[solaris]

Opinion Lala, for those who don't know, is a free streaming music venture. Invested in by Warner Music group to the tune of $20m it streams about five million songs, but also offers 89 cent MP3 sales, and song rentals for 10 cents each.

But why is almost nobody using their well-designed, expansive, free streaming service?

I'm not talking about the song rentals for 10 cents - we all knew that was a non-starter. But people aren't streaming songs even for free. While Imeem is streaming more than 1m sessions per day, on Lala only 25 daily listens will get your song into the weekly Top 10.

The service just isn't attracting users at all, in spite of the marketing major label WMG has committed to do. Lala appears to be just another in a long list of industry endorsed companies that tries to make the labels happy - and in so doing, apparently forfeits its chance to build a user base or a business.

Read on here:

Legal digital music is commercial suicide | The Register