It certainly worked with country star Garth Brooks, who in 2005 signed a multiyear deal with Wal-Mart for a four-CD set of previously released music and within a year had sold more than 20 million albums at Wal-Mart stores. Of course, getting the Eagles’s massive fan base in the door – the Recording Industry Association of America lists the 1976 release “Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” as the best-selling album of all time – is just good business. Partnering with an eco-friendly band as Wal-Mart rolls out a new sustainability initiative is plain old good PR. The company stands to gain in ways that transcend financial profits. “As my good friend Ted Danson told me, you can have much more influence with a company doing business with them than if you’re sitting across the stream throwing rocks,” Henley says. That was incentive enough for Henley, an outspoken environmental activist, to tweak his perspective. Moreover, it’s where grown-ups, that near-extinct breed of consumer that routinely pays for music, shop – 110 million of them a week. “Long Road Out of Eden,” available only at Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and the band’s Web site, will be priced at $11.88 – a bargain for a two-disc, 20-song collection – and Wal-Mart is paying a royalty rate to the band that’s significantly higher than the 18 to 20 percent record labels typically offer a top-level artist, After satisfying themselves that Wal-Mart had a solid plan in place to improve its grim record on employee rights and reduce the superchain’s environmental footprint, Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. While some people have reacted to the Eagles/Wal-Mart deal with disdain, Henley is quick to point out that Wal-Mart is no more an ethically suspect corporate behemoth than most major record labels – and one with greater reach and deeper pockets. And the reunited Spice Girls (not exactly legacy artists, but a big-name brand all the same) have announced that the group’s forthcoming album, due next month, will be sold only at lingerie mega-chain Victoria’s Secret. And over the summer R&B icon Prince – famous for scrawling “slave” on his cheek during a label dispute during the ’90s – gave away copies of his latest CD, “Planet Earth,” in the Sunday edition of a British newspaper.įormer Beatle Paul McCartney and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joni Mitchell have hitched their wagons to Starbucks’s Hear Music label, hoping to catch the ears of urbane adults who patronize the coffee giant’s 30,000-plus stores in 40 countries. ![]() This month alternative-rock gods Radiohead self-released their seventh album, “In Rainbows,” as a pay-what-you-like digital download. Recently Madonna cut ties with Warner Bros., where she has spent her entire recording career, to form a far-reaching partnership with event promoter Live Nation. But as CD sales continue to plummet and the major-label system struggles to survive in the era of digital downloading, the Eagles are part of a growing circle of veteran artists who are bucking the status quo, leaving their longtime labels and forsaking conventional distribution channels to find new ways of connecting with their fans. Much has been written about new opportunities for young and alternative artists in the shifting landscape of the music industry, from buzz-building in the blogosphere to file-sharing on social networking sites. And if people don’t want to buy from Wal-Mart, they can buy directly from us at the Web site.” ![]() “With the disappearance of large record store chains, Wal-Mart is now the largest CD retailer in the world. “This just makes business sense,” says Don Henley. Gingerly crossing the cosmic divide between “Hotel California” and big-box superstores, the folk-rock supergroup has inked an exclusive distribution deal with Wal-Mart. ![]() 30, the Eagles are releasing “Long Road Out of Eden,” the band’s first studio album in 28 years, but don’t bother trolling the aisles at your local music store or the virtual shelf at iTunes.
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