These are four of the hip hop / urban music titles we carry. At any point in time we have as many as eight. We usually receive one or two copies of each title. Sales are no more than one and often none. We request that titles are stopped and, eventually, they come back.
There is nothing unusual in what I have described – every newsagent could tell the same story.
These hip hop titles are a perfect example of why we need to collude to drive a better magazine supply model. While individuals request titles are stopped, the weak model allows titles back there or in another newsagency.
I understand that the distributors are working with the MPA on an agreed supply code. Unless newsagents control the titles which have access to their real-estate and labour asset problems will continue. We need to assert ourselves on this issue. The result would be, I suspect, greater success for the top selling titles and death for the very bottom end of the marketplace in all but newsagencies where these ultra specialist titles work extremely well.