ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701240020
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: EILEEN DASPIN THE NEW YORK TIMES
Here's one for ``Jeopardy!'' fans. In the history of classical music, 11 compact discs have sold more than 1 million copies. Name the label that produced five of those 11 best-selling albums.
If you answered, ``What is Victoria's Secret?'' you'd be right.
Purveyor of push-up bras and peignoirs, Victoria's Secret has one of the best track records in the classical recording world. Since 1988, the company has released eight classical CD compilations recorded by the London Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, plus three holiday and two contemporary albums.
According to Billboard magazine, five of the classical recordings have ``gone platinum,'' selling 1 million copies or more, and two rank third and fourth on the all-time best-selling classical list, just behind the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos (No. 2) and ``The Three Tenors in Rome'' (No.1).
Not even Monica Mitro, the lingerie company's own spokeswoman, can fully explain the phenomenon. ``Part of the appeal is that we took the `best-of' concept,'' Mitro said. ``People might not feel confident enough to buy an entire Mozart album, but playing one of our CDs is like putting on a revolving CD player.''
Since Victoria's Secret started producing CDs, the company has sold more than 12 million copies. Its success has not gone unnoticed in retailing quarters. Other chains are now selling their own albums, for about the same prices as those found in record chains: $12 or so a disc. Over the past few years, Victoria Secret's sister stores, the Limited, Express and Lane Bryant, have released CDs. So have Starbucks, Au Bon Pain, Hanes, Wonderbra, Polo, Pottery Barn, the Gap and Banana Republic.
Tower Records, watch out. In eight weeks, Starbucks sold 50,000 copies of its ``Blending the Blues'' CD. Most of Pottery Barn's four CDs have sold upward of 40,000 copies. The first day Polo's ``Black Tie'' collection went on sale, the company went through 10,000 copies. ``We can't keep up with demand,'' a Polo spokesman said.
Byer California, which produces clothes for young girls, has signed an exclusive contract with J.C. Penney to sell music recorded by Amy Byer, the 27-year-old daughter of Byer's owner.
But most retailers simply repackage music played as background music in their stores. For Christmas for the last two years, Au Bon Pain has released two classical CDs of some of the music the cafes pipe in year round. The selections on Polo's four albums include Ralph Lauren's personal musical favorites.
Banana Republic, with three CDs, has favored pop artists like Seal and Des'ree or jazz icons like Louis Armstrong. Pottery Barn, with four CDs, has produced discs of mambo, jazz and the eclectic ``Martini Lounge,'' a compilation including Combustible Edison, Rosemary Clooney, Morphine, Vikki Carr and Juan Garcia Esquivel.
Packaging music from in-store play lists was logical, said Timothy Jones, a full-time music specialist in Seattle for Starbucks, who has overseen the production of 11 CDs since 1995 and has just started a program to showcase emerging artists in Starbucks coffee bars.
``I was a manager, and people would come to the counter and say, `Why don't you sell this music?''' Jones said. ``It seems like no-brainer stuff, but people really dug it.''
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