Lala Music’s iPhone App Seeks To End MP3 Format
A new iPhone app from online music retailer Lala has promised to pave the way for the end of downloading songs in the MP3 format, The Associated Press reported.
For just 10 cents a song, users who download the app can buy the right to stream those songs from a digital locker forever.
So-called "intelligent caching" lets the tracks load and play in seconds, with playback possible even outside of cell phone coverage. However, the song quality is lower than what Apple Inc.’s iTunes offers.
Owners of a Lala account can even take their existing iTunes library and synchronize it with the Lala service, meaning a person doesn’t have to repurchase iTunes songs to listen to them.
Consumers are allowed one full-length free preview of each song and the songs begin playing in about two seconds — compared to the more than two minutes it takes to download an iTunes song over the AT&T 3G cell phone network.
Lala co-founder Bill Nguyen, who described the concept as the start of "the end of the MP3," said there are no downloading and no links to click on.
Streaming services pump music directly to a computer or mobile device, but not in a form that the user can store and play any time, such as with MP3 files.
But Lala’s iPhone app aims to take advantage of the device’s power as a music player and is even undercutting the prices charged on iTunes, where songs generally cost 69 cents to $1.29.
Users can hear a track essentially any time they want once they pay 10 cents to have it streamed from Lala.
The users most listened to songs in the app are automatically loaded in the phone’s memory, which allows them to be heard any time, even out of cell phone range.
At 32 kilobits per second, depending on cell phone reception — which is about the same as some smaller radio stations stream online, the quality is far lower than the 256 kilobits per second common to iTunes.
The lower quality can lead to a flatter, fuzzier sound, but Nguyen said sound quality could improve as cell phone networks continue to progress.
For 89 cents each, Lala will also sell higher-quality versions of the same songs as MP3s, but that requires hooking the user’s phone to an Internet-connected computer.
The free app is set to debut on Apple Inc.’s iTunes app store next month, pending approval.
With $35 million in venture capital from Bain Capital LLC, Ignition Partners and Warner Music Group Corp, Lala was launched in 2006 in Palo Alto, Calif.
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