Music in the Cloud

The Times They Are A-Changin' ...

In December 2009 Apple bought Lala.com. The news seemed to be met with...well, a whimper. A lot of people probably don't know what Lala is, so let me quickly explain.

www.lala.com is a website where you can stream music. You just need a connection and you're ready to go. Lala uses the Cloud computing model - where information and databases are stored remotely, in the "Cloud" as opposed to locally. The advantage for consumers is you don't need to worry about space or a computer crashing, and the advantage for the Host is annual fees and, likely, little customer service and maintenance. A win-win for both.

So that's where Lala gets it's wings. It uses the Cloud to let users stream music, and store it remotely on the Lala server (or whichever company they use). Users can listen to most anything one time for free. After that you only get a 30 second clip, but you can buy a song credit for $0.10. Once you buy it you can access it online as much as you like. To truly BUY a song, download it and OWN it, you usually pay around $0.89, comparable to iTunes or Amazon.

For me, I like the online option. I use it quite a bit to try out albums I think I might like to buy. I must say I have not purchased any credits, but only because they give you 50 free to start. Plus, I probably use it the most to listen to things I haven't heard. One free listen, the whole album. If I like it there's a good chance I'll buy the cd. If not, I won't. Easy.

Yes, I still buy cds. There's just something about a cd that I still like. A tangible, real feeling. Putting it in the cd player. Pushing play. Hearing it spin (old cd player). I like the ease and transparency of digital music, but I still like cds too. I just had to comment, sorry. Back to the story....

So Apple acquires Lala. A few articles were written about it, but all in all not much coverage. I guess that makes sense since, really, not a lot of people use it. But I think Apple purchasing Lala is rather significant. It signals either a) Apple wants to squash the $0.10 online model or b) Apple is moving to the Cloud, for iTunes, iPhones, and everything else 'i' you can think of. It makes sense. It's transparent. People will have more access, and ultimately more chance to buy - music, tv shows, movies. Smart.

I don't think it's a bad thing. As I said, I use Lala quite a bit. I really like it. It's very easy to use and I like the "one time free" option. Let me try to like something first, then I'll buy it.

Eventually, I've got to believe we'll have online access more or less everywhere. In your car you'll have internet through your navigation screen, or LCD, whatever. You'll search for what you want, then click the map for the directions. You'll be home and your TV will have internet (they're already becoming more popular), you'll stream music from your computer. Why not online? I just think it's inevitable. The convergence will happen.

Which brings us back to Lala. I believe it makes sense to have a model where users effectively 'rent' songs. If you want to buy it, great. But you don't have to, and maybe 'renting' makes more sense.