From the Wall Street Journal‘s Ethan Smith :

Veteran rockers AC/DC are set to become the next major band to sell a new album only through Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, a move that highlights the growing music-industry clout of Wal-Mart.

The AC/DC deal, however, comes at a time when the retail giant — the largest seller of compact discs in the nation — is signaling it may rock the music world by stocking fewer CDs. Such a move is part of a trend that would further accelerate the already steep decline of CD sales as consumers make the transition to digital music.

Aside from the chilling effect this is likely to have on what’s left of music retail, we’re particularly enraged that AC/DC have effectively stolen our thunder. Matador’s mooted deluxe reissue of The Bunnybrains’ ‘Easter’ LP was meant to be a Wal-Mart exclusive as well. Now, we’ll just have to see if Hudson’s will stock it.

This is filed under label bizness, other labels and their fables . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.