The Hippodrome

Lala.com is a store, a Last.FM clone and a CD trading service rolled into one tight package. I’ve used the service before but I eventually realized how pointless it was after a few weeks, but we’ll get to my experience with the site later. Bill Nyugen officially launched the site on June 8th, 2006 and it’s focus has been on trading CDs instead of illegally downloading mp3s. As of last year the site now also allows you to upload your own mp3s to listen to them online in case you’re not near your computer. Due to obvious legal issues, you can’t however trade mp3s with other people since Lala opted to leave the P2P aspect out.

So how does the site work? You essentially create an account and then list the CDs you want and the CDs you have. Lala then will send you a shipment of five envelopes and clamshells for shipping five CDs. Eventually you’ll receive an email about how GenericUser36 wants your old Death Cab for Cutie album. If you decide you want to trade then Lala will give you GenericUser36’s address so you can send it to him. Once he gets it, he’ll confirm that he’s received it and then you’ll get a trade credit which will allow you to receive a CD on your want list. So let’s say you wanted an old My Bloody Valentine album. You’ll get a message from Lala telling you that OtherGenericUser63 has sent you a CD and once you confirm that you’ve received it, you’ll be billed $1.75 and OtherGenericUser63 will receive a trade credit.

Lala also has a built in store where you can purchase CDs and mp3s. All of the mp3s are DRM-free which is a definite plus. Now let’s talk about my problems with Lala.

Although I was initially into the whole idea of trading CDs as a way to feel less guilty about illegally sharing and downloading music, I realize that in the end I was only giving money to Lala and not the artists. I admire Lala for an attempt at trying to change the way music is distributed and shared, but it really is just a money maker for Lala and not really the artists. For now, I think I’ll keep to downloading music and buying vinyl copies of the albums I really love.

(This post was contributed by Kyle Wallace)

This entry was posted by Kyle Wallace on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 5:52 pm and is filed under Site Reviews, Written By Kyle Wallace. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.