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Eagles Disintermediate Major Labels, ITMS

The Eagles -- the multi-platinum selling alt country/rock band circa 1970s -- are trying an interesting sales strategy for their first studio album in 28 years.

For the new disc, it appears that there is:

- no recording label participation;
- downloads at their site only;
- physical 2-CD Set purchased only at Wal-Mart, or ordered at their site ((Eaglesband.com).

The band cranked out over 700,000 discs in the first week -- not too shabby for a double disc.

For you young 'uns, the album Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 is the all time best-selling album in the U.S. (according to the RIAA); Their album Hotel California is #18 on the all time top selling list).

What's really interesting is the downloading -- the double disc is available for in two formats: MP3 256k for $10.88, and in FLAC lossless for $11.88, directly from the band's website. 

I am not sure, but it appears that both the labels and Apple's iTunes have been cut out of the picture.

(I'll update this as I learn more)

>

Update: November 7, 2007 5:52am

The Eagles made a direct exclusive deal with Wal-Mart for physical album -- no label involved.

The band sold the album to Wal-Mart on a one-way basis (meaning, no returns). 

My anonymous industry source adds:

"If memory serves, I believe they bought 3.6M units at $8 or $9.  The Band pays manufacturing costs and publishing (most of which goes to themselves as writers) and keeps the rest. Pretty nice haul. I haven't confirmed with the manager, but I believe the downloads are being done by the band through their site only."

Again, no iTunes, no labels . . .

>

Sources:

Eagles
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagles

Top 100 Albums   
RIAA 
http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblTop100

Revised Chart Policy Lands Eagles At No. 1
Mitchell Peters
Billboard, November 06, 2007, 8:30 PM ET
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003668840

Previously:

JT bypasses the Labels   
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2004/12/james_taylor_by.html

Track Listing:

Disc One:
01 No More Walks In The Wood
02 How Long
03 Busy Being Fabulous
04 What Do I Do With My Heart
05 Guilty Of The Crime
06 I Don’t Want To Hear Anymore
07 Waiting In The Weeds
08 No More Cloudy Days
09 Fast Company
10 Do Something
11 You Are Not Alone

Disc Two:
12 Long Road Out Of Eden
13 I Dreamed There Was No War
14 Somebody
15 Frail Grasp On The Big Picture
16 Last Good Time In Town
17 I Love To Watch A Woman Dance
18 Business As Usual
19 Center Of The Universe
20 It’s Your World Now

Tuesday, November 06, 2007 | 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (45) | TrackBack (1)
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Comments

I want to get this record for my Mother. This will be my first trip to Walmart in over a year.

Posted by: Internet Marketing Blog | Nov 6, 2007 11:34:34 PM