Stones piss off Canadian record shops
Published October 31, 2003
Trouble a brewing in the Canadian music industry music after the Rolling
Stones made an exclusivity deal with the Best Buy and Future Shop chains
giving them exclusive rights to sell the Forty Licks live CD until early 2004. Rivals HMV, Music World and Sunrise Records have responded by taking all Rolling Stones products off their shelves.
HMV Canada president Humphrey Kadaner: "If our customers aren't good enough to have access to their new release in our stores, then maybe the Rolling Stones aren't worthy of having any product in our stores. It's not just the Rolling Stones. If any artists choose to exclude HMV as a retailer for selling their products, this will be our response."
From: CMU
Marty's band, Growing Old Disgracefully, can be found at: Disgraceful Music. His Cthulhu tales can be found at Temple of Dagon. 
- Stones piss off Canadian record shops
- Published: October 31, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: News
- Writer: Marty Dodge
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I am with HMV they stock BW&BK and all the CDs therein! Rock on HMV!
As I've noted elsewhere, this isn't about the Rolling Stones, this is about a pissing contest between HMV (and two regional chains), Best Buy / Futureshop and Michael Cohl.
HMV is hoping that by putting pressure on Sony, EMI and Universal, they will leverage that to get back at Cohl. I imagine Cohl approached HMV about the deal, but they didn't agree, so now the public gets the blowback.
Of course this is going to only hurt HMV because BB/FS can outspend them, and have an online service which works (HMV had to give up and sub-contract to Amazon.ca)
If you're a Stones fan, you don't give a shit who is selling, just that you can buy the stuff.
While BB/FS don't have as many outlets as the three chains, they have a bigger footprint, and are buying market share, which HMV did years ago, and now can't compete on a loss leader basis.
It's a bastard when music gets in the way of business!
Actually that was the theme of this week's South Park.
Cartman forms a Christian rock group to get a platinum record and win a $10 bet with Kyle, Stan and Kenny.
Kyle, Stan and Kenny get busted by the FBI for downloading music. They then decide their band "Moop" will go on strike until downloading stops.
After being joined by Metallica, Britney Spears, and others, they learn it's about the music, not the money, but the stars tell them it's about the money.
Meanwhile Cartman comes to a bad end.
I'll post this here also I guess.
"I feel bad for the stores that aren't going to have the product, but they have lots of other products, to be honest, and music videos don't sell anything like movie DVDs," Jagger said.
But the band had the fans in mind all along when it made the decision, he said.
The Best Buy partnership will allow them to buy the DVD set for about $30 instead of $60, he said.
Indeed it's about the money, but this time for once, I think it's a good thing if it provides cheaper prices to the people that matter, the customers.
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This could hurt the Stones economically in a radical way...How will they scrape by if this keeps up?...Marty, do you think a charitable foundation is in order? This must not stand!!!