Idolator
One of your Idolators may be a lame duck, but there are still some things to get done before the new regime begins. One is a comprehensive immigration-reform bill (not looking so good). The other is an environmentally minded project for which we could use your help.
While no one in their right mind would ever complain about getting free CDs in the mail, the Idolator-flophouse recycling bins have never been more packed, even as more and more labels are undertaking digital-music servicing. We're interested in finding out just how many resources are going to waste every time an Ocean's Thirteen soundtrack is FedExed overnight across the country. Unfortunately, we don't know how to do that stuff. So: If you—or one of your friends—happens to work for a non-profit that specializes in analyzing such information, let us know at tips@idolator.com.
And if you happen to work for a label or marketing firm that's made the move to digital servicing (or is considering doing so), let us know how it shakes out in terms of costs/hassles/etc. Don't worry: We're not starting our own label or anything. We're just trying to figure out how guilty we should feel should the polar caps melt or the bobcats go extinct or something like that.
Comments
If you feel that bad about it, cancel your PO Box and tell all the PR folks that you can only accept digital deliveries from now on.
I did that almost a year ago, and it's not even because I care about the environment; I mean, I water the neighborhood plants with spent motor oil and plastic wrap.
@Catbirdseat: Did that work? I've told everyone that I'd prefer everything digitally, but so few labels are doing it that way (or at least the major ones).
Also, it's not really my own guilt over having so much crap--I'd actually like to see the entire industry move toward all-digital, so I'm trying to get some more info on just how many resources are being wasted with mass mailings.
On a side note, it takes forever to get off some of those lists. I know people who left magazine-writing gigs, asked to be taken off all the mailings, and still get forwarded stuff every week.
It worked, but then again, when I cancelled the box, much to the postal workers' utter disbelief, I did not leave a forwarding address. That, I suspect, is key.
If you really want to clean out the bins, you could always send the CDs off to some college radio stations whose music libraries just flat out suck.
Or, donate them to a library. Seriously. If the library doesn't add them to their collection, they'll put them in a book sale that will raise money for programs and stuff.
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