Slashdot Mirror
Wal-Mart Squeezing Record Labels to Cut CD Prices
Raindance writes "RollingStone.com has a revealing article detailing how retail giant Wal-Mart is making loud noises about throwing its weight around in order to get significantly better bulk prices on CDs. Says one industry executive, 'This wasn't framed as a gentle negotiation, it's a line in the sand -- you don't do this, then the threat is [your product is dropped].' This is the first time a big player has attempted this sort of hardball move on the labels, and the labels may be forced to deal, as Wal-Mart sells 1 out of every 5 retail CDs. Monopoly one, meet monopoly two."
You obviously didn't read the headline let along the article, since Wall-Mart sells 1 out of every 5 CDs you better believe they are taken seriously.
Just because you don't take them seriously doesn't really ammount to a hill of beans!
-=Linsys=-
http://www.intrusionsec.com
Do you ever consider anyone else's point of view? Reading through all of your comments, all I see is that they are all super-biased and don't actually involve any rational thought. You are a selfish, elitist prick.
The personal attacks are unnecessary and should be modded troll.
Just because you don't like the music being sold at Wal-Mart doesn't mean that it sucks.
The point was that Walmart is supposedly selling music by developing/independent artists. I said that I haven't seen anything like that in the Walmarts I have shopped in.
Oh, how delicious this is!
The "typical" slashdotter is torn between hating big, bad WalMart and hating the Big, Bad Record Company.
The fact is that businesses operate to make a profit. Despite the fact that profit is considered a dirty word here, I would wager that anybody reading this article would certainly not turn down money handed to him. In this case, WalMart knows that it has bargaining power and is using it. That's business.
It would be foolish of them to ignore this bargaining power to get better prices (which might not necessarily show up on the retail sticker price), and foolish of us to expect them not to use it.
slashdot: A failed experiment.
Oh fucking please. You're a moron. Yeah, Walmart is big, but it's so far from a fucking monopoly that it's fucking funny. Did I mention you're a moron?
Prick
It's common for any retailer who controls a big chunk of a product's market to use that leverage to secure better deals. No one forced those retailers to wholesale all those CD's to Walmart.
Meanwhile, since when did selling 1 of every 5 instances of a product make you a monopoly? People must be getting those other 4 CD's by magic, eh?
Just confirms Slashdot's economic illiteracy.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
...it would be China's 8th largest trading partner.
scary.