Apple Shuts Down Lala Music Service, Members Lose Songs

**reanimationxp** · 04-30-2010, 07:37 PM

What's that saying?

"All good things must come to an end"?

As if Apple needed another reason for people to dislike them after the recent Gizmodo fiasco, it appears the saying reigns true with Apple's recent acquisition, the Lala.com music service.

Lala will be coming to an unexpected end on May 31st, 2010.

After Apple acquired Lala some months ago while they were in the midst of trying to release an iPhone app, many of us wondered when, or if, Apple was going to do anything with Lala's cloud-based music library technology. It appears their decision isn't all that surprising after all - shut the competing service down.

Upon logging in, Lala.com users receive the following message:

What this "means for you" as a Lala user is that you're getting shafted. Any songs purchased on Lala by existing members will be wiped out, and they will be issued iTunes Store credit for any money they've placed in their wallet. This may seem like a fair trade to someone who hasn't used the service, except that Lala's web-only (non-downloadable) songs are just .10 cents each, while their iTunes counterparts are .99 cents, a full 10 times more. In other words, Apple is issuing monetary refunds, NOT giving you your equivalent songs on iTunes. I personally had a library of several thousand songs available on Lala, and will be receiving a refund of $5.00. Yes, 5 iTunes songs. Apple is also giving members the option to receive their money back in the form of a check, but that's hardly consolation for the loss of legally playable media.

Full-song previews, cheap "web song" prices, and even the ability to sync your entire existing music library up to the cloud were just some of Lala's fantastic features. With the addition of a portable version for mobile devices, our need for iTunes would be almost nil.. certainly the reason Apple was quick to snatch up the company.

It's unclear if Apple has future plans to implement any of Lala's great features into the iTunes Store, but it's looking unlikely with yet another competitor out of the way.

**battlecrushr** · 04-30-2010, 07:39 PM

Wow dude that sucks.

**cpotoso** · 04-30-2010, 08:44 PM

iEvil

**idesideratum** · 04-30-2010, 08:44 PM

WOW Apple just gave LaLa customers the SHAFT! no song-to-song equivalent!? WOW! Why am i not surprised...

**Bluprint** · 04-30-2010, 08:50 PM

Wow... That's why I'm not sold on digital

**UnknownToaster** · 04-30-2010, 08:52 PM

As if there needed to be more monopolistic actions. Terrific.

**vikings09** · 04-30-2010, 08:58 PM

Talk about getting ******, proper. Go apple.

**Ichwohneinloche** · 04-30-2010, 09:04 PM

Not suprised. Thats horrible. Apple really needs to take it down a notch.

**glassJAw** · 04-30-2010, 09:17 PM

How does "several thousand songs" add up to 5$ credit from iTunes. wouldn't 50 songs add up to a 5$ credit?

**mudrock1000** · 04-30-2010, 09:27 PM

Apple will never use a cloud based technnology, because when your computer crashes you go running back :P

**rickybobby** · 04-30-2010, 09:30 PM

This right here is the reason apple will fail real soon. It seems that anyone who does better apple buys or sues,how about just making your ****** products better.Im not gettin the new iphone i was so ready to until recents events im hearing about apple.Screw you steve jobs and your fanbois.

**cypherpunk** · 04-30-2010, 09:39 PM

Fat chance. Apple still doesn't even allow wifi streaming or syncing through iTunes, so I somehow doubt we'll be be seeing an over-the-air streaming service anytime soon, even for songs you already own. Thankfully there's still services like Orb and Spotify to fill that gap.

They're seeming more and more Microsoft-ish with every passing day. It was anticompetitive tactics like this that ended blowing up in M$'s faces - let's hope the same thing happens to Apple in the not-so-distant future.

**moon#pie** · 04-30-2010, 09:53 PM

Guy's, check out freeallmusic.com. What you do is watch an ad and download a song. It's like hulu for music, except you get to keep the songs! They will be opening it to the public soon too!

**Nickaroni22** · 04-30-2010, 09:53 PM

Talk about getting ****** over! Really pathetic on apples part. But dont forget, when you use or buy apple products. In some way you support what there doing.

**lolcats1** · 04-30-2010, 10:00 PM

This would bother me. If i actually bought music

**CMOSlabs** · 04-30-2010, 10:09 PM

About the same with me. I ripped most of my music from cd's. The rest from underground websites. Never used iTunes to buy music.

**Mes** · 04-30-2010, 10:11 PM

The Apple love/hate relationship is changing...... less love more hate

Happens to most successful companies --- even fanboy Apple.

**Nineways** · 04-30-2010, 10:17 PM

Limewire...?

**arem** · 04-30-2010, 11:12 PM

Originally Posted by lolcats1

This would bother me. If i actually bought music

Exactly my thoughts....FACK apple...
but still, torrents are where its at.

**rickybobby** · 04-30-2010, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by lolcats1

this would bother me. If i actually bought music

second that

Your favorite Apple, iPhone, iPad, iOS, Jailbreak, and Cydia site.

Thread: Apple Shuts Down Lala Music Service, Members Lose Songs

iPhone News

General iPhone

What's that saying? "All good things must come to an end"? As if Apple needed another reason for people to dislike them after the recent Gizmodo fiasco, it appears the

The Following User Says Thank You to cpotoso For This Useful Post:

The Following User Says Thank You to glassJAw For This Useful Post: