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Are Indie Record Stores Sidestepping Wal-Mart By Going Down Under?

An Australian news outlet is reporting that the number of trans-Pacific orders for AC/DC’s forthcoming album Black Ice has gone way up, and that there’s one culprit: American independent record stores, which apparently have the capital to bank on Ice being in-demand enough to result in people willingly paying import prices for the record, just for the sake of supporting indie record stores! Yeah!

One independent chain told Undercover News that, “we have been able to order Black Ice in from Argentina for $8.25 per unit and will be able to sell it for less than the Wal-Mart price”.

The ease of buying from anywhere in the world makes a farce of the “exclusive deal”.

By forcing the real music stores to shop internationally for their stock, SonyBMG America will be the loser in the deal.

“We can buy from anywhere,” the store source said. “With technology and international accounts, if a major like SonyBMG America decides they don’t want to do business with us, we will do business with other territories. Why should we allow them to disadvantage our businesses and piss off our customers”.

The value of the US dollar right now has made it simple to do deals internationally and allow stores to shop for the best price.

Sure, the dollar has shown gains against the Aussie dollar recently, but last I checked, record sales were still kinda crappy, and small businesses weren’t having the easiest time getting credit that they could then blow on multiple import copies of a single album by a band whose last album didn’t even crack the seven-figures-sold mark. And it came out in the diamond-award-encrusted heyday of 2000! Wouldn’t it be cheaper for these shops to hold their noses and use Wal-Mart as the wholesaler, the way independent record stores did with the Eagles album last year? And, more importantly, is this story overblown “reportage,” or another piece of evidence that the nation’s independent record-store owners may not be as good at this whole “business” thing as you’d think?

AC/DC Wal-Mart Deal Gets Thunderstruck [Undercover]

 
By Maura at 11:30 AM on Thu Oct 2 2008
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  • djmedi4

    Sad that the band's management thinks that following Azoff's lead on anything is a good idea, but...


    yes, the record will sell. The band is still genuine, and that's what counts. Might just outsell the brick-walled "Death Magnetic".


    Tour will do really well, too. Truth be told, rock n' roll still needs AC/DC, even if it's a bunch of 50+ year old guys - they're still giving it the business.

  • T'Challa

    @tim_loves_cats: Who? Waaaaay more people than you realize, obviously. Like it or not, "Black Ice" could very well be one of the best-selling CDs of 2008. Sure, they're probably not anyone you know, but boy do they buy music! Compare the sales of the latest Kid Rock CD to say, MGMT, Spoon, Santogold, etc. You could combine those acts and still not add up to a fraction of what the Kid moved.


    Not saying that sales equal quality or anything, but dude. AC/DC has the kind of fans that give bands real careers.

  • Captain Wrong

    @Audif Jackson Winters III: *raises hand*


    Besides, like Maura and Al said. Three of our four indie stores here are more than happy to sell whatever mainstream stuff people wanna buy.

  • Al Shipley

    Er, or what Maura said.

  • Al Shipley

    @Audif Jackson Winters III: Not all independently owned record stores cater exclusively to indie rock fans.

  • Audif Jackson Winters III

    @Maura Johnston: Interesting, I never would have expected that. I've done most of my music buying online for the last several years. My most memorable indie record store experience was at the old Rhino store on Westwood Boulevard in LA sometime in the early '00s. As I was walking in, I noticed a handmade sign that said, "We don't have the new Limp Bizkit album. If you want that, go to Best Buy."

  • Maura Johnston

    @Audif Jackson Winters III: Well, independent stores just don't specialize in indie rock -- CD Island on Long Island, for one, has as its top five sellers Metallica, the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, the Mamma Mia! soundtrack, and Coldplay.


    And as another example, the top five sellers at Newbury Comics last week were by Kings Of Leon, Jenny Lewis, Metallica, Everlast (!), and Ra (who I never heard of before looking at this week's SoundScan numbers, but who count AC/DC among their influences).

  • Audif Jackson Winters III

    What percentage of AC/DC's fanbase shops at "indie" record stores?

  • Anonymous

    All these points are moot because no one gives a fuck about new AC/DC albums

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