My expectations will melt, and then my wallet...

[Andrew Gilham]

In-Reply-To: <9509281440.AA27625 at csgrad.cs.vt.edu>
Paul holds forth:

> It's highly likely nowadays that the only real market for Blue Oyster
> Cult material is amongst their established fan base.  Most people I
> know (not on this list) will say "Blue Oyster Who?" at the mention of
> BOC.  It's sad, I know, but facts are facts.

I suspect that the real market for this kind of thing is males aged
35-45, who used to be really into the band in question, had all their LPs
(well, until they gave up circa 1980), but haven't ever upgraded to CD.
In the meantime, they've got married, had kids, maybe got divorced, etc,
and are looking to recapture their _jeunesse perdue_... so when they see
the BOC compilation CD, they say, "wow, I really used to like them", and
pick it up on impulse.  (I'm thinking of a mate of mine who falls into
exactly that category, except we're talking Uriah Heep not BOC, and he
just snapped up the Heep box set.  Happy as a sandboy, he was!)

I really don't think hardcore fans are the main market, for the obvious
reasons: (a) they've already got all the material, and (b) there's not
that many of them anyway.

- Andy