This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Digital
Warner recouped $9 million from Apple’s Lala.com purchase
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 13 January 2010
Warner Music Group seemingly got $9 million in cash as a result of Apple’s purchase of Lala.com last month. The music major was an investor in the struggling digital start up. They previously revealed they’d pumped $20 million into the firm, but subsequently said they would write-down the investment by a neat $11 million, which is presumably how we arrive at them getting $9 million from the Apple deal.
There was much speculation as to how much Apple paid for Lala.com, with estimates ranging from $17 million to $80 million. I’m not sure whether knowing Warner got $9 million of Apple’s money gives us any extra clues regards the Lala price tag. Though, as previously reported, it was claimed the company was sitting on $14 million of cash reserves, which means that Apple might have got the digital music service for a real bargain basement price.
Either way, I think it’s fair to say Warner’s recent digital adventures haven’t gone so well. Their other big digital investment was in the now defunct Imeem. I don’t know what the major can expect to see as a result of MySpace’s purchase of most of Imeem’s operations, though I doubt it’ll be much more than some now unrequired servers and maybe quite a bit of unused stationery.
