We all know it’s quite easy to download and copy music files these days. But if we want to support musical artists and the industry at large, there are many affordable options for legally downloading music from the Internet.

One of the best options I recently found is a site called Lala.com. If I told you, you could own the recently released Black Eyed Peas album, The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) for .80 cents, you would probably think I’m selling you a bootleg copy of the CD. But that’s not the case.

Lala.com is a web-based social networking sites that enables you to purchase web-based music for around .10 or less per song. When you pay songs, they’re yours to listen to whenever you want, as often as you want over the Internet. Now you may say, that doesn’t sound like much fun, but if you find yourself listening to most of your music from your computer or laptop, then it’s not really a problem to grow a collection of web-based music that you can access anytime and anywhere you have Wi-fi connection.

I’ve been buying and downloading songs from the iTunes Music Store since its inception, and I’ve really appreciated the relatively low cost of downloading songs for .99 or less. The iTunes Music Store rekindled my love for music and has helped me build a really nice digital music library. But there are limitations to the iTunes Music Store right now. 

First off, you can’t listen to entire songs before you purchase them. Lala.com will allow you to listen to entire songs and CDs before you decide to purchase them. Subsequent plays of songs you listen to will be limited to 30 seconds per song. Being able to listen to music you’re interested in provides you a real opportunity to decide if you want to make a purchase. You’re not stuck with songs you ended up not liking.

Lala.com also offers downloads of MP3s for a few dollars less than on the iTunes Music Store. The current price of The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies), the top selling song on the iTunes Music Store store right now, is $10.99 for the 15-song CD. On Lala.com, the price is $7.99 for MP3. But say you like the CD, but are not really crazy about it, then you just pay the .80 cents for the collection and still have access to it. And just to reiterate and make the comparison more clear: for the amount you pay for one CD on the iTunes Music Store, you can purchase 100 or more web-based songs on Lala.com. That’s a huge savings if you’re willing access your music from the Internet while at the same providing support to  music artists for the work they do.

Social Networking

The iTunes Music Store also doesn’t have the social networking features that you find on sites like Lala.com. With social networking, you can grow a list of contacts that share with you what they’re listening to. It’s like having your own personal radio station, where you can get recommendations for music from people who share your listening tastes.

Your Music on the Internet

Finally, another feature that Lala.com offers and not found on the iTunes Music Store, is that Lala allows you to upload music on your computer to their server so that you can also listen to it anywhere you have Internet access. There’s no charge for this service, and Lala will only actually import music you attempt to upload that is not in their current directory of six million-plus songs. Lala.com is not a music sharing site, but it does let you upload and listen to music you already own.

With your Lala.com account, you get a web-based application that looks similar to iTunes and other MP3 music playing applications.  You can play single songs or entire playlists. You can also select songs and have them played in a queue. 

Limitations of Lala.com

There are limitations to web-based songs. As it stands now, you can’t relocate web-songs you purchased on Lala.com and move them to another server. Lala.com also has not produced a mobile application that you can listen to music over your cell phone. And though Lala.com’s directory is vast, you will sometimes find music listed but that is not yet available for purchase.

Lala.com is not for everyone. But it’s a really affordable way to build a nice music library, especially if your computer has become your digital music stereo.