Mariah Carey

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What do you get if you cross one product that fewer people are buying these days with another product that fewer people are buying these days? The answer is: the new Mariah Carey CD, obviously! Label bosses at Island Def Jam have announced plans for Ms Carey's upcoming twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, to be released in CD format with a mini-magazine inside, where music fans would traditionally find liner notes. How will we tell the difference? The insert will be 34-pages long, will include editorial-style content thanks to the writers of Elle, and will include adverts from companies such as Elizabeth Arden, Angel Champagne and the Bahamas Board of Tourism. Label chairman Antonio L.A. Reid explained: “The idea was really simple thinking: ‘We sell millions of records, so you should advertise with us.' My artists have substantial circulation: when you sell two million, five million, eight million, that’s a lot of eyeballs. Most magazines aren’t as successful as those records.” That's sound logic, and the record industry certainly needs a boost; we just hope this isn't a step towards a time when cover art is also thought of as a prime place for advertisers to reach eyeballs.

Inevitably for the time of year, there are innumerable ‘Best of Christmas’ lists springing up all over the music press and the internet. There are certainly plenty to choose from, as countless artists use this opportunity to present their holiday cash-in album: anybody for Billy Idol’s completely un-rebellious take on yuletide, Happy Holidays? But what’s the consensus? As always when it comes to music, opinions are much divided. One of the most robust survivors is Mariah Carey, whose “All I Want For Christmas is You” manages to maintain a consistently high profile. But for every song like Mariah's that appears at the top of one list, there is another list which features it as the primary travesty of all that is festive. Repetition can be damaging and the fact that stores play Christmas CDs on a continuous loop for the entire month -- and often longer -- can destroy the most fervent love of certain overplayed songs. With scores of new Christmas albums being released each year, we wonder how long Mariah can keep her Christmas crown.

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