Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012
Wal-mart (NYSE:WMT) the retailer juggernaut, said that legendary rock band AC/DC will sell its upcoming album exclusively at Sams Club locations across
America. This deal, reported first in the Wall Street Journal, gives sole right to distribute the new AC/DC album to Wal-Mart solidifies the companys strong bid to be a big player in the music-industry.
The new album, titled Black Ice, will be available at retailers stores and Web sites on October. Fans are looking forward to this album, because it has been eight years since the last AC/DC album.
The bands arrangement with Wal-Mart aims to replicate the successes of previous bands that made the same deal. A few months ago, legendary rock bands The Eagles and Journey inked contracts with Wal-Mart. Both albums had solid sales numbers.
However, this deal comes at a risky time. Statistics show that CD sales are declining. More and more consumers are making the transition to digital music downloads. With these impending threats to the market, Wal Mart has announced that they will release fewer CD stocks, which might not be a good prospect for AC/DC.
The decline in CD sales, paired with the fluctuations in fuel prices, make the market more risky. However, Wal-Mart remains confident, While inflation and higher fuel costs are pressuring suppliers, retailers and customers world-wide, we’re confident that Wal-Mart is well positioned, asserts H. Lee Scott Junior, a Chief Executive of Wal Mart.
