Friday, October 15, 2004

Music industry out-bullied by Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart wants every CD you buy to cost less than ten bucks (in the US). Wal-Mart has quietly emerged as the US's biggest record store, now selling an estimated one out of every five major label albums. Wal-Mart willingly loses money selling CDs for less than $10 after buying for around $12. Bargain CDs to lure consumers to the store. Less-expensive CDs are something consumers have been demanding for years. But now Wal-Mart is tired of losing on the CDs. It wants the record industry to lower the prices. Wal-Mart hinted that they could reduce CD stock in favour of more lucrative DVDs and video games. The music industry is worried because if Wal-Mart cut back on music, industry sales would suffer severely while Wal-Mart's shareholders would barely bat an eye. While Wal-Mart represents nearly twenty percent of major label music sales, music represents only about two percent of Wal-Mart's total sales. "If they got out of selling music, it would mean nothing to them," says a label executive. "This keeps me awake at night."

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