For Holidays, Music Video Has Become the New Kid on the Block : Merchandising: There’s no runaway hit, but retailers expect a slight gain in sales.

Record retailers aren’t just counting on the sounds of pop music during the pivotal holiday sales period. They’re also banking on the sights of pop.

Music video--and discounted video in general--finally appear to have caught the public’s ear and eye.

“It’s finally coming of age,” said Jim Dobbe, vice president of sale merchandising for the 252-store Wherehouse chain, based in Torrance. “Sale video--including music video--is much hotter than any other configuration; up 35% to 40% over last year, while music overall is up 10%.”

Even so, the absence of a runaway best-selling album is expected to keep record retailers from registering anything but a modest gain over 1988’s holiday pace of $1.5 billion. Chains contacted by The Times estimate sales running between 2% and 10% over this time last year.

“There’s no one big record blowing people away,” said Mitch Perliss, director of purchasing for the 71-store Music Plus chain, based in Los Angeles. “Music is relatively flat.”

But there is almost universal optimism about the growing popularity of music videos.

“We think of music video and merchandise it as a fourth music configuration,” Perliss said. “We sell it alongside other music products as opposed to in the video department.”

Music Plus unveiled new display fixtures in October that carry the cassette, compact disc and music video by six different acts. One fixture is devoted to such chart-toppers as Janet Jackson, Bobby Brown, Paula Abdul, New Kids on the Block and Milli Vanilli. The other six-sided feature spotlights newer acts, for which Music Plus accepts “co-op” advertising dollars from record manufacturers.

Two main factors have fueled the music video boom, retailers say. Prices have dropped so that the videos are routinely discounted for $14.99 to $19.99--not much more than the price of a compact disc. And manufacturers are coming closer to simultaneous releases of albums and their corresponding music videos.

Dobbe suggested that video is taking sales away from music--especially as the price differential becomes narrower.

“A hot CD will sell for $11.99 on sale, while a video is $15.99 on sale,” he said. “Also, relatives buying gifts may buy ‘Batman’ or ‘Roger Rabbit’ thinking the person will be less likely to have that than the tape or compact disc by an artist they really like.”

But Lee said that he doesn’t think music video cuts into music sales.

“The buyer of music video probably already owns the CD or cassette,” he said. “It’s an incremental buy.”

The Wherehouse’s Dobbe said that he isn’t unduly concerned by the absence of a front-running smash or by the relatively soft post-Thanksgiving sales.

“In our product line, Christmas comes late,” Dobbe said. “The last 10 days are really big and the last five days are incredible. Our product line is basically the last few days when people don’t know what else to get.

“While there’s no Michael Jackson album, people are still hungry during the holidays to buy music,” he said. “Special phenomena drive more consumers in and I don’t see that this year, but there are good releases outside the Top 10 or Top 15 that will carry through for January and February.”

Russ Solomon, president of the Tower Records chain, estimated that the music business does nearly 25% of its annual $6.3 billion sales in November and December.

Though such superstars as Billy Joel, Janet Jackson and Phil Collins are in the Top 5 of the national sales charts, retailers point to teen sensations New Kids on the Block as the season’s hottest act. All three of the Boston quintet’s albums are in the Top 30, and two are in the Top 10. “Hangin’ Tough,” the year’s best-seller at more than 6 million copies, is No. 6, and “Merry Merry Christmas”--the first Christmas album to reach the Top 10 in more than 20 years--is No. 9.

“It looks like it’s going to be the New Kids’ Christmas,” said Chuck Lee, director of music buying for the Wherehouse chain.

Also in the Top 10 are hit-studded debut albums by Milli Vanilli and Paula Abdul, and the latest entries by rock veterans Aerosmith, Tom Petty and the B-52’s.

Lee said sales in the first two weeks after Thanksgiving were “good but not great,” but added that business picked up two weekends ago and is likely to keep going strong through Christmas Eve.

The calendar has provided retailers a potentially major boost: This year marks the first time since 1978 that Christmas falls on a Monday, giving last-minute shoppers one last weekend to hit the malls.

That will benefit music retailers more than most, Lee theorizes, because cassettes and compact discs are relatively low-priced and lend themselves to impulse buying.

“Last-minute, panic buyers aren’t going to buy clothes or furniture or hardware,” Lee said. “They’ll be more apt to get music or video or computer software. Having a weekend directly before Christmas will make the difference between it being big and a monster.”

Dick Odette, vice president of purchasing for the 750-store Musicland chain, based in Minneapolis, said that he was surprised by the success of releases by the B-52’s, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and Soul II Soul.

Odette said that he wasn’t surprised by the lackluster showing of Terence Trent D’Arby’s second album, which peaked at No. 61 and this week dropped to No. 78.

“It isn’t like the first album, which almost made him a new artist again,” he said. “That’s how we treated him in ordering the album. He did what he wanted to do instead of following up on what he had done.”

Other holiday releases that have performed below expectations include Barbra Streisand’s “A Collection: Greatest Hits . . . And More,” which became her first album since 1976 to miss the Top 20, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “And in This Corner,” which appears to be peaking at No. 39.