A British member recently posted a comment on this subject which noted
that "....Americans demand their CDs wrapped like surgical tools".  This
is incorrect, strictly speaking, but raises an issue which may be at the
heart of the decline of the classical CD market in record stores.

It is incorrect because nobody DEMANDED that CDs be encrusted in a shell
of plastic.  This procedure was foisted on the public by the industry,
for its own reasons (perhaps members with experience in CD retailing can
explain them).  Like so much of American business, this was a disastrously
short-sighted move.  As Phillip Haldeman asks in the Sept/Oct AMG, how well
would books and magazines sell if they were shrinkwrapped against
examination and browsing?

Haldeman goes on to point out that the ability to SAMPLE a bit of a record
was once a critical part of classical record retailing.  [Younger campers
might ask their grandparents the meaning of the term "listening booth".]
Haldeman suggests that the CD industry's own, deliberate exclusion of
in-store listening is a major cause of the declining sales and long
shelf-times of classical CDs.  When the classical departments of the
major retailers finally close down, it will be a well-earned death from
a self-inflicted wound.

Jon Gallant  ([log in to unmask])