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Desperados - The Eagles team up with Wal-Mart. How dare they.
OpinionJournal.com ^ | November 25, 2007 | The Editors

Posted on 11/25/2007 1:02:18 AM PST by gpapa

One of the most popular rock bands of all time has finally managed to offend--not for its songs, but for how it sells them. There's a lesson here in technology, new business models, and hidebound "progressives."

The first new album from the Eagles in over a decade, "Long Road Out of Eden," has already sold more than a million copies, hitting Billboard's #1 in its first week. It's the kind of blockbuster that used to pay Christmas bonuses at the big record companies, only this album wasn't produced by a big record company. The Eagles released it themselves and are selling it exclusively through Wal-Mart.

This isn't going down well in certain elite precincts. Music blogs accused the group of selling out, while a review in Rolling Stone opined that there is an "inevitable contradiction in buying a record that attacks corporate greed . . . from a superchain with a bleak record on employee rights and health care." A piece in the Boston Herald noted that "The deal will make the Eagles richer. But it could cost them cool points (if the aging rockers have any left)."

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: allcapsnazis; capitalism; eagles; heeagles; modernmarketing; music; theeagles; walmart
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To: Allegra

Like I Care?


41 posted on 11/25/2007 5:46:15 AM PST by Bommer ("He that controls the spice controls the universe!" (unfortunately that spice is Nutmeg!)
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To: Bommer

Beat me to it. ;-)


42 posted on 11/25/2007 5:46:39 AM PST by Catholic Iowan
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To: gpapa

...”from a superchain with a bleak record on employee rights and health care.”

....I could care less about “The Rolling Stone’s” opinion of WalMart...that liberal POS has no idea how ordinary working class Americans live...WalMart has been great for the poor NC county I live in....the place was mobbed Friday and those shoppers didn’t look like they felt guilty about worker’s rights or health care.


43 posted on 11/25/2007 5:47:09 AM PST by STONEWALLS
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To: csvset

True...the record companies have screwed more people than Wal Mart ever has.

The record companies rip off millionaires to make themselves money (sounds like big government)

The Eagles should be commended for not using the record companies. These dinosaur rip-offs are deserving of death, these record labels.


44 posted on 11/25/2007 5:47:32 AM PST by UCFRoadWarrior (Free Trade with Communist China isn't supporting capitalism...it's subsidizing Communism)
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To: 13Sisters76
brings hundreds of entry-level and growth-potential jobs to a community while raising its tax base

A common misconception. For the most part WalMart transfers jobs, it doesn't create them.

Let's assume a region of the country has 10,000 jobs in retail pre-entry by WalMart, which moves in, opens a bunch of new stores and hires 5,000 people. Does anybody seriously think that five years later 15,000 people will be employed in retail sales in the region? Are the inhabitants really going to be buying that much more toilet paper and jeans just because WalMart is available? What happens is that for the most part retail sales employment remains steady, with the number employed at WalMart increasing and those employed elsewhere decreasing.

AAMOF, since WalMart is renowned for selling more per full-time employee equivalent than its competitors (a major reason for its profitability), I would suspect that if other factors are isolated WalMart reduces retail sales employment in a region.

This isn't an attack on WalMart, simply a recognition that 500 new jobs "created" at the new WalMart doesn't mean 500 new jobs total for the community, not once things shake out.

Of course the 500 "new" WalMart jobs are created in one swell foop and are thus newsworthy, while the equivalent loss of jobs elsewhere are in ones and twos, mostly in the form of competitors not hiring new employees to replace those who quit. It is thus the exact opposite of the traditional employment "news" story, where factory closings with their hundreds of employees laid off gets big news play whereas increasing employment elsewhere does't, as it is spread out over hundreds of other businesses which hire only a few at a time.

45 posted on 11/25/2007 5:50:09 AM PST by Sherman Logan
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To: Bommer
Most jerks don't care. That's what makes them jerks.

No more time for you. I only deal with people who have decent manners.

You clearly have issues. Sucks to be you, I suppose. ;-)

46 posted on 11/25/2007 6:07:30 AM PST by Allegra (Greetings from a kinder, gentler Iraq. God bless US and Coalition Forces.)
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To: Caramelgal
Yes, you are an elitist snob.

Walmart is certainly a viable option for those who need to stretch their budget. Millions would attest to that fact.

Stop being a lib elitist!

47 posted on 11/25/2007 6:09:43 AM PST by newfreep ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." - P.J. O'Rourke)
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To: Catholic Iowan
I hadn't had a chance to go to amazon.com yet or read the lyrics. I've been pretty busy at work today.

I was applauding the Eagles' screwing the record companies with their capatistic methods and commented that I was quite a fan of theirs in my younger days.

Seems like people are looking to get all bent out of shape about things today and started screeching as if that were a criminal statement.

I'm not of that mindset. I have enough going on to where I don't feel the need to try to trash people in order to feel better about myself.

Then again, I've never needed to do that.

48 posted on 11/25/2007 6:13:55 AM PST by Allegra (Greetings from a kinder, gentler Iraq. God bless US and Coalition Forces.)
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To: Allegra

The album is pretty anti-American from what I have heard second hand.


49 posted on 11/25/2007 6:14:01 AM PST by listenhillary (You get more of what you focus on)
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To: listenhillary

I’m out of the loop on pop culture. Have been for a few years now.


50 posted on 11/25/2007 6:15:01 AM PST by Allegra (Greetings from a kinder, gentler Iraq. God bless US and Coalition Forces.)
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Comment #51 Removed by Moderator

To: Caramelgal

If your buying a certain brand name product and you know the model, like a Canon camera, why pay more at a box store when Wal-Mart sells it cheaper.

Kellog Frosted Flakes are the same no matter the store so why not pay less at Wal-Mart.

As you said, I would be careful with the Wal-mart brand for clothes and other durable items. You might not get the bargain you want if the item doesn’t last.


52 posted on 11/25/2007 6:19:29 AM PST by art_rocks
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To: Caramelgal
(And yes, I know, I’m a snob.)

Probably has something to do with being "a golfer".

:^)

53 posted on 11/25/2007 6:30:00 AM PST by raybbr (You think it's bad now - wait till the anchor babies start to vote.)
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To: gpapa
Creative free enterprise.

Capitalism is a Marxist term, who wants to talk like a Marxist?

54 posted on 11/25/2007 6:31:57 AM PST by Mark was here (Hard work never killed anyone, but why take the chance?)
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To: b9
Too bad the fire in Malibu on Saturday didn't burn down Don Henleys house.
55 posted on 11/25/2007 6:43:40 AM PST by troy McClure
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To: Blind Eye Jones
Wal Mart should start its own record label.

That would be like a sucessful internet company starting its own telegraph line. The point of this deal is that the labels are no longer relevant. For decades, they screwed musicians, screwed fans, and peddled the worst of American music -- there really is good stuff out there -- by aiming for the lowest common denominator.

Public Enemy put its album out online. Radiohead followed suit and made its album available for whatever downloaders wanted to pay. Now the Eagles have done an end-run around the labels and gone straight to the fans. The album is selling. It's working. It's a precedent.

The record labels could have done many things to adapt to the new distribution model, but they chose the worst one possible -- they dragged college students into court and brought their legal sledgehammer to bear. I don't have any market research at hand, but I'd bet that college-age folks are the age cohort that buys the most music. Alienating your core audience is not good business.

The record labels will remain relevant for one reason and one reaon only -- they still own the back catalog. New music, not so much. PE, Radiohead, and now the Eagles have thrown down the gauntlet. Others will follow. A record label will give you a gold record, a nicely-framed little trophy to remind you how much money you made for them while you took home 1%, minus tour expenses and promotional costs. If you can make your own album, sell a tenth as many copies and keep a third of the money, you're way ahead.

The funny thing is that this is another rift in the left -- Don Henley is an environmentalist, and has made Walden Pond his personal cause. So the question, for liberals, is: Do you love Don Henley more than you hate Wallyworld?

56 posted on 11/25/2007 6:45:03 AM PST by ReignOfError
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To: Allegra

“I have enough going on to where I don’t feel the need to try to trash people in order to feel better about myself.”

I agree. That’s why I don’t know why the Eagles feel they have to trash America in order to feel better about themselves. Therefore, regardless of the fact that I liked their earlier music, I won’t support this screeching of theirs. (I suspect, however, that you may support their screed, and directed your comments towards me.)


57 posted on 11/25/2007 6:48:56 AM PST by Catholic Iowan
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To: gpapa

“There’s a lesson here in technology, new business models, and
hidebound “progressives.” “

looks like the record companies are headed to “The Outer Limits”
and leaving the sphere of business influence...

We are the record companies.
We didn’t control the horizontal and the vertical, but now...
we can’t even control the volume (marketing).


58 posted on 11/25/2007 6:54:30 AM PST by VOA
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To: Catholic Iowan
(I suspect, however, that you may support their screed, and directed your comments towards me.)

If you think I'm anti-war (snicker!) or a global-warming creep, you do not know me at all and are making assumptions. Those comments were directed towards another poster who was making as ass of himself. You appeared to support his childish behavior.

I do not have the luxury of staying on top of pop culture developments right now. I'm very busy with other things that, by the way, have a lot of liberals hating me.

But since you appear to have already formed some bizarre opinion of me, perhaps we'd best not converse any longer, lest you continue your insults in the vein of the other poster.

Have a nice day.

59 posted on 11/25/2007 6:54:37 AM PST by Allegra (Greetings from a kinder, gentler Iraq. God bless US and Coalition Forces.)
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To: Owl_Eagle; MotleyGirl70

LOL! “Frey the Patriots!”


60 posted on 11/25/2007 7:07:49 AM PST by Larry Lucido (Hunter 2008)
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