[Coolfer] Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC and the Exclusivity Debate

Guns N’ Roses’ long-delayed Chinese Democracy , reported Billboard.biz today , will be sold exclusively at Best Buy and will be released before the end of the year. And so the debate about retail exclusives continues. And it continue after the next exclusive, and the one after that. It will continue because exclusives offer artists and labels (if involved) less risk, greater album sales and, on occasion, the ability to secure buys for other CDs, DVDs and merchandise. The deals work well for older artists less concerned about image -- their images are already well established -- and more concerned with money. No business-savvy manager or label would pass up such a deal. Guns N’ Roses is managed by exclusive-friendly Front Line Management. The Eagles, also Front Line clients, have done very well selling Long Road Out of Eden exclusively at Wal-Mart. AC/DC’s new Sony Music release, Black Ice , will be released exclusively through Wal-Mart stores in ...