retailer-exclusive material

smopo24 · #1 02-02-2006, 06:34 PM

it's nice to get an album with bonus tracks, or an extra disk for that new concert dvd. how do you feel when an artist you enjoy takes a deal with a retailer for some kind of exclusive that leaves the rest of us out in the cold (u2 with their live in chicago disk, garth brooks with his entire catalog, alanis morrisette with her acoustic version of jagged little pill, u2 again with their 7 track bonus disk from target, xrt's live cds that are only avaliable through tower records, etc), and makes it harder for independant record stores to be competitive. how do you feel about this pratice? what about retribution? should artists be penalized because they engage in these pratices?

dagosto · #2 02-02-2006, 07:12 PM

It definitily turns me off. Whether or not they are meaning to make a socio-political statement by making these deals it supports a version of capitalism I don't respect. . . not that I have much respect for any social ideology.

dolivas · #3 02-02-2006, 07:30 PM

whenever i see exclusive material being trumpeted i immediately think crap. well that and when you see 7-eleven selling an "exclusive cd" of bonus tracks from Jessica Simpson, you lose faith in humanity a little.

the only good unreleased stuff available is either tacked on to the next album or it's being put out by Dylan simple as that.

smopo24 · #4 02-02-2006, 07:48 PM

i think that most of it is non-essential as well; but you may want that live version of "my humps" for some reason. but i've heard of other retailers (hmv, virgin, tower) removing some of these artists off of their shelves entirely because of these exclusive deals. it not only hurts the artist (who sometimes get robbed from the soundscan numbers due to these deals), but also the fans who want to purchase their other albums; not to mention the retailers themselves with their "i'm taking my ball and going home," attitude.

Bellringer · #5 02-02-2006, 08:10 PM

I believe that a band who decides to sell exclusively through a big retailer should be forced to tour playing free shows in the parking lots of the chain that they have chosen. This way we can throw rotten vegetables at them for feeding the monopoly of their choice! Or we get a free show to bootleg. Win/Win............. I Think.

dolivas · #6 02-02-2006, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smopo24

i think that most of it is non-essential as well; but you may want that live version of "my humps" for some reason. but i've heard of other retailers (hmv, virgin, tower) removing some of these artists off of their shelves entirely because of these exclusive deals. it not only hurts the artist (who sometimes get robbed from the soundscan numbers due to these deals), but also the fans who want to purchase their other albums; not to mention the retailers themselves with their "i'm taking my ball and going home," attitude.

cheers. agreed over here. if that's the case i know most artists wouldn't want to be part of that cycle unless they're like 50-cent or something and they're in it just for the money. the only thing I would imagine hmv, virgin, and tower are justified in doing is trying to maintain some part of the major music selling bracket because of encroachment by the likes of walmart, best buy, etc. but they're losing a battle in the end if they think by getting rid of certain musician's output would help their bottom line in the end. they need to start to learn how to adapt and do one better than the big multinational corps out there.

smopo24 · #7 02-03-2006, 03:03 PM

honestly, in the longrun it does more damage to the artists' labels than the artists; and they pass the problem onto us:

1. labels function in a deficit constantly, with less revenue coming in because these other stores remove their product, they have less money to give to new or developing artists (ie, not multi-platinum out of the box).

2. the artists get bad pr (look at what metallica's sales have been because of the napster scanal years back), and people are alienated from groups that they've supported; the groups lose money and incentive to tour or record new material (not to mention less money to spend on their recording budget). sales slump making labels loose interest in the artist.

3. mom and pop retailers loose money, less places to carry any albums: we are forced to shop at wallmart for all of our music and limited choices: the new flavor of the month, or last year's flavor of the month's new album?

4. more people illegally download music because they feel they have no choice, which has an effect on labels of all sizes.

it's just a bad idea period.