We haven’t seen the end of the small independent book stores, no matter how big the megastores get, says one Toronto indie. “I saw a niche in what people might like in terms of having a more intimate environment in which you can come and find a selection of books that has been well thought out.” – CBC
Tag: 05.15.00
RETURN TO SENDER
Book returns are thought to be a right of bookstores. Whatever books you order and don’t sell can be returned to the publisher and the store doesn’t have to pay for them. But this year the returns are piling up at Canadian publishers, and the cost of this inefficient system is paid by consumers. Something’s got to change. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
BOOK SUPERSTORE?
Maybe in Canada – but in the North American market, Chapters, the Canadian giant, is a little guy. And book returns are bringing down even the giant. – National Post (Canada)
CANARY IN THE COAL MINE
There’s evidence that the internet music revolution will affect classical music sooner than it does more mainstream genres. The little stores specializing in particular genres are having a hard time. “A master track can be held in a central store; copies made only as required. Libraries no longer need specialist retailers: they can e-mail their orders to record companies directly and get a disc (copied to whatever digital format required) by return. No more need to search for out-of-print back-catalogue. Everything can be held as digital information, ready for duplication, at a record company’s own central store.” – The Scotsman
TRYING TOO HARD TO GET ALONG
Is Napster going too far in trying to avoid legal troubles? A backlash against the company is developing among its fans. “Napster is fighting against censorship, but they are trying to censor everybody else.” – Wired
LOOKING OUT FROM THE INSIDE
Last week Napster capitulated to heavy-metallers Metallica by yanking the accounts of its users accused of downloading Metallica music illegally. But if the outsider music downloader gives up too much, it’ll lose its rebel outsider status – and its fans. – Wired
ONE SICK PUPPY
Even his admirers call Gottfried Helnwein that. “He earned his first gallery show in the 70s by driving around his native Vienna dressed in Nazi uniform, his head bandaged, fake blood trickling from his mouth. It caught the eye of an art dealer who signed him up and has remained faithful to Austria’s enfant terrible ever since.” – The Guardian
WAITING FOR BECKETT
A project to film all 19 of Samuel Beckett’s plays for TV and the cinema faces the predictable backlash from Beckett purists. Nonetheless, the project – which has enlisted directors such as Anthony Minghella, David Mamet, Neil Jordan, Atom Egoyan, Patricia Rozema, Richard Eyre and Karel Reisz – has some big promise. – Irish Times