Wal-Mart Wants $10 CDs

Wal-mart wants every CD you buy to cost less than ten bucks. And the nation's largest retailer -- which moved a quarter of a trillion dollars' worth of goods last year -- usually gets its way. Suppliers who don't accede to Wal-Mart's "everyday low price" mantra often find their products bounced from the chain's stores, excluded from being sold to the 138 million people who shop at a Wal-Mart store every week. (Rolling Stone)

Does This Latte Have a Funny Mainstream Taste to You?

Despite adopting a broader musical approach, Starbucks on average sells only two CDs a store each day at company-owned shops, according to people briefed on its business. Starbucks disputed that figure but declined to provide a different one. Starbucks says it still has the power to move record sales. Though it shifts titles regularly, its sales of a CD over, say, six weeks typically accounts for 5 to 10 percent of the album’s overall sales, according to music executives who do business with the company. (NY Times)

Retailers clash with Pepsi over free music

Pepsi is at odds with some of its biggest US retail customers over a national marketing campaign offering free digital music downloads from online retailer Amazon. The partnership has antagonised rival bricks-and-mortar retailers. In an apparent response to retailers’ concerns, Amazon’s name has been banished from the front of Pepsi bottles carrying the promotion. (Financial Times)

Wal-Mart stirs CD pricing pot with multi-tiered plan

The major music companies have been resistant to lowering their price on CDs, but now they may be dragged to that point: Wal-Mart, the largest retailer of music with an estimated 22 percent market share, has proposed a five-tiered pricing scheme that would allow the discounter to sell albums at even lower prices and require the labels to bear more of the costs. (Reuters)

New Borders Stores Embrace Digital Music

Bookseller Borders Group Inc unveiled a new concept this week -- a store where shoppers can mix and burn CDs, explore their genealogies and even publish their own novels. The new stores feature a digital center where shoppers can download music, or search ancestral records through "Borders Genealogy Services," which are provided through a partnership with Ancestry.com. The nation's No. 2 bookseller plans to open 14 of these stores this year. (Billboard, USA Today)

In Harlem, 2 Record Stores Go the Way of the Vinyl

On Saturday morning, Bobby’s Happy House, a music store in Harlem that opened in 1946, was in a state of chaos. The store’s owner, 91-year-old Bobby Robinson, who was wearing a dark blue suit and his trademark black fedora, seemed bewildered as he surveyed his store. Albums were stacked on the floor, photographs of him with Fats Domino, James Brown and others had been pulled from the walls and the store’s glass display cases contained only a few scattered CDs and cassette tapes. (NY Times)

Trans World closing Johnstown facility and Ohio distribution center

Trans World Entertainment Corp. is closing its distribution center in North Canton, Ohio, and a fixture facility in Johnstown, N.Y., as it cuts costs following another disappointing holiday shopping season. Trans World has been struggling with declining sales as more consumers turn to computer downloading and big-box stores to purchase music. Total sales for the 11-month period that ended Jan. 5 fell 12 percent, to $1.19 billion. Comparable store sales fell 9 percent during the period, the company has reported. (Business Review)

HMV on song amid music industry discord

Robbie Williams has gone on strike, illegal downloads still abound and EMI is slashing thousands of jobs. The UK music market, traditionally one of the most resilient in the world, is having a torrid year. But one of the world's best-known music retailers said today that the record industry's gloom is overdone. The HMV boss, Simon Fox, sees the year ahead being even stronger thanks to new albums from popular artists such as U2, Madonna, Kasabian, Keane and Dido. (The Guardian)

Target Quietly Moves Into Digital Music, Finally; Sony BMG Deal

Target, the big-box retailer, is finally moving into digital music, with the low-key launch of a SonyBMG album. The new album from John Legend, ”Live From Philadelphia” launched exclusively in Target stores last week, and is also available in MP3 format through Target.com. This new promo also ties into Target’s deal with SonyBMG, where the music label is debuting DRM-free MP3 music cards. (Paidcontent)

Out with the CD, in with the drive: record store attracts worldwide buzz

Steve Thaemert, a Christian rock musician, is attracting attention from as far away as the United Kingdom after recently launching an on-line based music store, Indiedrive. Indiedrive is unique in that it offers music albums on 1 GB high-end USB flash drives, instead of CDs. The idea is for artists to load them with songs, photos, videos, even ring tones. (Shakopee News)

Borders readies to take over Web site

Borders, the No. 2 U.S. bookseller behind Barnes & Noble Inc , is taking on the responsibility of its Web site as part of a larger turnaround plan, which it began last year. The retailer is trying to fend off competition not only from Barnes & Noble, but also from online retailers, where consumers have been turning for cheaper books, CDs and DVDs. Borders may also offer MP3 music downloads on its Web site as CD sales wane. "We know that the customer is downloading music," said Rob Gruen, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing at Borders. "We're looking at how do we incorporate that into the whole process." Right now, the retailer is testing "mix and burn," where customers can come into its stores to develop their own CDs. (Reuters)

HMV enjoys record Christmas

The retailer, which runs Waterstone's bookstores and music shops under its own name, reported group like-for-like sales growth of 9.4 percent in the five weeks ended January 5 -- its highest figure since it floated in 2002. The group was boosted by demand for DVDs, games, cookery books and albums by Leona Lewis and Amy Winehouse. It outperformed the market in music sales -- an industry that has been hit hard by Internet piracy and digital sales -- and Chief Executive Simon Fox attributed this to the experience of his staff, in spotting and promoting good music. HMV announced a three-year turnaround plan in March last year, introducing "interactive" HMV stores and promoting online sales aimed at tackling competition from supermarkets and Internet retailers. (Reuters)

Music Sales Rip Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Noble lowered its fourth-quarter profit projections as weak demand for CDs led to a decline in same-store sales for the holiday period. For the period stretching from Nov. 4 to Jan. 5, Barnes & Noble's same-store sales dropped 0.4%. The company attributed the decline to significantly lower-than-expected sales of recorded music. Excluding music sales, same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, increased 0.8% for the nine-week holiday period. (The Street)