Donald Satz wrote:

>Penguin Books has embarked on a musical venture by offering older Polygram
>recordings at relatively low price.
>
>The strategy involves having liner notes written by well-known and regarded
>authors and essayists.  Penguin's thinking is that folks who are avid
>readers but not avid music buyers will purchase the cd's for the liner
>notes; the music becomes an added bonus.
>
>I don't know if the strategy will work, but it's an alien strategy to me in
>that the music is secondary to the liner notes.  For me, liner notes just
>don't carry weight in my puchasing decisions.

How can they? Surely the stores you patronize don't have open jewel cases,
do they? Do you ask the salespeople to open the case so you can peruse the
notes? Do any other Listers do that?

Some liner notes are even more valuable than the recordings they accompany.
The liner notes to Thomas Hampson's Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Original Piano
Versions) -- which were co-written by Hampson himself -- illustrate and
amplify these Mahler masterpieces so much that they are collectible in
themselves.  Combine that with a wonderful recording, and you have a
package that can't be beat.

Mitch Friedfeld