October 28, 2008
AC/DC back in "Black" with global smash
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fire the cannon, and hail Australia's most successful rock export.
AC/DC have topped pop charts around the world with their first album in eight years, proving that fans never tire of a middle-aged guitarist who dresses like a schoolboy and a singer whose voice sounds painfully raspy.
In the United States, "Black Ice" sold more than 780,000 copies during its first week of exclusive release through Wal-Mart Stores Inc, a group spokeswoman said on Tuesday, hours before the band begins a world tour.
The Columbia Records release ranks as the second-biggest opening of the year behind the million-copy start for rapper Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" in June. It easily outsold major new releases from rock bands such as Coldplay and Metallica.
With 15 studio albums in 33 years to their name, AC/DC have topped the U.S. chart only one other time, with 1981's "For Those About to Rock We Salute You," whose title track is bolstered by "live" cannon every time it is played on stage.
The band, led by 55-year-old guitarist Malcolm Young and his 53-year-old brother Angus, who favors prep-school attire on stage, also went to No. 1 in 28 other countries, including the U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Argentina.
In all, more than 5 million copies of "Black Ice" were shipped worldwide, and the band expects to sell an additional 5 million or so copies of its back catalog this year, the spokeswoman said.
AC/DC COOL AGAIN
AC/DC are a "proven brand," said the band's biographer Arnaud Durieux, who co-wrote the book "AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll," and maintains the ac-dc.net fan Web site.
He credited Columbia's aggressive marketing, the hype surrounding the Wal-Mart deal, and the massive popularity of music-based videogames such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero with creating a snowball effect.
"The mainstream media, which has mainly ignored the band for the past 28 years, woke up again and now the band is 'cool' again," he added.
The Youngs, along with singer Brian Johnson, bass player Cliff Williams and drummer Phil Rudd, begin a world tour late on Tuesday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Tickets for the arena tour have reportedly sold out quickly, despite the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The band's last major world tour, to promote its 2000 release "Stiff Upper Lip," ran for a year through mid-2001.
Sales of recorded music have slumped since then, ravaged by Internet piracy, and the exclusive deal with Wal-Mart was an undeniable lure. The world's largest retailer accounts for an estimated 30 percent of CD sales in the United States.
Indeed, exclusive tie-ins with retailers are becoming increasingly common for veteran acts. The Eagles last year teamed with Wal-Mart for their first album in 28 years, while Guns N' Roses will next month release their first album of new material since 1991 through Best Buy Co Inc.
Traditional music retailers were not thrilled by the AC/DC deal, according to consultant Clark Benson.
"Other retailers in the U.S. don't think it's very 'rock and roll' for AC/DC -- who have that rare following that spans generations -- to have gotten in bed with Wal-Mart," said Benson, CEO and founder of market research firm Almighty Institute of Music Retail.
But the Wal-Mart exclusive has not prevented them from getting in on the action. In Hollywood, just around the corner from a temporary Wal-Mart store selling the album for $11.88, a Virgin Megastore was reselling it for $16.99.
Article List
• August 13, 2010 - The Tennesean - Anita Wadhwani: Nashville indie record stores' sales spin in right direction• January 3, 2010 - Delaware News Journal - Delaware music shops get creative to compete with downloads, chain music stores
• September 24, 2009 - Los Angeles Times - L.A. independent record shop is still in a groove
• August 20, 2009 - CNN Money - You can make money off online music
• June 14, 2009 - New York Times - Retailing Era Closes With Music Megastore
• May 13, 2009 - Medill Reports - Resurgence in vinyl helps record store in recession
• April 26, 2009 - Los Angeles Times - In a digital age, vinyl albums are making a comeback
• April 18, 2009 - Charlotte Observer - Record stores band together
• April 17, 2009 - Detroit News - Record Store Day spins profits and good beats at Metro Detroit shops
• April 17, 2009 - Associated Press - Record Store Day celebrates indie retailers
• April 10, 2009 - Detroit News - Street Corner Music moving to Oak Park plaza
• April 10, 2009 - Toledo Free Press - New record store shakes up Adams Street
• January 8, 2009 - OC Register - Closing date for Virgin Megastore at The Block
• October 28, 2008 - Reuters - AC/DC back in "Black" with global smash
• September 23, 2008 - Chicago Daily Herald - Independent music stores haven't yet disappeared from suburbia
• June 23, 2008 - New York Times - For Tom Petty Fans, the True Sound of Vinyl, Also Captured on a CD
• April 19, 2008 - Lafayette Journal Courier - For some, record stores live on
• April 19, 2008 - New Jersey Star Ledger - It's Record Store Day. Play it again, Sam!
• April 18, 2008 - New York Times - Record Stores Fight to Be Long-Playing
• April 18, 2008 - Dallas Morning News - Retailers hope Record Store Day turns up volume at mom-and-pop shops
• April 16, 2008 - Timeout New York - Platter Up
• December 27, 2007 - Los Angeles Times - Virgin Megastore to close shop
• December 16, 2007 - New York Times - For a "Dinosaur," an Exuberant Second Life (Looney Tunes Reopens)
• December 3, 2007 - Detroit Free Press - The same old song: Music store closing
• November 7, 2007 - Washington Post - Eagles soar past Britney to top of charts
• November 4, 2007 - The Ledger - Two Young Entrepreneurs Unafraid of Risk of Going on Records
• August 20, 2007 - Billboard - Almighty Taps Hans As VP
• June 29, 2007 - ABC News - Long Live the Record Store
• June 28, 2007 - Orange County Weekly - Locals Only
• June 13, 2007 - Reuters - McCartney's Starbucks album heats up U.S. charts
• June 9, 2007 - Billboard - Commentary: Retail Recovery
• May 9, 2007 - Columbia Free Times - High Fidelity
• March 22, 2007 - NARM Awards - Almighty Retail Named NARM Related Supplier Finalist For Third Consecutive Year
• March 16, 2007 - Chortler - Shout! Factory Has Revamped Its Website
• March 9, 2007 - PhillyBurbs.com - Internet killed the record store?
• March 4, 2007 - Sacramento Bee - New groove for Solomon
• February 28, 2007 - USA Today - Exclusives aim to pull music fans into stores
• February 28, 2007 - New York Newsday - Latin record shops thrive despite changes in music business
• February 23, 2007 - Montpelier Bridge - Buch Spieler Sails On Despite a Music Industry Decline
• November 20, 2006 - Austin 360 - In Austin, Niche Indies Rule
• October 20, 2006 - Sacramento Bee - Tower brand could survive
• October 15, 2006 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Tables have turned on record stores
• October 14, 2006 - Sacramento Bee - Small labels lose valuable ally in Tower
• October 6, 2006 - Desert Sun - Record Alley remodels
• September 27, 2006 - Music & Copyright - Niche Marketing of CD albums continues to rise in the US and Physical Sales overall decline
• September 22, 2006 - CNN.com - Indie stores confront a new era
• September 19, 2006 - New York Newsday - 34 years, and that's not all, folks
• August 18, 2006 - The Roanoke Times - Plan 9 Music puts new spin on 5 Record Exchange stores
• August 3, 2006 - The Hollywood Reporter - Nervous music retailers face hazy digital future
• July 16, 2006 - New York Times - The Graying of the Record Store
• July 13, 2006 - Rolling Stone - The iTunes Holdouts
• July 11, 2006 - Roanoke Times - Record store's "last dance"
• July 5, 2006 - Port Townsend and Jefferson County Leader - Quimper Sound moves, expands to change with times
• June 6, 2006 - Billboard - NARM Nominations Announced
• May 10, 2006 - Detroit MetroTimes - Out of the Groove
• March 18, 2006 - Billboard - Indies in a bind
• January 16, 2006 - Los Angeles Business Journal - Slipped Discs
• January 6, 2006 - Los Angeles Times - Indie record stores doing slow fade out
• December 26, 2005 - Los Angeles Times - The Music Stops for Indie Shop
• December 1, 2005 - Rolling Stone - Fall Sales Dry Up
• October 13, 2005 - Desert Sun - Music snobs rejoice: Independent record stores still thrive in desert
• September 12, 2005 - Salt Lake Tribune - Twilight for Starbound Records
• August 18, 2005 - New York Post - Oldies are now singing a new tune - Music stores go digital
• July 2005 - Rolling Stone - Record Biz Still Sinking
• June 18, 2005 - Billboard - NARM Noms Announced
• March 21, 2005 - CMJ - Hart of the Matter
• February 16, 2005 - MSN - Genius Loves Company
• October 12, 2004 - Rolling Stone - Wal-Mart wants $10 CDs
• July 10, 2004 - Billboard - Almighty Institute To The Rescue
• January 14, 2004 - Creative Loafing Charlotte - Manifest Destiny
• December 29, 2003 - New York Times - on the rise of mass marketers
• November 13, 2003 - Rolling Stone - Best Buy snags rights to band's new DVD
• October 9, 2003 - USA Today - Best Buy wins sales rights to Rolling Stones DVD box set
• October 6, 2003 - Reuters - Stones Paint It Black For Retailers
• May 31, 2003 - Billboard - Retail Track
• May 9, 2003 - Hits - Rerap
