AERO DYNAMICS: You can see why Sony...

AERO DYNAMICS: You can see why Sony stockholders are cheering the news that the company’s Columbia subsidiary is releasing a gala box set saluting Aerosmith this week. The three-disc package is titled “Pandora’s Box” and contains 52 recordings, including 24 previously unreleased live or studio tracks.

But why is rival Geffen Records also cheering--at least publicly?

Unlike most box sets, which are aimed at picking up some extra change by recycling the works of artists that are either retired (Led Zeppelin) or past their prime (sorry, Chicago and Crosby, Stills & Nash), Aerosmith is one of the hottest bands in rock.

In fact, the Boston quintet is so hot that Columbia--which was the band’s recording home from 1973 to 1982--recently spent about $25 million to lure the band away from Geffen Records, where it has been since the mid-’80s.

You might think that the Geffen label--which still has the rights to the next two Aerosmith studio packages--might have some negative feeling about all the attention (and dollars) that is going to be spent on the box set.

But Robert Smith, Geffen vice president of marketing, says the Columbia box set will help his company. “The advertising and renewed interest in the band will translate into sales for their Geffen albums.”

And when might we expect that new studio album? Smith said the band will soon begin recording and hopes to have the collection in the stores in the spring.