A Big Day for Lala

Today was a big day for Lala.

The service is now officially serving Facebook's music needs, and Google will be using Lala's platform to stream music with the upcoming music search platform that is slated to be released next week. This will hopefully guarantee lots of new traffic and revenue for Lala, as well as solidifying the service's place as a major music vendor on the web.

On a side note, I was happy to discover that ShortFormBlog uses Lala's player. With more and more sites starting to use Lala's conveniently embeddable player, you might be signing up for Lala much sooner than you think, assuming you want to hear what everyone else is listening to.

More information on how the event unfolded, as well as what else we might expect, can be found at the following sites:

Lala's Big Day

Google to Partner with Lala and iLike for New Music Service

Google Music Service: The Screenshots

Google, MySpace, Facebook singing the same tune

Lala iPhone app: beta version released

It's here. Everyone on the list to test drive the beta version of Lala's new iPhone app got the email this morning announcing that it was available for download. Let's just say this: if Apple ever allows this thing to be available for download on iTunes, the online music world is in for a change. Big time.

Expect lots of buzz, hype, speculation, joy, outrage, disappointment, appreciation and genuine  happiness as everyone enjoys streaming their entire music collection from their iPhone/iPod Touch, adding new songs for only $0.10 a pop.

And for those of you just jumping on the bandwagon: www.lala.com. Best thing to happen to music since the invention of the ear. Ok, slight exaggeration, but you get the idea.


Previously:
- Lala iPhone app even closer to official release?

- Top 5 Reasons why Lala beats Spotify and iTunes

A healthy musical mantra for our world today

Since graduation, the future seems scary. No longer does fall mean the beginning of a new school semester, and no longer does summer mean a short internship that you can brag about later on. This is the real deal.

And while it's scary, it's exciting. Maybe that's why this song has held a special place in my ear for the past few months. It's the first track called "The Rain" off Calvin Harris' new album "Ready for the Weekend." Undoubtedly, it's got one of the healthiest musical mantras you could ever hear, especially for someone like myself who's in the process of making "big decisions."

You just get this line:

These are the good times in your life
So put on a smile, it'll be alright

over and over. And if that doesn't make you happy, then there's nothing else I can do for you. Listen and get all jazzed up.

The Rain - Calvin Harris

Lala iPhone app even closer to official release?

On September 23, the following message was posted on Lala's Beta Feedback discussion forum:

If you would be interested in beta testing a Lala iPhone app, please post back and let us know.  We're keeping a waiting list of interested members.

Thanks!
Carole

This is an official Lala employee (we are able to tell by the blue "Lala" badge next to her name), and the post *hopefully* confirms that the Lala iPhone app is getting even closer to an official release. This comes months after TechCruch released this video of the app in it's earlier stages.

Access to the Beta Feedback discussion forum, which allows users to comment, receive feedback and suggest new features, is available to registered Lala members who have requested to be a Lala Beta tester. Being a Beta tester works a lot like Gmail Labs: you get access to a special tab in your profile settings that allow you activate features that haven't been implemented globally. Right now, this includes features like Last.fm scrobbling and keyboard shortcuts for playback.

What do you think? Is this a major selling point for Lala's service? Will it help them bring in lots of new business? Would it be overshadowed by a US release of Spotify, or—hypothetically—if Apple was savvy enough to release an "Lala-esque" version of their iTunes software?

Previously: Top 5 Reasons Why Lala Beats Spotify and iTunes

Top 5 Five Reasons Why Lala Beats Spotify and iTunes

The Spotify iPhone app was recently released in Europe. Spotify, originally a desktop app, gives users access to music on demand. Think iTunes but streaming only, no download. The Spotify iPhone app is being dubbed an "iTunes killer"; people are shocked that Apple allowed the app to be released at all, since it seems to directly undermine Apple's own iMusic universe. If people can always stream all the music they want from their iPhone or iPod, why bother buying the songs with iTunes? Now there's serious competition in the marketplace.