The Police Release Reunion CD/DVD/LP Live Set Exclusively Through Best Buy October 7

Best Buy is going to be the exclusive retailer for the official live souvenir of The Police's (likely) final tour ever; one more nail in the coffin of consumer choice. This is one more step down the path of destruction as foretold in the Book of Revelations. Good. Let's hit something hard and get it over with.

The package will be released in multiple formats on October 7. The first package will be a traditional 2 DVD/2 CD set. I'm still far more likely to listen to a live album than I am to watch a live DVD. Too many "live albums" are being released on DVD only. It will also be released as a single Blu-ray DVD/2 CD package. A package of three vinyl LPs will also be released and purchasers of this set will be able to download MP3s of the music for portability.

Let's pause here and look at the good and bad, beginning with the good. I very much like the fact the shows will be presented on separate audio and video media. As someone who was a little late to the HD party, I'm also glad to see these shows being made available in an HD format, Blu-ray being the obvious (and in essence only) choice. As someone even later to the vinyl revolution, I'm quite excited to see this coming out as a triple live album.

The Police's Certifiable was filmed and recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina where the band performed two shows December 1 and 2. It's not clear if the set was cobbled together from both shows or only one of them.

Now, let's get back to that word "choice," as in the absence thereof. God kills a puppy every time (Satan)Best Buy gets another exclusive deal. I don't live in such a black-and-white world where independent stores are automatically virtuous and chain stores are definitively evil, but I sure think more choices rather than fewer (or none at all) is a better situation. Shopping at Best Buy sucks. Sure, I can find things I want or need there, but when is the last time you had fun shopping at Best Buy? Do you know anyone who actually enjoys going in there?

Yes, exclusivity deals have tended to come with the advantage of lower prices and paying less doesn't suck, but I don't believe these deals are good for an ailing music industry. This deal is good for Best Buy and The Police, who will surely make a killing with this arrangement. From a purely price perspective, consumers probably come out good on this deal, but this isn't a good thing.

The lesson I believe the industry has never learned from the Napster episode in the late '90s is that consumers want more choices, not fewer. The industry never got past the "free" or "theft" issue to truly understand what made Napster so popular. Along with other file-sharing programs, Napster gave music fans unlimited choices and convenience, two things sorely missing from today's music marketplace.

The band is scheduled to play what is likely to be the final show of their career in Madison Square Garden tonight.

Here is the track list:

1. "Message in a Bottle"

2. "Synchronicity II"

3. "Walking on the Moon"

4. "Voices Inside My Head" / "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around"

5. "Don't Stand So Close to Me"

6. "Driven to Tears"

7. "Hole in my Life"

8. "Truth Hits Everybody"

9. "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"

10. "Wrapped Around Your Finger"

11. "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da"

12. "Invisible Sun"

13. "Walking in your Footsteps"

14. "Can't Stand Losing You"

15. "Roxanne"

16. "King of Pain"

17. "So Lonely"

18. "Every Breath You Take"

19. "Next to You"