Stop Being First

The real story here is that people still care about the NME top 50 albums list, which -- trust me -- is a testament to how good the list used to be. Since the list has been a crock for a few years now, I don't really care that the advertising department has an influence on the list. In fact, my opinion of the magazine's editorial staff would improve if they'd just confirm that they've got better taste than they're letting on.

What gets me is that the list is out and published by December 1. The NY Time's 10 Best Books list will be published December 11 but was released online by the first as well. I'm not clueless -- I understand that they get their books and CDs months early but they've lost at least a month of thinking about their list. (The administrative work required for these lists must get started by November 1.) And I understand that best of lists sell magazines -- due no doubt to a grave flaw in all of us as human beings -- except when the market is deluged with best-of-list-issues, thus, I guess it's decided that the earlier list the more likely the magazine will get purchased. But... but... I guess I'm naive enough to believe that at some point all the bullshit marketing and corporate synergy has to fall away and quality will reign.

No. Actually I'm not that naive.