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Never To Be Forgotten
EMI Readies Selena Boxed Set For 15th Anniversary Of Her Death
The life of Selena Quintanilla-Perez—
best-known as Selena—was cut short
March 31,1995, when she was gunned
down by the founder of her fan club,
but her music has never stopped sell-
12
ing. EMI is counting on the enduring
popularity of the late Tejano star’s cat
alog and interest around the anniver
sary of her death to spur sales of three
hits packages.
Selena’s “Amor Prohibido” has
spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No.
1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Catalog Al
bums chart since 1997, including the
last three chart weeks. “Dreaming of
You,” her posthumous 1995 English-
language breakthrough, was on the
catalog chart as recently as last year.
And the title track has sold 254,000
digital copies since 2005, the first year
that sales data is available far the song,
according to Nielsen SoundScan.
EMI is releasing “La Leyenda” March
9 as a four-CD boxed set, a two-disc
I Not fade away: S ELENA (left)
I and the forthcoming four-CD
boxed set ‘La Leyenda.’
deluxe set and a single-disc hits col
lection. The boxed set, which will list for
$93.98, will contain one disc each of
cumbia/pop, Tejano/rancheras, Eng
lish songs and live tracks, as well as a
charm and a bound book with previ
ously unpublished photos and mes
sages from Selena’s family, friends and
fans. The music and the book will also
be available digitally.
“We decided to put as much money
as we could into the packaging,” says
Bill Gagnon, GM/senior VP of catalog
marketing for EMI Music North Amer
ica. “The package is pretty elaborate
and handmade. We’re hoping with the
higher price point that we’ll be able to
communicate to the consumer that it’s
a special package.”
The label is counting on aggressive
positioning at retail, as well as a press
push in English and in Spanish, includ
ing special coverage in People en Es
pañol. Beginning March 1, video chan
nel Music Choice’s on-demand net
work will air Selena videos as well as
tributes from Daddy Yankee and David
Archuleta.
Though EMI owns almost all of Se-
lena’s recorded material, Q Produc
tions—her father Abraham Quintanilla
Jr.’s company—consulted closely with
the label on the project, as well as a
possible traveling exhibit. The goal is
to take items from Selena’s museum
in Corpus Christi, Texas (such as her
performance outfits and Grammy
Awards), on the road this year and pos
sibly to the Grammy Museum in Los
Angeles, says David Chavez, CEO of
branding and event marketing agency
LatinPointe. He’s also working on put
ting together a TV special to com
memorate Selena.
“Her brand keeps getting stronger,”
Chavez says. —Ayala Ben-Yehuda
EN ESPAOL: All the great
corn Latin music coverage you’ve
come to expect from
Billboard—in Spanish!
Billboardenespanol.com.
BILLBOARD I FEBRUARY 27, 2010