JEWELBOX ADVOCATES AND MANUFACTURERS

[ak3_ferguson.asw.navairtestcen%pcgate@NATC-FW.NAVY.MIL]

Ben Haller says about the RM/CitW CD single:                                   
                                                                               
>5. The packaging sucks.  I wonder how many people do what I do:               
>when I get a CD in one of these non-jewel-box "eco-packaging"                 
>pieces of crap, I go out and buy an empty jewel box and                       
>transplant the CD.  Therefore I use *two* pieces of packaging                 
>instead of *one* - hardly a big win for the ecology.  But with a              
>CD collection the size of mine, those packages mess up my                     
>organization, and aren't worth the hassle.  Not to mention that               
>I cant get the CD out of them with one hand, one of the great                 
>assets of jewel boxes (changing CDs while driving is                          
>essential...)  So how do we communicate to these stupid record                
>companies that longboxes are bad, but jewel boxes are good?                   
>U2's new album is particularly bad, it doesn't even say the                   
>group/album on the spine.  What planet are they from?                         
                                                                               
I cannot agree with you more!  This inferior packaging is being                
forced upon us under the pretense of concern for the environment.              
What a crock!  From what I gather, Time-Warner owns the company                
that produces the Eco-pak and they plan to change packaging for                
all future releases to the Eco-pak.                                            
                                                                               
Now correct me if I am wrong, but the compact disc is supposed to              
last for around 300 years.  With the Eco-pak and the other                     
alternative packaging employed by Sting, Bonnie Raitt, The                     
Grateful Dead, U2, and others (what I call the Sting-pak) the                  
packaging begins to deteriorate upon contact with human hands.                 
                                                                               
CDs were introduced as an indestructible medium.  They were                    
skipped like pebbles across asphalt and then placed in the                     
player sounding every bit as good as they did out of the box.                  
Nowadays, so much as a hairline scratch will cause maddening                   
skips.  Would this be due to an eventual decline in quality or an              
untrue marketing campaign?                                                     
                                                                               
The longbox is bad and completely unnecessary.  My local dealer                
says that it will cost him plenty if he had to retool his store                
to support the jewelbox-only format, and he is certainly not                   
going to be helped by the record companies in that respect.  The               
only possible thing I can think of being an improvement on the                 
situation is the outer packaging used by PolyGram.  As much as I               
hate it (hermetically sealed in virtually indestructible                       
plastic), I think it is the best all-around alternative.  The                  
outer package can be removed for recycling by the store clerk                  
upon sale.  Definitely the lesser of two evils, at least.                      
                                                                               
The new U2 album is available both in jewelbox-only and Sting-pak              
formats.  I learned this from my local dealer.  He ordered only                
the Sting-paks (I hate to keep referring to it as that, but the                
real name escapes me) because they are easier to display and                   
because the Peter Gabriel jewelbox-only compilation album didn't               
sell very well.  I special-ordered the _Achtung_Baby_ CD in the                
jewel box and I am glad I did.  I suggest that if you want the                 
new U2 album that you do the same if the jewel box is not readily              
available in your area.  Demand only the very best when it comes               
to your CDs.  You're paying YOUR 15 buckazoids, fer chrissake!                 
                                                                               
I have only three CDs in anything other than jewel boxes.                      
                                                                               
Sting-_The_Soul_Cages_                                                         
                                                                               
Grateful Dead-_One_From_The_Vault_                                             
                                                                               
Nirvana-_Smells_Like_Teen_Spirit_ (CD5)                                        
                                                                               
The packages are all wearing out.  I HATE 'EM!!!!                              
                                                                               
There is a lobby (?) group called Jewelbox Advocates and                       
Manufacturers.  They have an 800 number you can call to get                    
information on this issue.  I don't remember it, but I am sure it              
is available through 800 information (no charge) or maybe someone              
else who knows about it can post the number.                                   
                                                                               
I have called several record companies including Warner Brothers               
and A&M and I don't think my efforts have been fruitful.                       
However, if the CD buying public is aware of this situation and                
cares about the quality of the packaging it is laying out the                  
bucks for, I am sure they can change the minds of the record                   
company executives.  Come on, folks!  They already screwed us                  
once with 8-tracks.  Let's don't let it happen anymore.                        
                                                                               
                                        In Kate we trust,                      
                                           Jody