Wal-Mart is going to kill music one day.

[DMKA]

Some of you, because you are smart enough to use a computer, really understimate how much white trash depends on Wal-Mart. Trust me, far more people buy all of their music at Wal-Mart, and that number will probablly only go up.


That said, who cares about the music industry?

I don't think that could be any more true.

[Dingo Jellybean]

You can buy the entire albums at iTunes for $10, full unedited versions at that.

[Doc Sark]

Yeah but you don't get to own the CD, the inlay, the lyrics etc. Personally I prefer to have a physical CD collection. Also that $10 doesn't include distribution, packaging, retailing mass production etc so the music companies get more for your $10.

[fire_of_avalon]

Wal-Mart has been quickly choking out all types of small businesses where ever it goes. Mom and Pop groceries, fabric stores, electronic stores, furniture shops, everything locally owned usually either falls or flounders due to the hugeness of Wal-Mart. I'm far more worried about my favorite local music store shutting down than I am about Wal-Mart ruining the music industry.

[Dingo Jellybean]

Wal-Mart has been quickly choking out all types of small businesses where ever it goes. Mom and Pop groceries, fabric stores, electronic stores, furniture shops, everything locally owned usually either falls or flounders due to the hugeness of Wal-Mart. I'm far more worried about my favorite local music store shutting down than I am about Wal-Mart ruining the music industry.

Mom&Pop Grocery Stores aren't the only one suffering. Wal-Mart is by far the largest grocery distributor in the US with their Supercenters. I hate those Supercenters. You can't find what you're looking for without walking for hours.

[radyk05]

Wal-Mart has been quickly choking out all types of small businesses where ever it goes. Mom and Pop groceries, fabric stores, electronic stores, furniture shops, everything locally owned usually either falls or flounders due to the hugeness of Wal-Mart. I'm far more worried about my favorite local music store shutting down than I am about Wal-Mart ruining the music industry.

lets not forget that the average quality of the stuff sold there sucks.

[Fuzakeru]

I don't see a problem with the undedited versions for people who don't want to hear those words or have children they don't want hearing words; howerver, it strikes me as odd that they wouldn't sell both the edit and unedited version. Best of both worlds? I guess because the people who enjoy the unedited version would it see it as not being moral. Soccer Mom Boycott of DOOM.

Then again, Wal*Mart sells rated R movies. It seems a little hypocritical to me. =o

About the Evanescence suit - A while back, when I wasn't allowed to listen to unedited version of song ( yes, my parents were that uptight ), I could only buy my CDs from Wal*Mart and had picked up a copy of NickelBack ( shush, I liked them at one point ). The very first song had the F bomb there but no advisory sticker. Does anyone know if that caused and uprise as well? O_O;

[edczxcvbnm]

Well, let's see. Most places in the midwest don't have a Best Buy or some store that sells music only, and Wal-Mart is cheap. Besides, if they do make the music industry to sell their CDs at $10.

The hell are you talking about. Best Buys are scattered every where in the midwest. Maybe not in the middle of farm country where there are literally towns of 100 people. But they are around quiet a bit. Quite possibly my favorite store.

Agree with Shlupquack

Supermarkets in the U.K, namely Asda (owned by Walmart) sell C.D's at a reduced price but this will not signal the death of the music industry. I agree with those who ask, who actually buys music from the supermarket? No one I know. The real danger for the music business is still the illegal distribution of files over the internet.

This is actually incorrect. This year for the first time saw a rise in album sales. In the UK, Album sales hit record amounts this year. Also the introduction of sites such as iTunes and legal Napster has brought about the download chart which has proved to be a massive success.

The music industry is not going anywhere. They simply adapt, and carry on with business. Those of you who talk about the death of the music industry bringing about some revolution where great music will make a come back are misguided. How are the record companies supposed to promote "real music" if they go out of business. Don't expect anything to chancge drastically until the next technological improvement in music forces it too.

I don't live in the UK. So I could give a damn about what ever the UK is doing. If I remember correctly the Music Industry out there didn't do the same thing as the RIAA over here. Over here the first 2 years Napster was out sale increased a lot and saw record years. Since they started to crack down and do something about it has not reached even that level again but continued to decline until this past year when apple and others(NOT the music industry) started to sell music online. Still is not as good as the days of file sharing but maybe it will get there. They did not embrace change and tried to kill it. Only when people with vision came in and spent a lot their own money to get this up an running with out any help from the music industry. They originally tried to get blank cassette tapes outlawed because people could record music off the radio.

Also I don't really listen to music. The only music I listen to is not produced by the RIAA and is not even American. I like Europian and Japanese music a lot more because I find more of it has a techno tone to it. The crash of the music industry here will not affect me one bit.

I am not misguided so much as you are.

[Rye]

I hate Walmart with a burning passion, but I hate the people who sue Walmart even more, who force Walmart to be this way. Parents sueing Walmart for Evanescence's cover of Korn's Thoughtless (they dropped the f-bomb a few times there) is just plain STUPID.

I've been mad at Walmart ever since I picked up the edited CD of System of a Down's Steal this Album! accidently.

[Super Christ]

Also what's wrong is that Wal-Mart sells editted CDs, and they often don't sell certain artists, like Eminem and most rap artists considered "hardcore." Wal-Mart sells these editted CDs for 10 dollars. They buy the CDs for 12 dollars, but sell them for $10, which would mean them losing money for selling under the price of purchase. But, don't get me wrong, Wal-Mart is not losing money because of this, as they make most of their money on other stuff rather than on music.

If I recall correctly, this is illegal. Something about antitrust law, I think.

Not that that makes a lot of difference, as if the government under the Bush administration would *actually* go after a business for breaking trust law.

[theundeadhero]

Actually, both my parents work at Wal Mart, and yes, they are.

I used to work there too, but the point of that is, Wal-Mart doesn't sell a lot of bands that would need edited songs. The ones they do sell, they're all edited. What I was saying is that most of the kind of Cd's Wal-Mart sells are the kind that don't need editing unless it's a really popular band or highly anticipated release. If you went to a store and looked, a majority of them won't have the ED on the tag because they don't need it.

[lordblazer]

Wal-Mart has been quickly choking out all types of small businesses where ever it goes. Mom and Pop groceries, fabric stores, electronic stores, furniture shops, everything locally owned usually either falls or flounders due to the hugeness of Wal-Mart. I'm far more worried about my favorite local music store shutting down than I am about Wal-Mart ruining the music industry.

Yeah I'm tired of Walmart and there evil monopoly ways.IF you want to see a good example of a rising monopoly look at WalMart.Shoot once there isn't any competition in a small town mainly small businesses.WalMart's prices goes up and the quality goes down.Though there are other massive merchants.They can barely compete against WalMart.If they could then you'd see a Target built right next to a Walmart then.I think etierh Target is owned by WalMart or Target doesn't wanna step up and compete with Walmart.Cuz if they did then things would be a lot better for small towns,etc.

[Doc Sark]

I don't live in the UK. So I could give a damn about what ever the UK is doing. If I remember correctly the Music Industry out there didn't do the same thing as the RIAA over here. Over here the first 2 years Napster was out sale increased a lot and saw record years. Since they started to crack down and do something about it has not reached even that level again but continued to decline until this past year when apple and others(NOT the music industry) started to sell music online. Still is not as good as the days of file sharing but maybe it will get there. They did not embrace change and tried to kill it. Only when people with vision came in and spent a lot their own money to get this up an running with out any help from the music industry. They originally tried to get blank cassette tapes outlawed because people could record music off the radio.

Well you don't remember correctly. The BPI took exactly the same stance as RIAA on illegal file sharing.

So are you saying Apple one day just decided they were going to sell music online. No. To do so they need the record companies that own the tracks to license companies like Apple to sell them, otherwise it is illegal. So it's safe to say third party aggregators wishing to sell music online needed record company involvement.

The thing I agree with you on is that the music industry did try to kill file downloading, like they did blank casettes, like they did blank C.D's and I'm sure they will do so again in the future because they are arrogant people who don't learn.

The fact is they once again are adapting. Check out the RIAA website for correct statistics. 1997 saw the original release of Napster and saw dollar value sales and unit sales down in the States by 2.4% and 6.5% repsectively. These figures then fluxuated ending on an upward trend by the year 2000, I found no evidence of the record sales that you suggest. Then the figures drop rather drastically. The reason these figures dropped can be partly attributed to illegal filesharing and partly attributed to the subsidised music available at supermarkets, of course there are other factors at work here. The fact is the RIAA has recorded profit increases over the last two years, the first time in 5 years they have achieved back to back increase, further proof that the music industry is in no danger whatsoever.

Whether its illegal filesharing or subsidised music at supermarkets, the music industry will inevitably prevail.

[Skogs]

That's America's problem. In Europe we buy at HMV or Fopp and in Australia there's HMV and JB Hi-Fi. Bad words and all!

[DMKA]

I used to work there too, but the point of that is, Wal-Mart doesn't sell a lot of bands that would need edited songs. The ones they do sell, they're all edited. What I was saying is that most of the kind of Cd's Wal-Mart sells are the kind that don't need editing unless it's a really popular band or highly anticipated release. If you went to a store and looked, a majority of them won't have the ED on the tag because they don't need it.

Yes, you're completely right.

And yes Rye, I agree completely. Those are the bitchy people who want the world to do their job as a parent for them I was talking about. They've been at it for quite awhile now.