Posts Tagged ‘Google’

Lala: Months later, kinda like “Teen Mom” is to “16 and Pregnant”

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Months after the Google/Lala.com fusion, it would seem a review is in order. Lala.com, originally an online record store (literally, exchanging records/cds, shopping for rare finds, fan sharing, pubescent Pink Floyd fan in the corner riddling the mystery of Dark Side’s coincided timing to The Wizard of Oz) It’s all there.

The site has since spanned to operate as a digital retailer with a twist. Allow profiled users to listen to EVERY song EVER (in the spans of its catalogue, obviously) once, and then allowing users to purchase web versions of the song to stream within their Lala.com profile, or purchasing a downloadable version of the song. These features, combined with users ability to upload their music library and listen countlessly to those songs as well create a nice appeal to the site, as it should.

combative to iTunes, Lala.com Users can upload and listen to their music library ANYWHERE with internet, and with a mobile application in the works, Lala.com would be within hands reach at ALL TIMES. iPods are great but they don’t have a feature to view related artists, check out their bios, see pictures and discover tangental artists without having to access iTunes, and if you’re going to take that step, why not visit Lala.com and hear songs in their entirety?

If that wasn’t encouraging for people to sign up, Lala.com gives you 25 credits for signing up and 5 credits for referrals. That is, 25 songs that you DON’T have to purchase, but instead get to reap the web streaming rewards of unlimited listening.

This is all great for the music listener and mobile enthusiast, however, there’s one draw back.

A BIG DRAW BACK.

There is no security. All that’s required is an active email address. That’s it.

So to prove a point, I have created 5 profiles, each having pseudonyms that may OR MAY NOT be that of my siblings, and have listened to THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (yes, I am now that kid!) FOR FREE BECAUSE OF MY CREDITS I RECEIVED BY REFERRING MYSELF! (ALL CAPS)

herewithstanding, i will be withdrawing from the left-hanging key from the “a”, i will bargain with those users to refrain from excessive profile creation, and give lala.com a true try, if you haven’t already. it does house a unique network of artists and has exposed new ones to me daily.

though it is like a screen door catching solar winds, it does keep the flies out and lets you enjoy those sweet sweet sunrises. until a new adaptation is assembled, one that houses the interests of both publishers and retailers, lala.com has my card, and i have them on speed dial.

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Lala will be laughing all the way to the bank

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

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Since new royalty rates for interactive streaming and limited downloads were passed by the Copyright Royalty Board earlier this year, a variety of music services like Rhapsody  have been getting the medias attention. Most recently all the press has been about Palo Alto based company Lala whose hybrid subscription/ala carte download service has linked up with Google to boost sales through legitimate parties who in one way or the other pay royalties to copyright holders.

Within the past year Lala has attracted attention by partnering up with not only Google but Facebook and Pitchfork to create a strong online presence. If someone is trying to find music from an artist he/she will eventually come across Lala’s widget. Besides that LaLa’s business model will allow people to purchase streaming albums for around a dollar which will give consumers more bang for their buck. Then if you want to buy songs they are $.89 cents a piece and for the most part $7.50 an album. This competitive pricing model is cheaper than iTunes yet more appealing for major labels than Rhapsody’s. Besides that, the songs you purchase instantly get cached into your locker on Lala’s servers, which allows you to stream your own library of music including the music you’ve purchased from Lala anywhere you can connect to the web. Once Lala’s iphone application is released it will be effortlessly easy to purchase and enjoy your music (via cloud computing provided by Lala) without having to sacrifice hard drive space.

Lala’s business and pricing model allows customers to choose if they want to use Lala’s music as a service or purchase it as a product. The key to Lala’s survival is embracing the Long Tail by adding as much music as possible and expanding its customer base to consumers as well as other businesses. Lala has a rapidly growing library of music that includes the 4 major labels as well as independent artists giving any music lover access to music both mainstream and underground. Record labels can use Lala as a intermediary to sell other products such as vinyl/cd releases, concert tickets, or even turn consumers onto other artists on their label. Lastly the sheer volume of Lala’s future customer base, efficient music delivery system, along with low overhead and inventory costs will allow the profitability per customer to increase over time.

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