If you are a fan of Web 2.0 and the 80’s band Throwing Muses, then the subject of this post rings familiar, and here’s how they are connected.

LaLa.com is a CD swapping service. It is a true Web 2.0 application in its functionality, and in this case it works well as getting pop-up details on CDs and artists is a great help. I literally ran into this service at the main post office Chicago over the holidays of all places – there was a giant sign in the lobby. Here’s how it works in brief: you create a free account, list CDs you are willing to swap, then you search for CDs you want, and initiate a swap. Shortly thereafter you get a set of special mail envelopes (thus the USPS connection?) and CD cases that fit nicely in them. If someone initiates a swap for a CD you have made available, you register the code on the special envelope and you are given the address of whom to send the CD to. There is a charge of $1.75 for each CD you receive.

Out of curiosity I signed up, and have sent and received a few CDs without problems – only mail delays over the holidays slowed some deliveries to almost a month. The CDs are coming directly from members, and sometimes there are notes on the back of the envelope. On the back of a Throwing Muses CD I just got, there was a note from the sender hoping that I was as much of a Muses fan as they were. No fear, as my college radio days in the late 80’s, complete with skinny leather ties and gelled spiky hair, says it all.

Though I don’t know how many CDs I will post, I am wondering how long it will be around. Once I receive a CD, it goes onto my list of CDs available. So am I supposed to send it back out? That should be a huge red flag to the lawyers at the RIAA. The $1.75 comprises 75 cents for postage and $1 for the service, with a portion – 20% - going to a foundation to support performing artists. Not sure how that will be executed on, but maybe it will keep the lawyers away for a bit. Now I will go see if I can complete my Husker Dü collection.

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