PurSuiT Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 http://www.lala.com/ First 50 songs free and free streaming versions on MP3s you already have on your computer. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/lala...D&dist=hppr Unique Features of Lala -- Completely advertising-free service -- First and only fully licensed service for free Web hosting of a personal music library -- Instant matching of MP3s and iTunes FairPlay songs to the Web without uploading -- Fully featured web-application in a browser with speedy look-ahead search, drag and drop playlist creation, and instant, continuous music streaming -- 6 million and growing song catalog from all four major labels and 170,000 independent labels -- Free sampling of the entire catalog as songs or albums -- Web songs available for purchase at 10 cents or less -- DRM-free MP3s for additional price of 79 to 89 cents -- Support for popular Web browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari -- Support for both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8102003688.html Lala's real potential stems from its integrated media player and your web library (which looks a lot like iTunes, but in the cloud). At the top of the screen is a music player that will continue playing whatever song you listen to, no matter where you navigate on the site. And you'll have lots of content to play: users will be able to play any song on the site's massive catalog in its entirety exactly one time free of charge. The limitation sounds restrictive at first, but it costs only 10 cents to buy a "web song" - giving you the ability to stream that song as many times as you'd like in the future. And if you decide to buy the normal MP3 later, that 10 cents will go towards your purchase. Lala has also done some serious legal wrangling to help you populate your online library. Using the site's helper application (available on Windows and Mac), Lala can scan your iTunes music library and add every song you already own to your Lala web library, essentially giving you online streaming access to any song you already have on your computer. And best of all: Lala will give you free, unlimited streaming access toeverysong in your library, even the ones you've acquired in ways that weren't quite legal. Ralston says that the record labels resisted this at first ("why should we give them access to something they stole"), but eventually came to the conclusion that users weren't going to buy something they'd already downloaded. Lala has signed all four major labels and 175,000 independent artists to its extensive library. There are still occasional songs that aren't totally licensed (you can't buy the 10 cent versions of any Led Zeppelin songs, for example), but this will likely change in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaPoets Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 this concept of paying for music online still confuses me when you can get it for free online anyway... I use Pandora to get my music fix and it's free, no commercials and I can tailor it as I see fit. Shoutcast is cool too as it has hundreds of streaming stations. And if I need to hear that one particular song like a World of Warcraft addict needs his grinding, then I just play it off of youtube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurSuiT Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 this concept of paying for music online still confuses me when you can get it for free online anyway... I use Pandora to get my music fix and it's free, no commercials and I can tailor it as I see fit. Shoutcast is cool too as it has hundreds of streaming stations. And if I need to hear that one particular song like a World of Warcraft addict needs his grinding, then I just play it off of youtube. The free services are getting pounded with fees right now and are looking to be short lived. Lala was a free service formated just like Pandora a year or so ago. Pandora was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy last month not sure how they are doing now (you can only operate in the red for so long). Also Pandora is more like a radio station if I remember right. I personally have had a satellite radio for years and mainly only listen to music in the car, I can not wait for satellite to have it so I can go online and setup my own station by picking the song/artists/albums I like to stream to the radio in my car (which they are talking about doing). That will be awsome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaPoets Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 (edited) Pandora isn't like a radio station. What it does is create "channels" based on your music selection and it's database then creates a playlist of similar artists/music type. It's great, especially for mood setting, events, what ever. When I'm in a hardcore gaming mood I'll play a certain selection, but if I'm say out in the backyard w/ friends by the firepit then that's another selection. It's great and they are on the iphone now too so I'm sure that helped them out a lot financially. Oh and w/ Pandora I stream it while in my car too. Edited October 21, 2008 by DaPoets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurSuiT Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 I started using Pandora, one thing that bugs the crap out of me is that I can not replay a song I am in the mood for and skip a song I am not on the fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungen Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I think the next 'revolution' will be artists dumping record labels and going for single-song sales direct from them to us. Better quality (or any quality they want) and they don't have to pay the record label companies to sell records. They can use avenues like pandora and other radio stations to show off their music and sell that song or an album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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