Only seem to work at Wal-Mart.

You can rail on and on about the economy, but if that were a factor, how come the AC/DC album sold 90,000 to Guns N’ Roses 257,000?  Even though "Black Ice" has already been in the marketplace for six weeks?  As for Christina Aguilera, last week, her second, she sold fewer than half her first week total, for an anemic cume of 104,000.

In other words, Best Buy and Target are not Wal-Mart.  And Wal-Mart is shrinking its floorspace and its two biggest winners, the Eagles and AC/DC, were beneficiaries of incredible positioning, and in the case of the Eagles, incredible pricing.

I hope Irving got big checks from Best Buy and Target.  Because he ended up with anemic sales.

I think we’re about done with this exclusive retailer gambit.  I think we’re going straight to sponsored music.  Or should be.  Sure, the newspapers are in terrible shape, but there’s got to be a major corporation that’s willing to give away free CDs/music for the foot traffic/eyeballs.

"Chinese Democracy" should have been given away at GM dealerships.  Or even Toyota, that company’s sales were off by a third in November.

Corporations have the money, musicians have the goods.  There would be a stampede to the outlet if the music was free.  And, with the new music in so many hands, touring revenue would shoot up.  Assuming the album were good.

With all the Britney hype, why didn’t she make a deal with a mental health company?  Everybody comes in for a free screening!  Or a consortium of plastic surgeons.  You come in for a Britney CD and get a free consultation.

It’s come to this.  The big boxes, that put the indie retailers out of business, other than Wal-Mart, can’t move the product anymore.  The iTunes Store sells a fraction of the physical product, because consumers are allowed to pick and choose exactly what they want and only buy singles.  You’ve got to sell everybody a bucket of tracks for a low price to meet your numbers.  Oops, that was the Napster model, from almost a DECADE AGO!

Congratulations major labels…  You’ve marginalized yourselves!  Wanting everybody to pay for music, suddenly few are.  And all the money is on the road.  And why should an act give you a share of its road money, you’re not agents, you don’t know how to do it, you only want to skim the cream from the top.  Or try to get the act on terrestrial radio and television, neither of which move tonnage like the old days.

So, do you want the money or the career?

Turns out taking the money isn’t so great for your career.  Axl Rose is gonna have the stink of the failure of "Chinese Democracy" on his back forevermore.  His only option will be to reunite with the old gang and play the twenty year old material.

Hell, no one’s really interested in the new music of old acts.  So, either sell your records and get out…on the road, like Neil Diamond…  Or figure out a way not to move the product so much as get it exposed, get people to actually hear it.  So they listen intently and applaud when you play these newly-minted numbers live, as opposed to going to the bathroom.