Celeb News: Indie stores issue open letter to Jay-Z and Kanye

KanYe!

Dear Jay-Z and Kanye West,

Independent record stores serve our communities. Our passion is music, and
we convey this to the millions of customers who come to our stores. That's
what we do.

Four years ago independent music stores across the country banded together
to create Record Store Day. Our goal was to counter the negative media
coverage about the supposed demise of record stores brought on by the
closing of the Tower stores and to respond to the music business practices
that fans deemed to be manipulative and onerous.

We reached out to the artist community to see if they would join us, and the
response was overwhelming with words of support coming in from Paul
McCartney, Erykah Badu, Tom Waits, Chuck D, the Foo Fighters and countless
others. Working with their label partners, many of these musicians created
limited edition works of art, including vinyl and CDs made especially for
music specialty retail. Hundreds of these artists took the opportunity to
perform, DJ, and interact with their fans in our record stores. Here in the
US, Record Store Day lifted the entire music business by 8% and contributed
to the growth in music sales. Record Store Day is now one of the biggest
music events in history with millions of people participating worldwide. We
also continue to work throughout the year with labels, artists and managers
and run regular promotions via physical independent retail and
recordstoreday.com.

We are responding to the bad news that your new album will not be available
to independent record stores until after iTunes gets a window of
exclusivity. We also learned that the deluxe version (which is what the true
music fans who shop our stores will want by an overwhelming majority) will
only be available at Best Buy exclusively for a period of time. We believe
this is a short-sighted strategy, and that your decisions will be doing
great damage to over 1,700 independent record stores -- stores that have
supported you and your music for years.

We know that you are busy, and that you put most of your energies into
creating great music, but we are writing to you in the hope that you will
hear us and take the time to rectify this matter. As representatives of the
independent record store music community, we are asking you to allow record
stores and music fans equal access to your new album.

With the utmost respect,

Dedry Jones, The Music Experience
Mike Dreese, Newbury Comics
Judy Negley, Independent Records
Mike Batt, Silver Platters
Tobago Benito, DBS Sounds
Brian Faber, Zia Records
Karen Pearson, Amoeba Music
Bryan Burkert, The Sound Garden
Mike Wise, Monster
Rob Roth, Vintage Vinyl
Joe Nardone, Jr., Gallery of Sound
Jonathan Fernandez, Rasputin Music
Dilyn Radakovitz, Dimple Records
Dustin Hansen, Graywhale Entertainment
Bill Kennedy, BK Music
Jim Bland, Plan Nine
Steve Wilson, Kiefs
Tom King, Central Square Records
Alayna Hill Alderman, Richard Storms, Record Archive
Karl Groeger, Looney Tunes
Paul Epstein, Twist and Shout
Nancy Salzer, Salzer's Records
Rick Ziegler, Indy CD
Laura, Finders Records
Deon Borchard, Nic Fritze, The Long Ear
Chuck Oken, Rhino /Mad Platter
Allan Miller, John Bevis, Disc Exchange
Charlotte Kubat, Magnolia Thunderpussy
John Kunz, Waterloo Records
Chris Avino, Rainbow Records
Mike Fratt, Homers
Rich Koch, Off the Record
Skip Hermans, Skip's Record and CD World
Jason Patton, Oz Music
Quinn Bishop, Cactus Records
John Timmons, ear X tacy
Lou Russell, Lou's Records
Roger Weiss, Streetlight Records
Terry Currier, Music Millenium
Andrew Chinnici, Lakeshore Record Exchange
Michael Bunnell, The Record Exchange
Mike White, Boo Boo Records
Steve Baron, CD Central
Eric Levin, Criminal Records
Pat O'connor, Culture Clash
Dan Plunkett, End Of An Ear
Paula Kret, Exile On Main St
Chris Penn, Good Records
Doyle Davis, Grimey's
Travis Searle, Guestroom Records
Jim Mcguinn, Hot Poop
Isaac Slusarenko, Jackpot Records
Jason Nickey & Heath Byers, Landlocked Music
Todd Robinson, Luna Music
Darren & Jim Blase, Shake It
Anna & Chris Brozek, Slowtrain
Kimber Lanning, Stinkweeds
Tom "Papa" Ray, Vintage Vinyl

http://www.pitchfork.com/news/43357-...uy-exclusives/

I found this interesting - was wondering how people felt about the way they're handling it?

Lonƹ

They already planned their strategy, no way they will change it last minute to ship to a much of independent retailers.

Wilkes

I think they should give their albums to independent retailers within the same time frame as the iTunes release: it's supporting a dying industry.

LeonazNumber#1

I like their strategy, it promotes the digital switchover, but I can see why the record stores are angry. There are more jobs created by physical music purchases than digital so maybe Jay and Kanye should think more carefully about how this strategy is effecting the economy.

Mister Martian

They will get over it.

It's a digital world now.

cheap

yep and its not gonna happen only with music.

iamvladd

Billboard posted another good article about it. I don't know why they are getting mad. We are in an age where everything is digitally. If stores get exclusivity just deal with it. Why are they whining about not getting something for a cheaper price. I hope this doesn't come back to bite both Kanye & Jay-Z in the ass later with future albums cause many said now they won't carry the deluxe version since Best Buy gets it for an discounted price for 2 weeks ($12.40). Well **** that, I know where I'm going to buy my copy lol. Billboard shaded Bey in this article too saying the Target Exclusive wasn't a good deal cause after the second week, the sales have dropped significantly lower cause of retail stores mad they didn't get the exclusive, and compared her to Adele who wasn't gone lower than 78,000 in its 22 weeks. they shaded Lil Wayne too. They also said, there might be an possibility that Amazon might pull the 99cent deal to prove giving iTunes the digital exclusive wasn't right. Oh Lord, we will see. They predicting it to sell 400K

Quote:

Jay-Z and Kanye West's 'Watch the Throne' Exclusives Have Retailers Up in Arms

http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/...05296922.story

Jay-Z and Kanye West may be kings of hip-hop sales, but their decision to give iTunes and Best Buy exclusive windows to sell different editions of their "Watch the Throne" album has other music retailers in open revolt.

Brick-and-mortar retailers are hopping mad that the Roc A Fella/ Roc Nation/ Live Nation/ Island Def Jam/ Universal Music Group release is giving preferential treatment to iTunes and Best Buy with separate exclusive windows to sell the upcoming blockbuster "Watch the Throne" album, which is due out everywhere on August 12.

But before that happens, iTunes will sell the album available exclusively, beginning on August 8. In addition, iTunes is pumping up sales by offering the lead track "Otis" as an exclusive download that is made available immediately to customers pre-ordering the album from Apple. That offer began July 25.

If that wasn't enough to get brick-and-mortar merchants up in arms, Island Def Jam/Universal Music Group is also giving Best Buy a nearly two-week window -- until August 23 -- to exclusively sell the deluxe CD version of the album, which wholesales for $12.40. On superstar releases, the deluxe version can account for anywhere from 50% to 70% of the first two-week CD sales.

"We believe fans should have the option to buy the same music at their preferred retailer, on the same date, and unfortunately that is not always the case." Craig Pape, director of Amazon Music, said in a statement.

Many others in music retail are condemning the move.

"A two-week window will be disastrous for music retailers," said Eric Levin, owner of Criminal Records and the head of the Alliance of Independent Media Stores.

Another retailer who declined to be identified said, "This may work for Jay-Z, but he is hurting all the other retailers and this will affect the entire industry."

Another merchant who preferred anonymity wondered if there are anti-trust implications to giving the largest music retail account, iTunes, preferential treatment.

But in a conciliatory move, independent merchants are reaching out to the two artists in an open letter explaining the role indie stores play, how they have worked with countless artist to promote their albums, and created Record Store Day to counter the negative media coverage about the supposed demise of record stores brought on by the closing of the Tower stores.

Read the open letter from independent music retailers to Jay-Z and Kanye West

They labeled the iTunes and Best Buy exclusives as "a short-sighted strategy" and said that decision will cause "great damage to over 1,700 independent record stores -- stores that have supported you and your music for years.

"We know that you are busy, and that you put most of your energies into creating great music, but we are writing to you in the hope that you will hear us and take the time to rectify this matter. As representatives of the independent record store music community, we are asking you to allow record stores and music fans equal access to your new album."

Even other major label executives are questioning the wisdom of the move. "Why are they giving the deluxe exclusive window to Best Buy, who just made a clear statement that they are not so interested in the music category anymore when they chose Anderson to rack their stores?" a senior label executive said. "By ending their own involvement in purchasing music, they are saying they don't want to devote their own resources to music. So why would you give them an exclusive like that over the music specialty merchant that supports all your music, not just the superstar releases?"

Merchants say the "Watch The Throne" sales plan as designed effectively will allow iTunes and Best Buy to dominate sales and just leave crumbs for the rest of the retailers.

According to sources, UMG is projecting first-week sales of 400,000 units, split evenly between digital and physical. Moreover, they expect that the deluxe will be 50% of the physical sales, which means that ITunes and Best Buy will account for 300,000 units. Between the two exclusive windows, 75% of the demand is expected to be satisified within 10 days.

The album is also being offered to fans who buy tickets to the duo's tour. Fans who buy tickets can get the album by redeeming an online coupon. The album is also being sold direct-to-fan with a Moontoast page. It was unclear at press time when albums sold through those channels will be available to fans.

On their last solo albums, Jay-Z's "Blueprint 3" opened with scans of 477,000 units in the week ending September 13, 2009; while Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," opened with scans of 496,000 units in the week ending November 28, 2010. Merchants say that each star normally would be good for debut week sales of 400,000 units; given overlap between the two artists' fanbases, UMG is being conservative with its projection.

While retail response has been universally angry, what they actually do vary. Some merchants say they will not carry the artists' albums at all anymore while others say they may not carry the deluxe version; one says he may not carry the artists' catalog titles anymore; another says they will carry the new album but not feature it, and probably price at list, if not higher.

High price points is a favorite tactic to punish labels who give preferential treatment to one merchant over others. In fact, Amazon, which is traditionally among the lowest price merchants in music retail, is offering the deluxe CD version for $16.93, about $4.50 above its wholesale cost of $12.40.

That wholesale cost implies a list price of $19.98 for the deluxe edition. The regular version of the album is priced at $13.98 and wholesales for $10.35. The digital version's prices were not available at press time.

While the CD version of "Watch the Throne" is priced and merchandised in Amazon's CD music store, there is nary a sign of the album in the Amazon MP3 store, leading some to speculate that Amazon may use this as an opportunity to sell the album for 99 cents in an attempt to teach customers to think about waiting to see what Amazon will do before buying taking advantage of iTunes' exclusive selling windows, which seem likely to continue to come Apple's way in the future.

Other exclusive albums that have drawn the ire of music merchants in the past include AC/DC's "Black Ice," given to Wal-Mart, and Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" and the Rolling Stones "Biggest Bang" DVD package, both of which were given to Best Buy. All of those titles had long exclusive periods for the merchants.

"The main element in all of these exclusives is that label executives forget what is convenient for the customer," said Newbury Comics head of purchasing Carl Mello. "Making the album available in certain versions at certain times is not the most friendly thing for the customer, for whom it will feel like a game of hide and seek.

"At first, due to the iTunes exclusive, when Newbury Comic customers come into our stores looking for the album, we won't be able to sell it to them. Then, when we have it beginning on August 12, we won't be able to sell them the deluxe version," he continued.

"It is very confusing to the customer," J&R Music World's Sue Bryan agreed. "We are muddying the water and making it difficult to buy the album. It will only hurt the industry. It is not good for J&R; it is not good for the industry and more importantly it is not good for the customer."

Merchants claim that the tactic will mute sales for the album. "Look at what happened to the Beyonce album '4,' when Target got the exclusive version of the album," said Trans World VP of music and new media Ish Cuebas, who estimates that Target has a 57% market share on sales of the album; the Target edition features six bonus tracks, three of them exclusive. "After the first two weeks, sales collapsed because the rest of retail wouldn't support the album."

That album has so far scanned 552,000 units in four weeks of sales availability after debut-week sales of 310,000 units, with the last two weeks both well under 100,000 unit sales, at 72,000 units and 54,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

In contrast, retailers point to Adele's "21' had debut week sales of about 351,000 units and its sales have yet to dip under 78,000 units it its 29 weeks of availability. While the Adele album came in an exclusive version with four songs, three were live tracks and one was a cover. Also, her first album, "19," came out exclusively as a digital album, "but that was different because nobody knew who she was then and the label was testing to see what they had," Cuebas said.

Moreover, Lil Wayne's "I Am Not A Human Being," which came out Sept. 28, 2010, was available exclusively to digital retailers for a two-week window, which Cuebas says disengaged the rest of retail.

"That album hasn't sold as well as his other albums," Cuebas said. That album has sold 925,000 units, making it the fifth best-selling title in the rapper's career, with 2008's "Tha Carter III" the best-seller, with 3.6 million units.

"Once you give it to iTunes first, they can e-mail it to all their friends, which hurts demand for when all the other retailers got that album," Cuebas said.

As for the Best Buy exclusive window, "Music specialty retailers like us and the indies support every one of the labels' records, including developing artists, while the big boxes only support the big titles and they get all the rewards," Cuebas said. "I don't get it. None of the labels think long-term about the health of the industry. They are all in it for the moment."

Music merchants and even label sales and distribution executives believe that preferential treatment to big box merchants has already hurt the industry beyond the digital threat. Those executives say that underwriting loss leaders by supplying big boxes with generous price and positioning funds and exclusive version of product and exclusive selling periods shifted consumers from music specialty stores like Tower Records, Virgin, Sam Goody and FYE to the big boxes. That resulted in the first three going out of business and the latter closing more than 500 stores and shifting sales away from music into other product categories, all of which hurt the record labels almost as much as piracy.

"The labels are repeating the same mistakes online that they did in brick-and-mortar," one merchant said. "How stupid can they be?"

Another merchant asked, "When the industry looks back at its screw-ups, how can we stand around and let it happen again?"

What do you think of the decision to give exclusives to iTunes and Best Buy? Sound off in the comments below.

licq

alright another self-inflated torture whiny baby article from pitchfork and its affiliations

Ryou Itaru Hou

this is interesting

I read a lot of music reviews from pitchfork and feel that they have good sense in music

but about this issue, I have no idea, so I'll stand aside and watch