Posts tagged as:

lala

iTunes Moving to The Cloud – Freeing up Your Hard-Drive

by Jay Garrett on December 6, 2009

lalaApple is looking to acquire audio streaming company Lala – if they get the deal then this could free up all of that prime real-estate on your various hard-drives if, like me, you have 50 days or more’s worth of constant music sat in digital audio form.

The move could also improve your music’s sound quality (by allowing larger files) and let you upgrade your computer without losing ratings, playlists and DRM tunes.

Lala is a Stateside service with a nine million-track audio database in the cloud.

Even more tempting for Apple, though, could be Lala’s licenses allowing it to offer free online Music Lockers.

You allow Lala to forage through your iTunes and/or Windows Media library and it will helpfully create a virtual library in its servers.

You can then stream any of those tunes from Lala from free – and at higher qualities than those 64kbps MP3s you still have with all that treble hissing everytime a high-hat is hit.

I can’t really see any major downside – although I’d still be tempted to keep my collection backed up, just in case.

But the thought of having my settings and ratings still there after reinstalling iTunes, all the duplicates removed (as long as it recognises different versions and remasters!), no more DRM-limited or corrupt tunes; and decent quality streams (128kbps, going to 192kpbs and possibly higher).

If you were Apple would you be snapping this up no matter how much Lala is asking for?

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Google Audio – Search, Stream and Buy Music – One Box

by Jay Garrett on October 21, 2009

google-audioIt sounds as though Google will definitely be parading out a new rival to Spotify, Napster and the like.

Word on the web is that Google is in talks to shore up content from major music labels ahead of launch.

Nothing has been confirmed, but one tipster has called the service Google Audio, and it will launch in the US soonish.

The other thing that isn’t clear is whether this thing will be a download or streaming service, or both.

Google actually already has a pretty decent music search engine that can be accessed by simply typing “music:” before a query but songs are not available for streaming or download from those searches.

Google is hooking up with LaLa and iLike but they’re keeping a tight lid on everything – one thing is clear though: it looks like a big win for LaLa and iLike which ever way this is sliced as both will get massive flow from this deal.

On top of that it seems that MySpace made a genius move with their acquisition of iLike.

Whatever this Google Audio is chances are it won’t be like Google’s Chinese music service engine, which hunts out free tracks so you can help yourself.

Peter Kafka over at AllThingsD seems to have his own sources who seem to know a lot more:

Sources describe the service, which will be called “One Box”, as a refined set of answers for music queries. The idea: Punch in, say, “Madonna“, and you’ll be presented with one or more songs, which may be partial clips or full-length versions, then guided to other sites where you can purchase the music.

All in all, this just sounds like a new search interface—not a new iTunes, Spotify-killer, or anything else worth getting overly excited about.

More on this as it arrives – word is to expect something happening on the 28th……..

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