Early Review of lala

I wanted to share my early thoughts on lala which I posted about on Tuesday. I signed up immediately after (the site is live now) and have had several days to play around with it. Depending on what your interests are, it's either a great service or one that isn't quite where it should be. First, the service of trading cd's works exceptionally well. Once you've added cds you own and cds you want, you'll get a message that your first cd is on the way - for $1.50 (shipping included). Here is what it's great for: collecting cds to download as mp3's because a) you're paying far less than the $9.99 you'd pay on itunes, etc. and b) you're rewarding artists (albeit in a small way) by not illegally downloading music. Once you receive the cds, you can then just send them right back out to the next person and you pay only for the cds you receive. The idea is that the more you send, the more you'll get in the mail. Here's the downside, if your interest in this site is to collect cds that you don't currently own (me) then this may not be for you. The reason is because you only get the cds and not the liner notes and jewel case. This is very disappointing to me because in most cases, I already have the music, I just want these cds for my collection. lala, figure out a way to include the entire cd (case, liner notes, cd) and this site has far greater potential and reach. Until then, I'm going to be reluctant to give up any old cds in my collection if all that I'm getting in return is the cd that I'll be sticking in an empty case.

Check out the site here.