In news that actually affects The A.V. Club directly, Apple has announced that it is shutting down the Lala online music service just a few months after purchasing it. As you may have noticed, the Lala music widget is all over the place as of late, thanks to its usefulness as a place for creating streaming MP3s and then adding them to, say, a music review. When Apple bought Lala, it sparked discussion that it could be the company’s first step toward a subscription music service, but now it looks like Apple just wanted to shut down any iTunes competition the old-fashioned corporate-raider way. Members will have access to Lala until May 31; a notice at the site provides instructions for refunds and credits, including an exchange good for use at the iTunes Store, which will one day control all the music in the world.
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