Hands on with an improved Lala music service

see what they are listening to. The homepage also contains the top songs on Lala, easy access to your library on the right hand side, as well as a section for news, followers, gifts and recommendations.

To purchase music you can either pay per song or add money to your Lala "wallet" which cuts down a little bit on the purchase processing time.

Lala Gives Complete Playlist Control

Lala does a lot of things better than other sites. Unlike with Pandora, Lala gives you complete control over what you listen to and when. Ten cents is also such a nominal fee that I didn't mind forking over $1.40 to be able to listen to the Smashing Pumpkin's "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" in perpetuity (or at least as long as Lala stays afloat).

The downside of course is the fact that you need an Internet connection, which limits your ability to hear the music away from your desktop or notebook. For now, I am going to stick with my iPod, but Lala looks promising and if it can create mobile device applications to overcome its current "iPod gap" Lala just might have a chance at reshaping the current digital music market.