Apple Now Refunding Lala Subscribers

Apple has begun to refund Lala.com users, following the company’s official shutdown of the service it acquired at the end of 2009. As promised, the company is rounding the amounts that it is sending the customers up to the next dollar, for refunds up to $10, and to the next five dollars, for higher amounts of credit.

People familiar with Apple’s business model are expecting the Cupertino, California giant to materialize the Lala acquisition in a web-based version of iTunes. Before it was acquired by Apple, Lala.com enabled its subscribes to upload their music libraries and access the songs through a Web browser on an array of devices.

Customers were also offered the ability to listen to music without having to download, install or employ specialized media-playing software on a computer or portable device. The songs were stored in a “cloud” and would be accessible anywhere, as long as there was an Internet connection. Storing songs locally, for offline access, was also a possibility with the service, while the entire Lala library of songs featured over seven million song titles at the time Apple bought the company.

Former Lala customers are now greeted by a message saying, “The Lala service has been discontinued as of May 31st, 2010,” when visiting the Lala.com official website. Posted on that very date, the message signaled that Apple had officially finalized the entire process of engulfing the service. Users are directed to an additional information page where the following details are given:

“If you purchased web songs on Lala or had an outstanding wallet balance as of May 31st, 2010, an iTunes Store credit code will automatically be sent to your member email address no later than June 14th, 2010.

“Credit amounts will be based on your account activity as of May 31, 2010. iTunes Store credit amounts will be rounded up to the nearest $1 for refunds under $10, or to the nearest $5 for refunds greater than $10.”

Customers receiving their email with the iTunes Store credit code must download iTunes for Mac or Windows, launch the app and click iTunes Store, then click Redeem under Quick Links and enter the respective code, in order to get their appropriate refund.