Cheap to Free CDs!

[obiwankobe]

File-trading Networks Face Competition From Cheap Used CD Swapping Site; RIAA Stays Uncharacteristically Silent

When historians uncover the ruins of the 20th century, they're going to have a ball. I'm sure our undergarments will be as amusing to them as whalebone corsets are to us. Excavations of 7-11s will provide a rich bevy of non-biodegradable items such as Cool Ranch Doritos and Twizzlers, along with scratch off lottery tickets. Leg warmers will prove as inscrutable as... actually, nothing makes less sense than fucking leg warmers. In the end, so charmed with the culture of the past, scientists will recreate the people of the twentieth century by cloning DNA particles found in chewing gum residue on street corners, and it will be like a real-life Futurama.

What about historians in the next few decades? How will they occupy their time? Well, I'm sure they could devote a significant portion of it to those small, shiny compact discs we've all come to know and love: CDs. Yes, records are still regarded highly amongst groups of people fond of stringing nonsensical genre words together, cassette tapes are still good for mixtaping, and eight-tracks are wonderful gifts for Nardwuar to give bands who have everything, but I always thought CDs were for the common folk. CDs were for me. Whenever I read statistics about how less and less CDs are being purchased each year I want to wave mine around and prove that no, there are some people left who pay money to have tangible means of listening to music.

However, we CD listeners can sometimes make the wrong decisions. Whether some music reviewing site lead you astray (some other music reviewing site), whether your great-aunt persists in buying you Now That's What I Call Music! each Christmas, or whether you just have shit taste in music, we've all got some questionable discs squirrelled away. Luckily, the internet feels your pain. Rather than put that copy of the Arctic Monkeys album up for sale on eBay, you can visit LaLa.com. Mtv.com considers the site to be "MySpace, part Netflix and part eBay," and by quoting that, my work here is pretty much done. Basically, you post lists of albums you'd be more than willing to part with and create another list of albums you wouldn't mind receiving in turn. As you add more and more albums to your want list, the site will generate a list of other albums you might want. It might be worth checking out these albums, because each album will cost only $1, plus 49 cents shipping. The person selling the CD is given a prepaid envelope by La La, and from what I understand they receive the dollar themselves, although they can give it back to the site to request another CD.

La La is currently in beta mode and plans to launch officially in July. La La's other, more grandiose plan is to give musicians 20% of their proceeds, although a spokesperson fesses up to being confused as to how this will work. Surprisingly, the RIAA has not offered up any guidelines, as all of this is apparently legal: the owners of La La say the resale of legally purchased CDs is covered by the US Copyright Act. Knowing the RIAA, these laws could change, so start swapping those CDs before they become completely obsolete!

[DIsPervertNurse]

Ok, so I went to Lala.com and you can't join unless an existing member invites you. You can however add your name to their email listing and when it becomes available, they will send you an email to join. If you know anyone that is a member, I sure would like to join as well! Thanks for the heads up on this Tom!

[Glenn]

I think "o la la" would have been a cooler name.

[gidgetgoestohell]

I got a Minor Threat CD for Himself....he was pretty chuffed over it too....came with a special CD shipping case and everything....Thanks Tom!