Apple flips the killswitch on Lala music service

Less than six months after acquiring digital music startup Lala for a rumored $85 million, Apple is terminating the service effective May 31. "Lala is shutting down," reads the site's homepage. "Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting new users." The Lala service enabled consumers to access more than 8 million fully licensed songs for free, without ads or subscriptions--its streaming media model instead limited users to one listen for each song or album. Lala also sold unlimited plays of songs for 10 cents, or DRM-free MP3 downloads for 89 cents each--in addition, its Music Mover matched the songs on users' computers to its catalog, adding tracks and playlists to Lala collections for free.

An email sent overnight to Lala subscribers notes "In appreciation of your support over the last five years, you will receive a credit in the amount of your Lala web song purchases for use on Apple's iTunes Store. If you purchased and downloaded MP3 songs from Lala, those songs will continue to play as part of your local music library. Remaining wallet balances and unredeemed gift cards will be converted to iTunes Store credit (or can be refunded upon request). Gift cards can be redeemed on Lala until May 31st."

Apple acquired Lala in December 2009--at that time, the Associated Press reported on a proposed Lala application optimized for Apple's iPhone, which would have enabled users to stream songs from a digital locker to their smartphone for 10 cents each. By comparison, Apple's iTunes digital storefront sells songs starting at 69 cents and increasing to $1.29 for hit singles and selected classics. The New York Times indicated Apple purchased Lala to acquire its engineering staff and their collective experience with cloud-based music services, adding that negotiations originated after Lala executives concluded their prospects for turning a profit in the short term were fading.

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported Apple was planning to introduce a web-based version of iTunes as soon as this June. People familiar with the project said the so-called iTunes.com would enable consumers to purchase music without going through the dedicated iTunes program on desktops and iPhones. In addition, Apple plans to populate other websites with "buy" buttons, integrating iTunes transactions into Internet radio and music review sites.

For more on the Lala shutdown:
- read this AppleInsider article 

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