WEB BROWSER

I read with considerable amusement Steve Hochman’s Pop Eye column headlined “Web Ads on CD Jackets Anger Record Store Exec” (Oct. 4).

Does Dick Odette, vice president of prerecorded music for Musicland/Sam Goody, know how silly and out-of-touch he sounds? Before writing to Calendar, I visited the Sam Goody Web site and found no provision for ordering any merchandise. In fact, the entire Web content was minimal and mostly fluff.

Sam Goody needs to get the wagons rolling or stop whining about being left in the dust. I regularly visit Web sites of both publishers and retailers and usually buy from the retailers because they offer discounts, have broader and less-biased reviews, and generally add value and service.

Large retail chains already have marketing and financial units in place; they have no excuse for not hitching up to the wagon train. Odette is complaining because the publishers are offering a service that Sam Goody either cannot or will not provide. If I were Odette, I would be much more worried about CD Now and Amazon.com than Web sites tied to publishers/artists.

SCOTT TRUESDELL

Newport Beach