Apple Buys Lala
At a steep discount according to Peter Kafka at allthingsd.com
Essentially fifty cents on the dollar.
WMG continues to be the worst investor on the block, already having written down $11 million of its $20 million dollar investment.
So what exactly is Apple buying?
Technology.
There’s the issue of being able to put a listener’s MP3/iTunes collection in the cloud for access elsewhere/on a mobile device and the ability to stream those songs almost instantly.
But didn’t Apple have this infrastructure already?
Seems not.
The same way the Cupertino company purchased SoundJam MP to get into the computer music world by tweaking it and releasing it as iTunes, it appears Apple is a step behind when it comes to streaming.
Then again, the price paid was a bargain. Lala wanted to sell. It saw no upside in the future, only the need to raise more money.
And Apple’s got a huge cash hoard. So why not buy some code and engineers that will help you get to your destination…
So, it appears that Spotify is further down the line with streaming technology than Apple. Whodathunk?
But when it comes to Apple, nobody knows anything, because Steve Jobs and his minions just don’t talk.
But it does appear that even Apple now believes streaming is the future and wants to have all the technology in its arsenal necessary to play.
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Kafka now says a source indicates his numbers are "way off", but the "New York Times" states: " the negotiations originated when Lala executives concluded that their prospects for turning a profit in the short term were dim and initiated discussions with Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president in charge of iTunes." And he who initiates the sale usually takes a hit on the price.
My trusted source, with direct Apple access, tells me this:
"But Eddy Cue is way more interested in a couple of key men (developers) than the existing IP.
They’re not primariy buying tech this time."
