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December 10, 2008
AC/DC Idiots?
Posted by Alan Wexelblat
Opinionated Canadian blogger Scott Feschuk has a column lampooning AC/DC for striking an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart.
The aging Oz hard-rockers are hardly the first to strike this kind of deal. Given how influential big-box retailers have become in the dwindling world of physical platter sales it's not a big surprise that artists would go where the sales are. Still, the parody struck me as funny.
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1. Brandy Karl on December 10, 2008 9:04 PM writes...
I will totally admit that I bought this album :) Love AC/DC. So that's out of the way.
Are they really that dumb? Their main audience shops retail, not digital music. And instead of just getting their cut off of one measly single, they get you to buy the whole album (amazing!). I noticed they coupled this with promos of their music on several high profile tv shows, including CSI and Supernatural (ok less high profile, great music).
Obviously this model only works for bands with enough star power and an audience that's unlikely to pirate the music before it gets to retail market (see e.g., GnR's Chinese Democracy...).
And was this stupid? AC/DC is the TOP SELLING ARTIST OF THE YEAR. (5.3m units of Black Ice, 5.1 units of its back catalog) Part of its back catalog sales are due to it not being available on iTunes. Some things you just gotta have on your ipod, whether or not it's easily downloadable. Hence last year's purchase of Motley Crue's greatest hits (now available I think) - but for stuff like that, I recommend half.com!
Kid Rock employs the same strategy, but also encourages listeners to just download the music. I'm sure his label loves that.
Permalink to Comment2. DrWex on December 11, 2008 12:05 PM writes...
Thanks for the feedback! I generally agree, and it's a good point that their audience is much more retail-focused than online-focused.
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