Apple's Plans For Lala Music Site Remain A Mystery

Apple has reportedly acquired online music streaming company Lala, but why and how the music site fits into Apple's plans remain a mystery.

The reported acquisition is the latest in the rapidly consolidating online music space. MySpace is acquiring iLike for $20 million and is reportedly buying Imeem, while sites Ruckus and SpiralFrog have shut down.

Published reports through the weekend said Apple had acquired Lala for an undisclosed sum. But as of Monday morning neither company had posted confirmation of an acquisition.

Lala, which reportedly has been struggling to become profitable, lets users listen to a song once for free then sells the song for 10 cents for a version that can be played online repeatedly or 79 cents for a downloadable version.

Apple has given no hints about how it might integrate Lala with Apple services. While the acquisition does eliminate a possible competitor to Apple's iTunes, it seems unlikely that was Apple's main motivation given a CNET report that said Apple was buying Lala largely for its payment and fulfillment system technology.

Apple could use the Lala technology to introduce a music streaming service. While Apple iTunes is a huge business, its media player does not let users stream complete songs. Such a move would put more competitive pressure on music streaming sites such as Spotify and Rhapsody.

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