A new Valley-based start up is updating the old idea of a swap meet for music fans. LaLa.com provides a site where you can find and trade legitimate CDs with other members. LaLa gives you a stack of cases and envelopes, and each CD you acquire from other members costs you $1, plus postage. That’s as much, the company points out, as a single DRM-encumbered, low bitrate song from Apple’s online music “store”. And somewhat less than the price of a ringtone.
LaLa says it will set aside 20 per cent of trading revenues to create a fund to compensate artists – who because of the ‘first sale doctrine’ in US law, currently don’t receive a penny from second hand trades.
LaLa’s CEO is serial entrepreneur Bill Nguyen, whose last venture was launching the mobile email software company Seven. LaLa also boasts Yahoo!’s erstwhile chief product guy Geoff Ralston. Anselm Baird-Smith, who helped devise the http 1.1 spec and was a Distinguished Engineer on eBay’s search engine – he designed its recommendation system – heads up a strong technical team. It’s backed by a $9 million investment from Bain Capital and Ignition Partners.
Technology has changed. Before the net you needed 10000 copies of a work to deliver 10000 people with music. That is how the big media studios made millions selling the same stamped music over and over again. The net changes the economics one copy can be delivered to 10000 people AND you do not need 10000 physical copies. Thiis means business models need to change or the big 5 will become dust.
Can someone explain to me why artist should have a right to 2nd sale’s. I mean seriously when someone sells you a car and you sell it to someone else the original dealer doesnt get a dime out of it. Why is it people seem to think artist should get all this special treatment.