Apple is set to enter the growing world of music streaming by acquiring digital streaming service Lala.

Lala allows users to buy and listen to music through a web browser and would pit Apple’s iTunes against the likes of Spotify and MySpace Music which have been growing in popularity with millions of users.

Lala offers a catalogue of 8 million songs which can be listened to once for free and then sells unlimited streams of songs for 10 cents a track.

Forrester Research vice-president and research director Mark Mulligan said: “This is where the momentum of digital music has shifted and where Apple needs to be if it is going to remain relevant in the digital music landscape even if revenue hasn’t shifted there.”

ITunes has become the world’s biggest music retailer with expected revenues this year of $2bn (£1.2bn).

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