Howdy all,

First of all, before I talk about anything, I must say that we just hosted our store owners in Birmingham. There was so much to do that I could not get around to sending out a note last week.

What I want to say this week that I did not say last is that this industry lost one of its best and brightest to heart failure early last week. Bob Baker was more to us than the head credit guy for WEA. He was a true gentleman and did his job in such a way that he was always the first to get his company paid.

I can remember in the mid 90's when PGD used to have this conference in Nashville around the CMA Awards each year. Called a "think tank", PGD would get many of the major retail companies around a table and challenge all of us to poke holes in their company. As a guy just getting into talking to people on a national level in our business, it was mind blowing and wonderful.

Bob Baker attended all of those meetings. He would set there and grin and listen to everyone argue. Then he would start making marketing suggestions that were NEVER good or innovative. Jim Caparro would get this worried look on his face and make an announcement that he always worried when his money guys tried to also do marketing. Everyone would laugh and Bob would just return to that big grin.

Later, I looked forward to seeing Bob every year in the WEA meetings at NARM. I could always get a sidebar with him and he would give me the true pulse of what was going on in the collection business without betraying anyone's trust. He was always in the back of the room looking to crack a bad joke.

If all companies had credit guys like Bob, they would have invited them to group meetings like PGD and WEA did. A wonderful guy and a true friend to all he encountered. I am really sad that he will not be in the room any longer. RIP Bob.

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Radiohead. Everyone is writing and calling me wanting to know what we think.

Well, that is tough but let me give it a stab.

On one side, we all acknowledge that this is the biggest band in the world and they are rich enough and powerful enough to do whatever they want. They are proving they have the power to go directly to their fans and can make big money doing it.

On the other hand, we are in the physical goods business and have sold tons of Radiohead thru the years. Hell, their catalog and vinyl still sell day in and day out. Like anyone on our side of the business, we are concerned that this experiment with "name your price" downloads will really hurt the OUR CD sales when this title finally comes out, especially if that is after Christmas. I know that if you are Radiohead, that is of some concern for you. If you are indie retail, it is ALL you are concerned about.

The bigger worry from where I sit is that others will try this strategy.

This is a lemming business. Everyone piles on to an idea. Sure, Radiohead just got ONE BILLION dollars worth of marketing this week. But, I feel that there are only a handful of bands that can pull this off and NONE of them have more rabid core fans than Radiohead. I will give them the nod that this might be right for them. I don't think it is right for many other bands and certainly not right for the business in general. Just look at what value this puts on digital music in general. But that might must be me being nervous.

We expect Radiohead to rewrite the rules of engagement now that they are out of their deal. If they did not, we would be really disappointed. Hopefully, they know that their CORE fan has to have everything physical that they put out. Hopefully, the "name your price" download will be a giant listening party to a great record. I know I can't wait to hear it and I will definitely buy the CD and the vinyl and hope to get all of the other goodies also. It is really going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Understatement of the year.

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Finally, I am not publishing a CIMS Chart today. Instead, please open the attached "Tastemaker" chart attached. For years we have been bitching about the "independent" numbers on your Soundscan reports. Why? Well, they have a rule that "independent" means 4 stores or less. So, while you are selling your marketing guys on working with indie stores, they are only seeing a small part of the picture on the Soundscan reports.

We think "independent" means Newbury down. Every label president, manager, agent, and artist thinks "independent" means Newbury down. However, half of the stores in CIMS, all of the stores in Music Monitor Network and, of course, Newbury Comics are counted in the CHAIN numbers. Bull Moose is a chain store? Record and Tape Traders is a chain store? Homers and Plan 9?

So, with the help of Doug Wiley at RED, we got Soundscan to develop the Tastemaker chart that reflects the sales of many indies from Newbury down including many urban stores. It is certainly not every store. It is a better read on what we are representing in the Top 200. Of course, since we are very long tail accounts, the top 200 only represent a small portion of what we do.

If you will notice, there is a column on this chart for Tastemaker chart position vs Top 200 big chart positions. It is really telling a different story for many artists.

I am just sayin.....

PS: Because people are already writing back and asking, here are the reporting accounts for the chart I sent out earlier.

Store Name State

7th Heaven MO
Amoeba Music CA
Angelo's Cd's & Tapes (2) CO
Atomic Records WI
Backdoor Disc & Tapes CA
Bart's Cd's Cellar CO
Be Bop Records (4) MS
Big Al's Records & Tapes FL
BK Music VA
Boo Boo Records CA
Boomtown OR
Buch Spieler VT
Cactus Records & Tapes MT
Cat's (22) TN
Cd Cellar AL
CD Central KY
Cd World OR
Cellphone SQ #2 WA
Chester County Books & Music PA
Criminal Records GA
Crossroads Cd's & Tapes (3) VA
Crow's Nest (2) IL
Culture Clash OH
Daddy Kool #2 FL
Dearborn Music (2) MI
Dimple Records (4) CA
Disc Exchange TN
Down in the Valley (4) MN
Easy Street 2 WA
Easy Street Records WA
Electric Fetus (2) MN
Ella Guru's Cd's & Music GA
Exile on Main St. CT
Fingerprints CA
Gallery of Sound (11) PA
Gem City Records OH
Good Records TX
Gray Whale (7) UT
Grimey's Music TN
Homers (6) NE
Hoodlums New & Used Music AZ
Horizon Records SC
J&R Records NY
Jackpot Records OR
Jackpot Records Downtown OR
Jack's Music NJ
Laser's Edge AL
Last Unicorn #2 NY
Let It Be Records MN
Long Ear ID
Looney Tunes NY
Lou's Records CA
Mad Hatteur Music WI
Mad Platter CA
Melody Record Shop DC
Millenium SC
M-Theory Music CA
Music Millennium (3) OR
Nebraska Furniture Company KS
Nebraska Furniture Mart NE
New World Records NY
Newbury Comics (23) MA
North Shore Sound NY
Orbit Music (3) IN
Original Record Exchange (20) OH
Orions Music Shop UT
Oz Music AL
Peacock Music NY
Plan 9 Music (5) VA
Poco Music & More SC
Poco Music & More #2 SC
Randy's M&M's (3) OK
Rasputin Records (7) CA
Reckless Records IL
Record & Tape Trader (10) MD
Record Cellar SC
Record Emporium IL
Record Exchange (18) OH
Record Exchange, IN (1) IN
Record Time MI
Record Time #2 MI
Rock Box MI
Salzer's Records CA
School Kids NC
Scotti's Record Shop (4) NJ
Shake It OH
Silver Platter (3) WA
Sonic Boom WA
Sonic Boom II WA
Sonic Boom Records WA
Sounds Familiar (2) SC
Soundtraks LTD NY
Soundwave Cd's NV
Soundwaves (5) TX
Southwest Sound CO
Stink Weeds AZ
Streetlight Records (2) CA
The Soundgarden NY
Tune Town Inc. MA
Uncle Sam's Records FL
Vintage Vinyl MO
Vintage Vinyl #2 IL
Vintage Vinyl (2) NJ
Vinyl Fever FL
Vinyl Fever 2 FL
Waterloo Records TX
Zia Records (9) AZ