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Don’t want to pay $20 for a CD?


1) Download Legally.

There are systems such as iTunes, run by Apple, which allow users to listen to a song for free. If they like it they can download the song for 99 cents. This way people pay for just the songs they want. There is also a Web site similar to iTunes, with a price of 79 cents per song, called buymusic.com. Considering that many teens told me that they would pay a dollar and iTunes is a huge success—1 million downloads the first week and now more than 14 million songs downloaded since April—why not legally get songs from these alternatives?

2) Don’t spend $20 for a CD, you can find a cheaper price:

Look for stores that usually have sales, which often occur during the holidays. This summer I visited a Wherehouse in Redondo Beach where they had most used CDs for 50 cents.

Buy the CDs the first week they come out. Record stores usually offer them for a cheaper price.

Look for record stores that are closing down because this leads to big sales. My local Wherehouse offered 20 percent off every CD one week, then 30 percent the next until eventually selling CDs at 90 percent off. So if you see a closing sale, stop and look around.

Don’t be afraid of buying used. Most stores let you check whether the CD is scratched before you buy it.

Be careful though, people try to sell fake CDs. Check the front. Check the back. Make sure you see a label’s name on back of the CD. Make sure it has the right cover art.

Usually fake CDs are easy to pick out. For example if you’ve seen a CD at Sam Goody with a paper cover (for example Pearl Jam’s Binaural) and someone is trying to sell it to you in a plastic CD cover, then it could be a fake.