NPR Joins CVS Midwest Tapes’ Standing Order Plans

This past November we introduced our First Listen Today online collection, which allows users to browse albums that are streaming daily on National Public Radio’s website. Due to the popularity of that feature and the high regard held for NPR’s music recommendations, we’ve taken that collection a step further. CVS Midwest Tape now offers the Featured on NPR Customised Standing Order Plan, featuring music highlighted and recommend on NPR.

With a variety of programs aimed at fans of various genres, NPR has long had a reputation for being on the cutting edge of new music. The First Listen feature gives music fans the unique opportunity to listen to albums in their entirety before they are officially released, and their New Song of the Day feature exposes music fans to a new song daily. This week, NPR is showcasing songs from artists playing at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival.

In addition to these NPR Music staples, the Featured on NPR plan will include music titles highlighted in NPR reviews and their All Songs Considered feature. Examples of showcased music on NPR include such albums as “Big Roar” by The Joy Formidable, “All Eternals Deck” by The Mountain Goats, and The Ebene Quartet’s “Fiction.”

The Featured on NPR plan will consist of up to ten titles per month, and customers who sign up for this plan will receive carts every four weeks starting on April 6^th. Like all our standing order plans, you can set your cart quantity at any amount and adjust titles and quantities any time.

Interested in signing up for the Featured on NPR or any of our music standing order plans? Contact Chris Shope at 866.698.2231 or cshope@cvsmidwesttapes.ca.

What do you think of this new plan? Is there another standing order plan you’d love to see? Share your thoughts here as comments.

Hit Makers: How to Join the List and How to Fall Off

CVS Midwest Tape boasts over 25 music standing order plans. Our most popular plan is the Hit Makers plan, which consists of upcoming albums expected to become major hits by popular artists. But how do we predict this? How do artists become Hit Makers? And how do they get the boot?

Welcome to the Hit Makers Club

The Hit Makers plan consists of upcoming releases from artists who have a previous album that has been certified Gold, Platinum, or Multiplatinum in the past five years by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Artists receive Gold certification after 500,000 record sales, Platinum after one million, and multiplatinum after two million. These honours are based on U.S.—not worldwide—sales, and an artist has to achieve certification within three years of his or her album’s release. Thus, any albums released before March 2008 that just reached Gold status would not be included in our Hit Makers plan because the album is now more than three years old.

Below are some examples of current Hit Makers:

• Gold: Snoop Dogg, OneRepublic, Radiohead
• Platinum: Bob Seger, Paramore, Usher
• Multiplatinum: Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift

Off the List!

Once an artist joins the Hit Makers Club, he or she isn’t guaranteed a space forever. If an artist fails to produce another certified album within five years of their previous certified release, then that artist will get the boot from the Hit Makers plan.

Below are some examples of once certified artists no longer Hit Makers:

• The Pussycat Dolls—Platinum until 01/26/2011
• Diana Krall—Gold until 02/26/2011
• Bo Bice—Gold until 02/02/2011

Insider’s Pass to the Club

Interested in turning your library into a Hit Makers Club? Sign up for our Hit Makers standing order plan, and every two weeks you’ll receive a cart loaded with upcoming releases from certified Hit Makers.

You can decide whether you want to receive albums from all Gold, Platinum, and Multiplatinum artists, just Platinum and Multiplatinum, or only Multiplatinum. Additionally, you can set your cart quantity at any amount and adjust titles and quantities any time. In summary, the plan (like all of our standing order plans) is super flexible and there’s absolutely no obligation to order.

To learn more about or sign up for our Hit Makers plan, contact Chris Shope at 866.698.2231 or cshope@cvsmidwesttapes.ca. You can also view our Music CD Customized Standing Order brochure and our Hit Makers list.

CVS Midwest Tape Offers New Customised Standing Order Plans

In order to better serve our customers, CVS Midwest Tape now offers audiobook, CD and DVD Customised Standing Order Plans devoted strictly to Canadian titles. 

Completely Canadian (Audiobooks)

This plan is comprised of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s audiobooks published in Canada. Featured on this list are titles like Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, Ape House by Sara Gruen, and Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro. Recipients can expect to receive up to five titles per month. 

For more information about audiobook standing orders, please reference the PDF brochure here or contact Erica Messinger at emessinger@cvsmidwesttapes.ca. 

Canadian Perspective (CDs)

This plan features a variety of Canada’s top musical artists like Drake, Arcade Fire, and Sarah McLachlan. We’ll send up to five titles, ranging in a wide variety of genres including rock, pop, and hip-hop each month. 

For more information about CD standing orders, please reference the PDF brochure here or contact Mike Rankin at mrankin@cvsmidwesttapes.ca.  

Spotlight on Canada (DVDs)

This list includes fiction, non-fiction, and children’s DVDs produced in Canada. Each month the list will feature an assortment of up to fifteen titles like Bitten, Crackie, and La Cite. 

For more information about DVD standing orders, please reference the PDF brochure here or contact Laura Peitz at laurap@cvsmidwesttapes.ca. 

These contract-free plans, just like all of our Customised Standing Order plans, are flexible and can be adjusted at any time. 

Are there any additional Customised Standing Order Plans you would like to see CVS Midwest Tape offer?