THE EAGLES SING DUET WITH WAL-MART EXECUTIVES?

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Megagroup Partners with Evil Empire

*Don Henley* is famous for his green causes and bad temper. *Wal-Mart* is famous for hyper capitalism and exploitation of its workers. What do these two parties have in common? Well they are now in business together, probably for the rest of Henley’s life.

An announcement on October 18 claimed that *The Eagles* are giving Wal-Mart an exclusive
on their upcoming recordings that will be made and released sans major label.

Yes, after 20 years they are free of “the man” and off to take advantage of their independence. They are following the footsteps of several other acts that have either exited their major-label deals or never had one in the first place. They are making direct sales of their work to retailers, thus hoping to tap the large vig normally enjoyed only by labels and distributors. *Jessica Simpson* did this with *7-11* two years back—pre-selling over 1,000,000 units to the chain most favored by stick-up artists. And then there was the *Ray Charles *and *Starbucks *exclusive. One gets you up the other brings you down. Good combo.

There has been a lot of squawk on the blog-o-sphere about this Egalitarian deal. Often they are negative to both sides: “The Eagles sold out,” “Wal-Mart is evil.” But if I were *Irving Azoff* (the Eagles Manager), I think I would be proud. This is a bold step. Artists are in the business of selling records. They need to sell as many as they can these days. Wal-Mart sells more CDs than just about anybody. It’s logic. Plain and simple.

If you’re thinking that a real rock-n-roll rebel would not make a deal with Wal-Mart, you’re dead wrong. I would bet my last dollar that *Dylan, Young* and others will be flowing. If this model proves profitable—they’ll be exiting their contracts saying, “Hey I can get $8 for a CD sale today instead of getting $1.50 a sale in a year, AFTER I arm-wrestle my record company with an audit.” Again, it’s logic.

Some have speculated that Wal-Mart will be selling the new “independent” release at a rock-bottom price. But I don’t think so. I think this is a pay day for everyone. Expect $15.99 to $18.99 as a starting point. But the better question for me is, will artists seeking these deals really be seeing more profit? Let’s take a look.

Right now the average heritage artist (that means an artist who could get chicks in the 60s and 70s) gets a penny-rate of between $1.50-$2.50 for a CD sale from their record company. Also, if they are the writers of the songs on the record they get about another 50 cents (some 90 cents) from the label as “mechanical royalty.” So, they net about $2-$4 a CD. In addition, they have accrued millions in advances over the years and here’s the best part: they do not have to dole out the big bucks in overhead, payola, street teams and publicity.

With a direct sale (no label /distributor, etc) the artist becomes the record company. They may get to make about $4 more booty but there’s a whole lot of expense attached to this commitment. They have to print the hundreds of thousands of units (about 80 cents each) and they have to warehouse, ship and accept returns for all of them as well. Even if they are the writers of the songs they can not waive the song-writing fees to their partners and co-writers. So, they probably STILL have to pay their publishing company for half of the mechanical royalty. They will also have to find a way to let the public know about the new record. That means they are now dishing out for payola and street-teams, just like the labels they rebelled against for all those years.

That profit margin gets squeezed in a big way. And remember that there are no guaranteed
advances in a deal like this. No limos and no fancy parties with models shipped in by
*John Casablanca *and* Ilene Ford.*

* *

And what about Wal-Mart’s risk? Don’t they know that no one really cares about a new CD by The Eagles anymore, except over 40 year-old music farts. Why should they know? Is Wal-Mart known for their hipness? Na. But can you imagine what will happen if Don wakes up one morning and sees that they have displayed his product in a way that he doesn’t approve of? Or when he blames THEM for slow sales? Are they really for his wrath? Will Irving buy a new chain-saw to protect his meal-ticket when Wal-Mart executives start sending him nasty memos saying he has to keep Don off the premises and away from the customers who are by-passing his CD on their way to the $3.99 bath-gel?

Logical or not, it’s a big risk for both.

/"We are very pleased to be able to bring our customers an alliance with America's greatest rock icons."/ —Wal-Mart’s* David Porter *October 17, 2006

/“Smaller, more personalized record stores are closing… because of competition from department stores that traditionally have no connection whatsoever with artists."/ —Don Henley Washington Post interview, February 17, 2004.

Reporting from the front,

Moses Avalon

"except over 40 year-old music farts"

Jealous are you? It's not our fault that Rock music was so much better when we were kids than it is now. It's also not our fault that the music business wasn't as bad as it is now.

Funny thing, now that I'm a 40 year-old music fart, I can actually afford to spend lots of money on music. Moses must really be jealous now!

Grow up Moses. Music isn't just for the young. It's for everyone, especially those young at heart.

Did you post a similar article?
Why the big deal? I think it's a good idea, and if people wanna bitch at how Walmart treats their employees, then tell the walmart employees to start a union or something. If people hate how they are being treated while working at walmart, then quit! If enough people quit it will fo.... nevermind, I'm ranting.....

Everyone always whines and moans about how the record companies are screwing the artists, and consumers. Well, there is no label in this situation, it's the artists and retail directly. and people still bitch.
Oh well, can't please everybody.

It's a personal choice, it will either work well or fail miserably, I feel sorry for the smaller independent music stores but seriously, I don't think they'll miss out much, I mean, we're talking 'The Eagles' here, a competent band, sure, but not exactly the hip new thing that is likely to sell gazillions of copies, (sure, their greatest hits and live albums have been consistent sellers but a regular studio album may fall somewhat short of another rehash of Hotel California).

I've gotta say though that I am always happy to see bands kick the major labels in the nuts by doing their own independent thing

its not like the eagles are the first one's to do something like this. And if people don't like walmart, then stop shopping there and they WILL go away. I feel for the small independent music stores, but business is business, and so is music, tough shit.

Avalon and Lefsetz both say basically the same thing -- "no one really cares about a new CD by The Eagles" -- and then proceed with 500-1000 words on why they think this is important.

the two biggest market targets out there: over 40 farts and teengrrlz... and both shop at Walmart... lol

Walmart dealing directly with artists is a good thing. Trims out a lotta unneeded fat and it _should_ be making CDs cheeper (or showing us if an artist is as greedy as a label).
There was a time with small independant music shoppes easily dealt with local bands, but only two months after an article posted at Dmusic years ago... all the small CD stores closed up here. Seems to me, looking back, the RIAA killed the small shoppes ... perhaps because they supported indies?!? Lets see how the RIAA puts the squeeze on Walmart.... (minewhile Im gonna hunt down that article I hope...)

oh btw, good to see ya postin George, it wouldnt be home without ya

Well, I've been trying to support Shmoo over at the other place, but the "Insert snappy comebacks here..." feature doesn't work any more.

Well I NEVER shop at Walmart, not so much because I detest the cheap labor and no unions or any righteous reasons but because it's a friggin huge place that is always overcrowded and someone always runs their cart into my shins, they have like 2 cashiers for every 40 customers at the line up etc. and the stuff they sell is cheap stuff that breaks in a week. Unless dragged in kicking and screaming by the boss (a.k.a. the wife) I avoid it like the plague

Alright, I'm 20 and I consider the Eagles to be one of the greatest rock bands in American music, so you can stuff your "no one really cares about the Eagles anymore" ultimatum. I'm not the only one, either . . . anybody with a retrospective feel for music has respect for The Eagles.

The Eagles making a deal with Wal-Mart is symptomatic of the difficulty even conservation-minded citizens have in maintaining integrity when they are involved in Big Business as the Eagles are. I admire Henley's conservation work - thank-you, Don - but integrity is not like Carbon Credits - you can't trade some here and make it up there. You either have it or you lack it. The Eagles didn't make this deal to reach corporate America (big as they are, the Eagles aren't pimples on Wal-Mart's arse in terms of business influence), and they didn't make it because they admire Wal-Mart's smoke-and-mirrors conservation work. They did it in the hopes of moving vast amounts of product, because their egos demand this - period. Henley's arguments are after-the-fact attempts at justification. Settling for less sales is clearly not in the picture for the Eagles - and not being willing to settle for less is the very problem that is killing the planet. The Eagles could very easily strike a more integral deal if they'd settle for more modest sales - something i am sure they could afford. Monetarily, i suspect they don't need to sell a single copy. But they're the Eagles - selling big is a huge part of their identity. It's the entire western-world's problem - everyone wants to be a 'rock star', including, of course, the rock stars. That's why the Eagles agonize over each album, and why they have indeed made this "deal with the Devil", as Henley well knows. To be BIG. Problem is, you can't suck and blow at the same time.

Jon Wright