Lala.com has been bought by Apple, and I predict the “music download” is going the way of the 8 track.
For those not familiar with Lala.com, site users can do three things – 1) listen to any song, in their surprisingly jam-packed database, once all the way through for free, 2) download a song for 89 cents, or 3) pay for access to a song via the website for around 10 cents a song. It’s the third option that will forever change how we access music.
We used to buy music via a tangible item, such as an eight track cartridge, record album, cassette tape, or compact disc. Now we purchase and download a music file. In the near future, we will only be buying access to a music file – and it will be cheaper, much cheaper. At lala.com one could buy 1 download one song, or buy unlimited access to 8 songs – for the same price.
Like most audiophiles, I have more music files than the typical MP3 player will hold. This causes the listener to be constantly transferring files back and forth between the MP3 player and the computer. So far, listeners have attempted to solve this problem by buying MP3 players with more and more memory. It’s a cycle that will soon change making the MP3 player the equivalent of an AM transistor radio.
Lala.com provided a “jukebox” type service. Users didn’t download music, they accessed it. This is how we use the internet for most things. We don’t typically download Youtube videos or a COL article, we access them. By accessing music, the listener only needs a device that can access the website. This eliminates from the need for devices to have more and more memory, as well as eliminating the need for the device itself.
Apple bought lala.com. Most folks think that this means, Apple via ITunes will soon offer a service similar lala.com- so they are merely eliminating their main competition. Instead of downloading a file, you will purchase access to the file. This is faster than downloading. I can find, download, and listen to a music file using a wireless N card/router, in less than 30 seconds. I can access a youtube video instantly. Buying access to a file, also eliminates the need for user to perform the cumbersome back up process; we will not have anything to back up.
The rub is “What do I do with my current music library?” Buy a device that is big enough to hold your current music library, use a web based back up service (such as Carbonite,) and be an early adopter of the technology of accessing music. And then patiently wait for the trend of accessing music to take hold. Once it does, we will never manage our music the same way again.
