There's nothing more satisfying than sharing the joy of music. Disc Drop is your chance to turn a total stranger on to the tunes that changed your life. Who knows? Maybe you'll change some-one else's life while you're at it.

STEP 1: Make a mixed CD of your favourite tunes. Somewhere on the disc write: "DISC DROP - cbc.ca/thehour"
Be sure to include a track-listing so people can track down more music by the artists on your disc.
STEP 2: Drop off your disc in a random public place.
STEP 3: Go to the "I Dropped a Disc - What Now", click on the comments, and write down where you dropped off your disc and the track-listing. Check back later to find out who picked it up, and where it's heading next.

Great. You've burned a disc with all the tracks you want to share with the world and dropped it in public place, now comes the last step.

Click on the comments of this blog entry and leave a comment with your disc drop details. Write the address of where you left the disc (that'll help people find it), the track list, your name and when you left it.

Congratulations, you're the lucky recipient of a little CD lovin' courtesy of a mysterious stranger. Give it a listen, and open your mind to some new music. You might just find your new favourite band.

Now click on the comments section of this blog entry and let us know where you found it, what you think of the mix, and what you're going to do with it next.

Might we suggest you make a mix yourself, and do a little Operation Disc Drop of your own?

The discs are literally scattered across Canada and around the world. Check out this Google map mash up to try and find one.

Hey, Ontario folks! Set your alarm clocks. George will appear on CBC Radio 1's Fresh Air this Saturday, around 7:45 - 8:15 am. He'll be talking to host Jeff Goodes about Operation Disc Drop. It's a cool show, give it a listen.

You don't have to physically find a mix to be on the receiving end of Operation Disc Drop. Take a look at the tracklists of dropped discs. People are pouring their hearts and souls into these mixes, so it's the perfect place to discover some great new music. Here are a few gems from recent mixes:

Andrew dropped a disc in Seoul, S. Korea which includes the beautiful song "There Is A Light" by The Great Lake Swimmers, from the new album Ongiara. It can be purchased online at iTunes Canada, Nettmusic and Zunior.

Bunny's Canadiana mix features homemade electro-pop from The Russian Futurists, Winnipeg hip hop from Mood Ruff, and digital wizardry from Toronto-based Solvent. Check these artists' websites for info on how to buy their records online, or ask for them at your local adventurous-minded record store.

I'm jealous of whomever picked up the mix that Jon on left at The Trash in Peterborough. It has some of my old favourites, including Os Mustantes and The Meat Puppets. It's also got a new one by the incredible Richard Hawley. His new one, Lady's Bridge, is a mope-rock masterpiece. Feeling bad hasn't felt this good in years. He's also playing The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto tonight, December 5.

Use the comments section here to let us know which of the Disc Drop mixes are moving you most - and also to tell us about great underappreciated music that you think deserves a listen.

In 1977, NASA launched what might just be the most ambitious mixtape in human history. Golden records were placed on the two Voyager spacecraft and launched into space in 1977. The hope is that the discs will someday be found by intelligent alien life forms who might use them to learn about earth. If these extraterrestrial beings can figure it all out, they will hear greetings in 55 languages and 90 minutes of music from Chuck Berry to Bach. The Voyagers 1 & 2 left our solar system last year, but they're not expected to approach another star for 40,000 years.

Meanwhile in our little corner of the universe, about 80 people have dropped discs for other intelligent life forms to find and enjoy. Three people have written in to tell us that they found a disc - including James in Ottawa. James found a disc that a guy named Jay dropped at the Bayshore Transit station a few days earlier. James says he discovered a new local band he likes thanks to Jay's mix. They're called Riot Service, and they are playing an all ages show in Ottawa on November 30th at the End Hits record store at 407 Dalhousie St., one block East of the Rideau Centre between Rideau and Besserer.

... definitely check out: BookCrossing. BookCrossing encourages the random redistribution of books - or the "liberation of literature", as they call it. The website has everything you need to know - whether you want release your book into the wild or hunt one down. At the time of this writing, there were over two thousand released books registered in Canada alone.

Also worth a look is The Art of The Mix, a site devoted to mixed tapes/discs and the people who love them. You can browse playlists, homemade cover art, and even upload a mix of your own. I'm a big fan of their lists of familiar mix genres from Break-up Mix to Road Trip - and many more.

Mana e-mailed us a this cool story about how punk rock tapes used to pass from hand to hand in Sault Ste. Marie:

"I just had a comment about the Operation Disc Drop idea. I found it amusing that it's now progressed to CDs since i've been doing that very same idea but with mixed tapes. I started back when I was 14 or so in the punk scene trying to get more kids in the area interested/aware of other music than what was broadcasted on our radio stations here. It's a small community and I figured eventually it would get into the right hands - and it did - several times I'd hear about someone finding a tape and passing it on. eventually other kids started doing it too. I remember I found a sweet mix of black flag, dead kennedys, the blitz, cock sparrer and old danzig misfits stuff, once. It definitely made my month. At any rate - it's nice to see people are still interested in mixed anything (although I'm a purist who still loves the mix-tape. nothing beats a classic) & hopefully others will listen and start partaking in the action. I'll let you know if I find any in my local bus shelters. - mana."

Thanks, Mana!

Got a great story about mixed tapes or discs? Post it in the comments here.

Check it out: Sootoday.com has a story on Op Drop! Keep spreading the word, party people.