'la la' Returns Variety to Music and Gives Back to Musicians

'la la' Returns Variety to Music and Gives Back to Musicians

The Most Extensive Music Catalog Available for Trading and Purchase Goes Live

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) nearly 30,000 album titles are released each year. With nearly 3 million available titles, the largest reseller, Wal-Mart, stocks only about 5,000 titles per store or less than 1% of available music. With choice quickly disappearing, 'la la' opens the largest, most diverse music store on earth with 1.8 million album titles available for trade at $1 each -- same price as a song download except the extra penny buys the rest of the album.

'lala.com' works like an online music co-op where members trade-in CDs they have for CDs they want from other members. CDs are sent through the mail in pre-paid envelopes provided by 'la la'. "Trading CDs is an affordable way to experiment and try new music," said Bill Nguyen, 'la la' co-founder.

If an album is not immediately available for trade, members will be able to buy the CD new or as a digital download at retail prices. Nguyen continued, "When you find that album you can't wait to enjoy, 'la la' will offer it as a new CD or a download."

First Sale Doctrine and Supporting Musicians

Trading CDs has always been legal under the first sale doctrine codified in the U.S. Copyright Act. The doctrine allows the owner of a lawfully made CD to dispose of the possession of that copy without permission or payment of additional royalties to the copyright holder. As a result, musicians are not compensated from the sale of used CDs. Until now ...

While there is no obligation to do so, 'la la' is setting aside 20% of trading revenues for musicians.

How Search Brought Back the Record Store

Need help finding music? 'la la' is introducing the first community-based search engine to help discover music the old fashioned way -- through conversation.

As depicted in Nick Hornby's book "High Fidelity," the local independent music store was once the social hub where music fans gathered to hear, discuss and buy music. The social aspect which once drove music discovery is disappearing. Today, most songs are sold online one at a time or two aisles down from deodorant and laundry detergent.

Like local independent record stores, 'la la' is a venue for an ongoing conversation about music. 'la la's' search and recommendation engine uniquely introduces members to new artists by drawing upon what other members with similar tastes enjoy. The more members trade, buy new and share what they're listening to using iPods, iTunes or Winamp, the better 'la la' becomes at offering personalized recommendations. 'la la' has also developed advanced community tools to enable old friends to stay in touch, because the desire to influence a friend's taste in music never ends.

It Started with a Song

Conceived by Bill Nguyen and John Cogan while listening to Fountains of Wayne, 'la la' is their response to how terrible the music buying experience has become.

Co-founders, Billy Alvarado and Anselm-Baird Smith joined with the conviction that music selection should be nearly infinite and conversation should drive discovery, not search robots. To back their vision, Bain Capital and Ignition Partners generously funded 'la la' with $9 million.

The name 'la la' comes from some of the first words said by Bill's son.

About 'la la'

'la la' is the first online music store where music fans can trade CDs they own for CDs they want for $1 a CD. 'la la' also offers new full length albums and will sell digital album downloads, no singles. With immense admiration and gratitude to musicians, 'la la' is the first to introduce payments to musicians based on the trade of used recordings. 'la la' is based in beautiful Palo Alto, California.

Contact: John Kuch of 'la la', +1-415-823-0480, or jkuch@lala.com.

Source: 'la la' Media, Inc.

CONTACT: John Kuch of 'la la', +1-415-823-0480, or jkuch@lala.com

Web site: http://www.lala.com/

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