More details: Facebook, Lala turn music tracks into virtual gifts
Perhaps there’s hope for record labels yet. While album sales tumble, virtual goods are on track to become a $1 billion industry.
Then what better way to solve the ailing music industry’s problems than by turning songs into virtual goods?
Well, there’s one initial problem, virtual goods in games can only be consumed in one place — inside the gaming environment. By contrast, songs can be copied at virtually zero cost and be consumed anywhere.
So Facebook and… Continue Reading
Google to work with Lala and iLike on music search (report)
Google is planning to launch a music search service with music sites Lala and MySpace-owned iLike, according to multiple reports.
So far, all that’s official is the fact that Lala, iLike, and unspecified “others” are holding an event titled “Discover Music” next week in Los Angeles. But it sounds like Google will be there.
With this new service, you’ll be able to search for a musician, then play songs streamed from partner sites like Lala and iLike…. Continue Reading
Warner Music writes off $33M in music startups Imeem, Lala
When it comes to music startups of my generation, they have yet to bring in serious revenue. And to make matters worse, the ones that stream music have to pay record labels a hefty licensing fee. Major record label Warner Music Group may be one of the record labels driving up costs for these startups, but it has had enough of investing in them. It has written off $33 million in equity and debt from… Continue Reading
Lala, Qloud may be leading contenders for Facebook music deal
Two online music companies, Lala and Qloud, are the leading contenders for a partnership with Facebook on its prospective streaming music initiative, I’m hearing. They’re not the most prominent companies Facebook has talked to about a potential deal, but from my understanding, that’s the point. Facebook will undoubtedly call the shots in any partnership. Neither company is especially established, and both could have more to gain from a Facebook partnership than continuing solo.
However, it’s not… Continue Reading
Lala may lead bid for Facebook music service, but questions loom
Facebook wants to let its users freely listen to and share music — and it’s considering a partnership with music site Lala to help it do so, industry sources tell us. Lala’s model, though, doesn’t exactly fit what Facebook has had in mind. Facebook originally envisioned offering unlimited streaming music to its users, comparable to MySpace Music — and Lala doesn’t provide that. Instead, the service lets you listen to a song for free once, then… Continue Reading
Lala convinces major record labels to be a little less dumb
Have you ever been sitting at your computer, wishing you could listen to your music collection without being forced to open a desktop application? If so, Lala is launching just the thing for you.
Since the beginning of the summer, Lala has offered a service that lets you stream any song one time, then pay $.10 for the right to stream it as often as you want. The Palo Alto-based company has now convinced the major… Continue Reading
LaLa.com stalls its free music offering
Lala.com, the quirky Palo Alto, Calif. company which launched an ambitious free music service last month with great fanfare, has stalled on delivering the program.
The offer had always seemed too good to be true: Lala said it would stream all sorts of music to users for free (see our coverage here; scroll down), and that it would spend a whopping $140 million to afford it. The idea was that users would enjoy music enough… Continue Reading
Roundup: Nextag, ThisNext, Amp’d, Lala, Ask3D and much more
(Updated) Here’s the latest action, catching up for the past two days:
Boring shopping Web sites attract interest — There are so many shopping search engines, we’ve given up trying to count. And yet investors remain interested. Santa Monica, Calif.’s ThisNext, a social shopping Web site, has raised a round of venture debt Western Technology. It lets people share and recommend products with friends. This comes after rumors that private equity firm Providence Equity Partners is buying… Continue Reading