When Apple purchased the cloud-based music streaming service Lala in December of 2009 and then announced a few months later that it was planning to shut it down, many hoped that this signaled Apple’s intentions to launch its own cloud-based version under the iTunes label. And so, a replacement for Lala was on many people’s wishlist for announcements they hoped to hear Steve Jobs make today at WWDC.
But unfortunately, Jobs had no such news.
Lala was a favorite tool for many music fans as it had an unlimited music locker, the ability to purchase web-accessible-only music, and a social sharing element.
The cloud is ideal for music storage, syncing, and sharing, and competition – with or without an Apple-based service – has been heating up recently. Many companies, including MP3tunes and Grooveshark, have sought to woo displaced Lala users with special deals. With no announcement from Apple today and with the popular European streaming service Spotifyrumored to launch stateside in Q3, it seems like the market for a cloud-based music service is still wide open.
So, following today’s lack of announcement from Apple, what are your plans to store and stream your music? Why do you think Apple had nothing to say about a cloud-based music service today?
