Gennaro Castaldo Watch: Mum rock

You can't have failed to notice that, this year, Mother's Day is being cranked up a notch by the stores - there's a slightly unnerving sense that they've just swapped the signs on the Valentines stock to "For your Mum". Indeed, with sparkling wines, heart shaped chocolates and even - I swear - John Lewis slapping a "For Mother's Day" sign on its sexy knickers stand, the sense is that the shops are seeing Oedipus as their key customer this year.

The Independent has considered what all this means for the music industry and, naturally, called HMV's Gennaro Castaldo for advice:

HMV's Gennaro Castaldo said consumers could expect to be bombarded with a dizzying array of deluxe editions, new material and back catalogue collections over the next few days."The idea that mums are all in their 60s and 70s and are happy with a box of chocolates or a pot plant on Mother's Day is completely out of date," he said. "Many are in their 30s and are still very much in touch with popular culture. An album is seen as a very credible and cool gift for them, particularly by their children."

Aha. And The Indie then tells us what the key sellers for this "credible and cool" market segment are:

This year a plethora of compilation albums featuring housewife favourites such as Michael Bolton and Rick Astley are already lining the shelves. Among the most-high profile offerings is Simply Red's multi-million-selling Stars, being re-released for those anxious to relive their glory days.

Oh, yes. In touch with popular culture and that Rick Astley.