Hi all, and a big maximum mea culpa to everyone who experienced the dangers of our VIP Vinyl List experiment. Between the discovery that a surprising number of mail hubs balked at routing emails with 1,000-title lists, and the recent bug in our online ordering system, we've been a little chagrined, even chastened. But hey, live and code.
____ catalog changes ___
First, we've ditched the idea of dumping the vinyl titles on list subscribers. We will be adding the vinyl to the catalog. Still no plans for Real Audio preview plays on the vinyl, but if it's in both a flat plastic format and a CD format, chances are the CD's already available for previewing. Just make sure you check the appropriate playback format when ordering.
____ more music ___
This week a fourth company joins our world-class team of music distributors and wholesalers. You can now access over 5,000 active titles by genre or artist, and never have to get dressed or see the sun. We're convinced this is the biggest, accessible collection for new millenium music. However, there is always going to be something we miss, so we want you to be our ears for us.
If there's music you know we should stock, don't be shy. Be your own buyer, we'll listen. You just tell us what to do. Okay, let's be fair, this is x-radio, not psychic friends x-radio, or I Spy x-radio, we'll need to know the artist, the label and a contact (either a record store where you bought the music, the label's address or the artist's "management." If we get really desperate, send us the fan club address). Why the record is important, especially to you, in 50 words or less. Don't worry about the word limit, very few people can utilize 50 words in expressing any interior space -- Scientologists excepted).
___ lower prices ___
The new distributor allows us to lower our prices to you. We've just lowered the price on over 600 major alternative label titles, (e.g. SUN Project / Drosophila for $12.45)
___ listener reviews = free music! ____
We announced this new feature a few weeks ago and were encouraged by the initial trial response. A little tweaking (the site, not ours--we're respectable recluses with no social skills) and twiddling with the rewards and the code and it's ready to go. The big enhancement is our microcash rewards. While the x-radio crew will still be reading entries to select the winning "review of the month" (which will win a mind-boggling $50 in x-radio catalog credits), diligent x-radio listeners can earn their own credits.
For a limited time, We'll be giving away $0.25 for ALL reviews meeting some basic editorial requirements. We'll be posting those requirements on the site as soon as we can get them written, but as long as your review is well thought out and clearly written, it will probably make the cut. Share your music knowledge with the less fortunate, take this opportunity to spout off, and cut your music bill at the same time.
____ site/service enhancements ____
Last, but never, ever least, the enhancement efforts this month will produce see a seriously-revised genre definitions section, think of it as text on HTML steroids, and the beta broadcast for a new web program. The next mailing will fill in the details, and hopefully the schedule.
On the proverbial more prosaic level, we've added a fulfillment factotum who's sole purpose in life is to pull stock from our in-house special features and bring sunshine and love to the dour distributors hiding in the industrial hinterland of San Francisco's Eastside during the daily non-priority stock runs to fill your orders. Yeah, all in all, it's a nice planet.
take care!
the x-radio crew