Apple is reportedly in talks to buy music streaming service Lala for an undisclosed amount, according to Bloomberg. As emerging competitors like Spotify try to scale a revenue model for music that places the emphasis on access to songs, rather than outright ownership, Apple needs a way to defend the breakthroughs it made with iTunes and the iPod.

Lala secured two big distribution deals this fall, landing in Google’s music search and on Facebook, supporting a service that lets users buy music like a virtual good and gift it to friends. The Palo Alto-based company has contracts with the four major ...

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