I don't believe there is any cheaper way to ship music rolls in the
U.S.A. than the USPS Media Mail rate.  I have been using it for years
and nobody has ever questioned the legitimacy of using Media Mail rates
for shipping music rolls.  The postal clerk will occasionally ask what
is in the shipment, and I reply "music rolls" and that suffices.

If I were to get any argument I would refer the clerk to the USPS
Domestic Mail Manual, section 173 (Media Mail and Library Mail),
subsection 4.1e, which says: "e. Sound recordings, including incidental
announcements of recordings and guides or scripts prepared solely for
use with such recordings.  Video recordings and player piano rolls are
classified as sound recordings."

Media Mail rates are based solely on package weight and not, like other
fourth class (parcel post) shipments, on weight plus distance.  And
Media Mail weight rates are very low.  Supposedly Media Mail shipments
transport slowly, but my coast-to-coast shipments take less than a
week.

I'm a firm believer in Media Mail.

Matthew Caulfield
Irondequoit, New York