Apple is Shutting Down Lala on May 31st

Apple has posted a message on the Lala homepage indicating that the service will be shut down on May 31st, 2010 and is not accepting any new users.

In the beginning of December Apple reportedly paid $85 million for Lala.com, a service which lets users buy and listen to music through a Web browser, meaning customers can access their purchases as long as they are connected to the Internet.

At the time it was rumored that Apple wanted to use this model for iTunes. That would mean customers could make purchases without needing to download a software application.


Michael Robertson, founder of MP3.com believes the true reason Apple purchased Lala is to copy all your iTunes media to the cloud.

An upcoming major revision of iTunes will copy each user’s catalog to the net making it available from any browser or net connected ipod/touch/tablet. The Lala upload technology will be bundled into a future iTunes upgrade which will automatically be installed for the 100+ million itunes users with a simple “An upgrade is available…” notification dialog box. After installation iTunes will push in the background their entire media library to their personal mobile iTunes area. Once loaded, users will be able to navigate and play their music, videos and playlists from their personal URL using a browser based iTunes experience.

The closing of Lala.com may mean Apple is almost ready with the iTunes cloud.

Read More