RECORDINGS ARE NOT FOR SALE!

What is Trading?

Trading is the sharing of live music recordings amongst fans, for no commercial gain. It is the exchange of CD-quality recordings, in CD Audio format or in a lossless compression format (not mp3), on recordable CDs (CD-Rs). Though the internet is used to arrange trades, by e-mail, the recordings themselves are exchanged offline using the standard postal system. This is not downloading, nor p2p sharing of files.

• Standard Trade

  Person 'A' has an unofficial recording of a concert, on CD-R. He/she makes a CD-R copy of this recording and sends it to Person 'B', through the post. In return, Person 'B' sends a copy of another recording to Person 'A'. Each then has two recordings.

• B&P Trade

  Sometimes, Person 'B' doesn't have anything to offer in return for 'A's recording, or at least nothing 'A' would like. If 'A' agrees, 'B' can send a blank CD-R instead, in a pre-paid padded envelope. Person 'A' then copies the recording onto 'B's blank disc and sends it back. This is termed a 'blanks and postage' or 'b&p' trade. Not all established traders take on b& trades – if declined, don't take it personally! Also note that the b&p system doesn't work internationally, as an envelope prepaid in one country would be of no use to return a package from another country e.g. US stamps can't be used to send from the UK.

• Trees, Weeds, Chains, Vines

  Alternative forms of trading organised more communally, and explained in greater detail below. All offer valuable opportunities for those without existing collections to become more established in trading.

Weeds | Vines | Chains | Trees

Profiteering

Commercial bootlegging is illegal and entirely immoral – to be avoided at all costs. It's also entirely unnecessary, as anything a commercial bootlegger might offer is always available for free amongst the trading community.
Music trading, of unofficial recordings on CD-R, is of borderline legality, though tolerated by many bands so long as no-one makes a profit from it. To avoid any comparisons with commercial bootlegging, traders need to be 'cleaner-than-clean', so anything involving profits, whether extra blank discs, 'thank you' chocolate bars or, most especially, money, is strictly off-limits and has no place in trading.
This is quite straightforward in a standard trade – each party sends the same number of blank discs as the other, and each pays his/her own postage, so goods of identical value are exchanged, without additional fees or gifts.
In a b&p trade, it needs to be clear that Person 'B' bears all expenses incurred, but doesn't send money or 'pay' anything over the exact costs of blank disc, envelope and return postage – the recording itself has no financial value, and nothing is sent as a fee or even a 'thank you' for the copying service.
To restate: gestures of gratitude may be well-intended, but are to be avoided. Feel free to say 'thank you', but don't send gifts.

It should be obvious that the trading of official releases is similarly strictly off-limits. There is some debate about whether this extends to deleted or otherwise out-of-print official releases, but the consensus is that if a recording is available officially, anywhere, including by specialist international mail order (expensive!), the official release remains untradeable.

Formats Traded

How do I find a trader?

Websearch

Simply go to your preferred search engine, and try such search terms as 'marillion cdr trade'. If you're looking for a particular show, try e.g. 'marillion wembley 1992'. Some results will be irrelevant, but some will be trading lists and contact details (e-mail, at least) of traders.
Read the trading lists; some traders are currently inactive, or are only trading for a limited range of recordings, or don't offer b&p trades. Assuming there's nothing there to suggest trades would be unlikely, write to those traders by e-mail, and take it from there.
There is a bit of a catch-22 situation in that those traders with the most recordings available for trading are likely to already have the recordings you're offering, or are likely to be swamped by requests for b&p trades. If someone declines a trade, don't take it personally, and just try another trader, or join a trading group and participate in a few weeds/vines. In time, you might have acquired a larger collection containing unique recordings, so you'll be in a better position to contact established traders.

Note that trading has traditionally been on audio tapes, and though CD-R trading has now taken over to the near-exclusion of tape trading, this is comparatively new. Hence, many of the main music trading websites, established years ago, retain names and content based on tape trading, so web searches for 'tape trading' are still very useful for CD-R trading opportunities. For example, a major directory providing contact details of CD-R traders is the TapeTrader.com.

Trader Directories

Certain websites have been established to help traders find others trading the same artists; some sites also host trading lists, whereas others 'just' provide contact details and links to trading lists hosted on traders' own sites. See our Links page for some we use.

Trading Groups

Fans of certain genres or bands have established e-mail/web-based groups, typically at Yahoo! Groups, to exchange recordings with like-minded traders. Whereas a directory merely provides contact details, groups are more interactive, often offering guidance on trading practices, recommendations/criticisms of specific recordings, and organised opportunities to obtain recordings by weeding or vining, in addition to bringing people into contact with one another for standard trades. These groups may be of especial use to new traders who don't yet have recordings to offer, as weeds/vines involve people receiving recordings in return for a commitment to copy and pass them on.
For Jethro Tull and Porcupine Tree, the 'TullTrades' and 'PT Weeds' Groups are recommended. For Groups dedicated to other bands, or for more general trading Groups, try searching at the overall Yahoo! Groups site.

More to follow

Though this has been made available as a 'service to the trading community', please remember it is copyrighted, not in the public domain nor freely usable by other publications without express permission.