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Bookstore payola
The New York Times has a story about bookstore payola and the fact that chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders determine their display space based on how much publishers are willing to pay them. Not that this is news to a crotchety zinester; the practice extends to the magazine racks as well, which is one reason pubs like mine end up shoved in the back (though certainly not the only one). And it also applies to the music biz. In fact, a label rep once told me that Tower makes more money from selling in-store display space and other co-promotions than from selling CDs themselves. I find that a little hard to believe, but if anyone has real, compelling numbers on this, I'd be glad to share them.
Posted by carrie on 06/05/2005 | Permalink
Comments
If it's any consolation, Crimewave usually ends up behind yours.
... And congratulations on the press concerning the Clear Channel "pirate radio" shit. It's always cool to see you in the NYT.
-Mark
Posted by: Mark Maynard | Jun 6, 2005 11:30:19 AM
Hey Mark! Imagine meeting you here! (For what it's worth, I arrived via a link from Jessamyn West's www.librarian.net.)
I find this kind of payola-driven hype to be very frustrating in my sometime job as a librarian. I find myself constantly pressured to spend scarce acquisition funds on books that I know to be ephemeral tripe (election-year hatchet jobs; ghostwritten celebrity pseudo-biographies; tawdry tell-all books about whatever court case the media circus is currently obsessing over; etc.) I seriously doubt that any significant number of book "consumers" would want these books if demand for them were not driven by television appearances, radio "interviews", and prominent bookstore placement, all of which are, I suspect, driven by publishers' hype and payola rather than by any intrinsic merit or genuine public interest.
I find myself doubting even the sacred oracles of the PW and NYT bestseller lists, since their accuracy depends on the accuracy of bookstores' collective advance orders.
Posted by: Felix | Jun 7, 2005 1:15:30 PM
I am a manager of a major record store in southern California and just wanted to notify you that our store does "Sell" some rack space to record companies who want to advertise their product. Hell, this is how we make our money and are able to stay in business. We also promote local artists by letting them have consignments in our stores at no charge. Do your homework before putting your stickers in my store. If I catch one of your people defacing or vandalizing my store, I will bring take every action to bring hurt to your 'movement'.
Posted by: UrcH | Jul 6, 2005 4:01:17 PM
Stickers? UrcH, I have no idea what you're talking about. No one here has advocated vandalizing or stickering your store (or anyone else's, for that matter). Maybe you ought to pay more attention to where you read things online.
Posted by: carrie | Jul 6, 2005 7:53:40 PM
