Most pop music fans might have trouble picturing Reader’s Digest as a powerhouse record company.
But the magazine does have a record label, though casual observers might not be impressed. Its catalog and archives feature Mel Torme, Vic Damone, Roger Williams, the Carpenters and Neil Diamond, not exactly cutting-edge names. Its average album-buyer is well over 50. And until a few months ago, Reader’s Digest sold not a single record in stores. (Fittingly for a name better known for its shrink-to-fit stories, one of its first discs to hit store shelves is a condensed Christmas album, “Highlights from The Messiah.”)
But the oldies truly are golden at Reader’s Digest Records, which markets its music mainly through direct mail. Last year, the company took in $450 million selling CDs and cassettes in 32 countries. Compare that to a more famous “not sold in stores” label, K-Tel, which had revenues of $75 million during its last fiscal year (and only a fifth of that from direct marketing, including those cheesy TV ads).
“It’s not something we can factually prove, but generating that kind of income, we would probably rank among the top 10 record labels in the world,” said Jose Raul Perez, product development director at Reader’s Digest Records.
Although Reader’s Digest does not belong to the Recording Industry Association of America, the organization that officially certifies gold and platinum records, industry experts are not about to contradict Perez’s claim.
“They have a very substantial audio business, they market beautifully and they do a terrific amount of demographic research,” said John Ganoe, vice president of member services for the RIAA.
The “Messiah” CD aside, Reader’s Digest Music goes contrary to its literary reputation by specializing in huge, expanded boxed sets. Its first offering in 1959, “The World’s Best-Loved Composers,” was a 12-record volume (and reputedly the first boxed set in recorded music). Most of the modern CD collections run between three and six discs apiece. With 10 million collections sold last year, the actual numbers probably run in excess of 30 million discs, Perez said.
And just who buys these sets, which usually start at $45 a pop? “These are people who don’t go to stores, who don’t belong to music clubs,” Perez said. “They would rather buy music from the comfort of their own home, and are still really interested in music.”
As a result, Reader’s Digest has carved out a healthy niche specializing in acts that would make most record moguls choke on their cigars. Take Judy Collins, who has languished in obscurity for most of the ’90s; Reader’s Digest plans to release her definitive collection next summer.
“These are people nobody’s paying attention to, yet we can still find a significant audience for these folks,” Perez said. “We’re still reaching customers who know Judy Collins, love Judy Collins and want to hear more from Judy Collins.”
Perez acknowledged that most Reader’s Digest listeners gravitate more toward the likes of easy-listening singer Ray Conniff than saxophonist John Coltrane. “We don’t sell a lot of jazz, surprisingly,” he said. “We’ve found our customers love songs where you can really hear the melodies and the words. To them, jazz has no melody.”
A few younger acts do sneak in, though. Sheryl Crow and Pat Benatar just contributed tracks to “Leading Ladies,” an 83-song mix of female vocalists over the last four decades. One reason is the cause; a portion of the proceeds benefit the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations.
“For the Digest to have Sheryl Crow is pretty odd,” Perez said. “But we really wanted to represent all generations. If you are 20 or 80, you will find something there.”
While the company has something of a folksy image, Reader’s Digest is in truth a music marketing juggernaut. Its archives contain an estimated 17,000 master tapes, encompassing performers from Patsy Cline to Benny Goodman. The tapes, which include many live broadcasts, were either recorded by Reader’s Digest or purchased over the years, Perez said.
Reader’s Digest also boasts one of the most prized customer databases in the world, with information on an estimated 100 million people. Still, the company picks projects carefully, concentrating on acts it bets can sell at least 50,000 units.
With those kind of numbers, Diamond and Linda Rondstadt turned out to be eager participants in creating boxed sets (Diamond even picked out 44 unreleased performances for his three-disc collection).
Despite all the potential money involved, not all artists want Reader’s Digest hawking their hits — even those who had a schmaltzy image to begin with. “Some people have resisted; they think it’s tacky,” Perez said.
Such as?
“Barry Manilow.”
