Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York & Los Angeles

Beginning today, as part of an effort to inspire shoppers to indulge in music beyond the top 10, there will be special “Blender Approved” aisles in 658 Best Buy stores. They will feature Blender Magazine editors’ endorsements for newly released music. On first glance, I was concerned that this would lead to the promotion of only limited genres, but when I saw that the 16 recommended albums will include Def Leopard’s “Rock of Ages” and Cam’ron’s “Killa Season” I realized that they have diversity in mind. It’s a win-win-win situation for the store chain, the magazine and the music industry. For Best Buy, the partnership stands to increase CD consumption at a time when music downloading is taking hold of music purchases. Blender, which has already co-branded with VH1and AOL, hopes that the project will increase its paid circulation. (I think they have a strong chance of success in that area because they’ll reach so many new people). The music industry, already suffering from the effects of pirating and payola, will likely enjoy a boost in sales for artists that often go ignored on store shelves.