According to The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) record company execs are turning increasingly to non-music retailers in hopes that they can help move recorded merchandise.
The Spice Girls’ U.S. label, Capitol Records, has made arrangements for Victoria’s Secret to accept the 500,000 to 600,000 copies of the CD that it has ordered on a “one-way” basis. That means unsold merchandise won’t get returned, greatly reducing the label’s financial risk. The disc is expected to sell for $10 to $12. Victoria’s Secret will be the exclusive retailer for the physical CD from next month, when it goes on sale, until January.
Consumers “don’t have to go proactively to a record store,” says Jason Flom, chairman of EMI Group Limited’s Capitol Records. “It’s an impulse buy.” The Spice Girls’ pop is a natural fit with skimpy underwear, Mr. Flom says: “We know from studies that the two things people care about most are music and sex.”
It’s been a decade since the Spice Girls’ last hit album, “Spice World,” but tickets to their planned 25-date comeback tour are selling briskly.