Lala is Shutting Down, iTunes.com Coming Soon?

Streaming music service Lala.com will be shutting down next month May 31 according to announcement at Lala.com and an email sent to subscribers. The online music site allowed users to stream music they uploaded or pucrchased at Lala.com. Apple acquired Lala late last year and many people are speculating that the service will be the basis for an Apple branded online music service.

Lala is no longer accepting new subscribers and will close all accounts at the end of next month. This means subscribers will no longer to access songs they’d uploaded or purchased. Since purchased songs can only be streamed Lala (not downloaded), subscribers will receive a credit in the amount of their Lala web song purchases for use on Apple’s iTunes store.

Apple’s iTunes Store allows users to purchase individual songs and albums. Apple does not offer a streaming musics service or a subscription service that allows users to listen to a large library of music for a recurring fee. Apple could be preparing a more advanced online music experience that’s a mashup of Lala, Microsoft Zune Pass and Pandora.