject the profit potential of current streaming subscription models to too rigorous an analysis. The speculation seems to rest on the faith that if any company can build streaming entertainment into a bonafide business, it’s Apple.
But new streaming music licenses and back-end server capacity would need to be underwritten by some established product line. Netflix, for instance, is investing its savings from renegotiated DVD deals with studios into its streaming video offer. An analog between iTunes and music labels is not immediately apparent.
There is also the question of scale — just how large is the market opportunity for a virtual music locker room? Lala itself met with a certain measure of critical acclaim, but few iPod owners will even know to miss it.
Apple could render any speculation moot with an announcement at its Worldwide Developers Conference June 7. In any event, it seems better positioned to keep any plans for a streaming service under wraps than it was in keeping its next-gen iPhone out of the public view.
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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