"Do we really want Wal-Mart dictating what music people listen to?"


An argument for online music unhampered by DRM
Now this is interesting. Emphasis added.

An article in the Wall Street Journal today drives home why record labels need to hop on the DRM-free digital music train to get their wares out there. Wal-Mart, Best Buy and their ilk are now responsible for at least 65 percent of all music sales—including online stores—and they're reducing the amount of music they carry as CD sales drop. Do we really want Wal-Mart dictating what music people listen to?

On top of granting more and better shelf space to big-name releases like Justin Timberlake over say, Mike Patton's latest work, and skewing sales that way, Sam Walton's legacy flat-out refuses to sell certain titles. And matching the 20 percent plunge in CD sales this year, it's planning to shrink store real estate dedicated to music by an equal amount. Best Buy's also cutting down on the amount of space it gives CDs, so expect the number of titles they carry—8,000 to 20,000, versus defunct Tower Records' up to 100,000—to be cut as well.

Result? Big name, mainstream sludge will be pushed even harder by default. As space shrinks, so does choice.

According to the article, the major labels need to bite the bullet and focus on DRM-less online sales.

I happen to agree.

If the record industry is to bounce back and grow, it has to focus on delivering more to the customer. All those backlists should be put out bit by bit (pun intended) to let people appreciate some of the old classics.

Content is not the problem. Buzz isn't the problem.

Distribution is the problem. Especially distribution of high quality copies.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Tue - May 1, 2007 at 01:06 PM  Tag


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