In one of my blog entries last year, I was complaining about not being able to find a CD I was looking for in any of the stores I went to. I mentioned how sad it was that all the record stores seemed to be disappearing. I ultimately took on some of the blame myself for being lazy and doing most of my music shopping online. I felt bad for the artists that couldn’t get their product into the traditional bricks and mortar stores and I bitched about the big box stores like Best Buy and the late Circuit City only stocking greatest hits and Top 40 music. Recently a more disturbing angle has surfaced.
The country duo, Sugarland, who I’m not a fan of and refuse to acknowledge them as a band since they are only two people, pulled some shit that, in a perfect world, would hopefully induce people to burn Sugarland’s CD’s. They signed an exclusivity contract with Wal-Mart which means that you can only get their new album in that store. Hell, I can’t even buy it online.
Ordinarily I probably wouldn’t care where they sold it because I’m not buying their crap anyway but then I read an article in the Los Angeles Times that got me thinking a little different. It seems that the owner of Decatur CD, an indie music shop in the town where Sugarland got its start, called them out because the store had supported them back in the day and now were being prevented from selling their new CD. Owner, Warren Hudson said, “by shutting the door on independent record stores, you’re in effect shutting the door on your hometown.” So now not only are we as customers not darkening the doorsteps of the independent record stores, apparently neither are some artists.
Sugarland is not the first to do this. AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, The Eagles, Springsteen and Prince are among the artists who have traversed this ground already. And for what? Money, pure and simple. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against money but this route seems fraught with peril. Deals like these put up-front money in the artists pockets but ultimately do more harm than good. I remember back when The Eagles did this, I was so annoyed that I decided to skip the Wal-Mart trip and find other means of acquisition. Sorry guys, you could have had my fifteen bucks. Instead you got nothing and I still ended up getting my fill of your new music up until the point I got sick of it and deleted it from my ever-shrinking hard drive.
The Eagles album did very well but I wonder how much better it would have done if it had been available at more stores and online. Sugarland’s album, “Live on the Inside” sold just 25 percent of what their last album did when it was widely available. To be fair, the new record is a live album of mostly previously released material, but again, maybe it would have done better.
So let’s recap. Sugarland has shown us that money comes before their fans and other supporters; they are, in effect promoting illegal downloading and piracy; and they are contributing to the demise of the little guy. Is it worth it, Sugarland? I don’t think so, but then most of my actions don’t revolve around money. Maybe if they did I would be in a better overall financial position right now, but I digress. And by the way, this is the second blog in a row where I’ve had to bitch about Sugarland. There had best not be a third.
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