Randall Roberts of LA weekly pens a fascinating tell all, expose, or confession, whatever you want to call it, covering the promo CD racket that sits beneath the music reviewer industry.
What on earth do those guys do with their piles of free CDs? The answer is probably a surprise to few who frequent used record stores: they’re sold. The thing is, nobody ever talks about it. Roberts was even asked not to publish his report by an interviewee, thinking it might put an end to his sweet gravy train.
The bounty therefore becomes something you have to deal with, like a farmer stuck with molding grain as winter approaches.
So then what? Do you throw it away, and let all that plastic end up in a landfill? Do you donate it to Goodwill, where some thrifty hipster will buy it for cheap? Do you give it to your friends? Do you sell it?
Often, nudge-nudge, wink-wink, the so-called “tastemakers” do just that. Of course, finding anybody in the music business to actually talk about this vast and ever-fluctuating underground economy is tough. Ask a publicist what he does with unwanted promos and there’s usually an awkward pause, as though you’d just asked after his porno collection.
Confessions of a Promo-CD Junkie: Who Will Stop the Music Industry Gravy Train?
© Unified Manufacturing. All rights reserved 2011