Hey, Remember The ’80s?

Universal Music Group is trying something new – or something old, rather – to sell more records. A new UMG division is launching half-hour infomercials to get baby boomers to buy more albums.

Discount retailers such as Wal-Mart and Circuit City focus on new CD releases, leaving heritage music in the lurch. So, half-hour television advertisements might sell more of UMG’s oldies catalog, which is seeing less shelf space lately, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The first infomercial will focus on a nine-CD set featuring The Commodores, Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, and Earth, Wind & Fire, the paper said. It will sell for $129.

“Nobody has found a way to capture the 40-year-old and older audience,” Universal Music Enterprises President Bruce Resnikoff told the Times. “The music business is shrinking. If we don’t find new ways to reach people outside of the normal venues, we’re destined to failure.”

The infomercials will reportedly cost up to $800,000 to produce and are expected to feel more like documentaries than commercials. UMG will try to avoid the cheese factor associated with Ronco’s favorite advertising media, which means that, at the very least, Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley will not be hosting.