Lala.com Establishes the 'Z' Foundation - a Charitable Organization for Musicians

Lala.com Establishes the 'Z' Foundation - a Charitable Organization for Musicians

Lala.com Voluntarily Contributes 20% of CD Trading Revenues to Support Musicians

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspired by Charlie Chaplin's visionary creation of the Motion Picture Relief Fund and United Artists, lala.com is today announcing the "Z" Foundation, a non-profit that seeks to unite working musicians to address the economic challenges they face. Like Chaplin's endeavors to assist and empower entertainment industry workers nearly a century ago, the "Z" Foundation is a collaborative effort.

The "Z" Foundation will initially be funded with monthly contributions of between $10,000 and $50,000 from lala.com and its members (actual amounts may vary based on CD trading volume on lala.com.) The "Z" Foundation will focus on providing health and dental care that is often inaccessible to working musicians.

Power to the People

For the first time, musicians will receive economic support directly from their fans. Each time a lala.com member trades a CD from a 1.8 million-title catalog with another member, 20% of the trading revenue will be contributed to performing artists. This new model for direct contributions is enabled by lala.com's social accounting technology.

"We've come from places like eBay, Microsoft and Yahoo where we've designed some of the most sophisticated e-commerce infrastructure," said Bill Nguyen, co-founder of lala.com. "Our technology will be transformed into an online co-op where musicians can seek information and receive financial support for everyday needs."

Lala.com is redeploying digital technology that once threatened the economic viability of recorded music to help musicians and fans create an efficient system for the marketing, discovery and purchase of music in the digital age.

Eligibility

Economic contributions from lala.com and the "Z" Foundation are intended to encourage the creation and performance of music. Eligibility is available to working musicians, defined as any individual who has performed live or on a recorded release in the last year, and whose music-related income accounts for more than half of their total income.

To register, musicians can go to http://www.lala.com/z. To validate identity and authenticity, musicians will be asked to provide basic identity information. Other registered musicians and members of lala.com will help confirm eligibility.

"Z" Inspired

The "Z" Foundation is named in honor of Fr. Brian Zinnamon SJ, a Jesuit priest who recently passed away. "For nearly 20 years, Fr. Zinnamon has challenged me and lala.com co-founder, John Cogan, to be as creative and enthusiastic in our charitable work as we are in our professional lives," said Nguyen. "Years after lala.com is gone, I expect the 'Z' Foundation will go on improving the living standards for working musicians so that our culture will continue being influenced by their art."

About lala.com

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

Media Contact:
John Kuch
lala.com
415.823.0480
jkuch@lala.com

Source: lala.com

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

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

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