CD returns to Best Buy ad...$7.99

[freddiebrph]

Axl even said that "best buy have been great" so don't blame them.  It definitly isnt Dr Peppers fault.
Its probably a combination of the band and band management. 

Don't think anyone really cares anymore though.  Just be happy if you have the CD 

Of course Axl thinks Best Buy has been great, they shelled out the cash.  They've been fantastic in that respect.  As far as their in store treatment of Chinese Democracy, that has been much less than fantastic.  I won't even mention promotion because I realize that's a shared responsibility which neither side has really done much with.

It is a shared responsibility.  Best Buy is where I buy 95% of my music. I am not really sure what some of you think they should have done? It was handeled like all other albums they sell. What were they supposed to do?  Have an employee at the door asking everyone if they wanted to buy a copy?  Its Axl's CD, if he doenst want to promo it by touring and doing interviews, what is a store supposed to do? It was in their flier. If people wanted it, they would buy it.

What could they have done?  How about making it easier to find?  I had to ask someone where to find the album the morning the album came out.  I've heard many other stories about other people having difficulty finding the album.  I went to several stores after the release day, and frankly, their placement of the album was questionable.  I found it astonishing they didn't put the album in a location where people would have to see it, like at the front of the store.  I also noticed several stores that did not have the album near the check-out stands to encourage an impulse buy.  Why not play the album in the store as well?  All simple things that Best Buy could have, but did not do

Of course, the majority of the blame for the lack of sales, if you want to assess blame for that, rest with Axl.  He has done virtually nothing to promote the record.  But, Best Buy could have definitely handled the release better.  There is no doubt about that.

Ali

Easier to find?  Its under G for Guns and Roses?  I was actually in Chicago the day it came out, I stopped in the 1st BB i found and had no problem at all.  More than CD was released that day, and it was with all the others, PLUS  a whole end cap dedicated to it

[LunsJail]

So CD didn't sell as well as everyone would have liked. Do you honestly think its placement in the store was a big factor in that? C'mon now

[Limulus]

and BestBuy only has been the exclusive deal within USA, all other countries didnt have that.

[Ali]

Axl even said that "best buy have been great" so don't blame them.  It definitly isnt Dr Peppers fault.
Its probably a combination of the band and band management. 

Don't think anyone really cares anymore though.  Just be happy if you have the CD 

Of course Axl thinks Best Buy has been great, they shelled out the cash.  They've been fantastic in that respect.  As far as their in store treatment of Chinese Democracy, that has been much less than fantastic.  I won't even mention promotion because I realize that's a shared responsibility which neither side has really done much with.

It is a shared responsibility.  Best Buy is where I buy 95% of my music. I am not really sure what some of you think they should have done? It was handeled like all other albums they sell. What were they supposed to do?  Have an employee at the door asking everyone if they wanted to buy a copy?  Its Axl's CD, if he doenst want to promo it by touring and doing interviews, what is a store supposed to do? It was in their flier. If people wanted it, they would buy it.

What could they have done?  How about making it easier to find?  I had to ask someone where to find the album the morning the album came out.  I've heard many other stories about other people having difficulty finding the album.  I went to several stores after the release day, and frankly, their placement of the album was questionable.  I found it astonishing they didn't put the album in a location where people would have to see it, like at the front of the store.  I also noticed several stores that did not have the album near the check-out stands to encourage an impulse buy.  Why not play the album in the store as well?  All simple things that Best Buy could have, but did not do

Of course, the majority of the blame for the lack of sales, if you want to assess blame for that, rest with Axl.  He has done virtually nothing to promote the record.  But, Best Buy could have definitely handled the release better.  There is no doubt about that.

Ali

Easier to find?  Its under G for Guns and Roses?  I was actually in Chicago the day it came out, I stopped in the 1st BB i found and had no problem at all.  More than CD was released that day, and it was with all the others, PLUS  a whole end cap dedicated to it

When someone has to ask an employee where the album is, it is not easy to find.  I'm hardly the only person to express this.  Rollingstone actually did a piece mentioning this.  (http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/12/18/why-black-ice-beat-chinese-democracy-the-tale-of-wal-mart-vs-best-buy/)  And, I never said this happened at ALL stores.  It seemed to be the case at several stores I went to.  And I don't live in Chicago.

And, yes, product placement in stores makes a difference in terms of sales at a store.  Stores like IKEA are masters of generating an impulse buy by putting thing near the check-out stand.  There is a reason why a lot of stores do that.

That is not the same as saying the placement of the album in Best Buys (even if there was a unified strategy across all outlets), was an overriding reason for the lack of sales.  As I said before, the blame rests mainly with Axl for not promoting the record.



Ali

[faldor]

So CD didn't sell as well as everyone would have liked. Do you honestly think its placement in the store was a big factor in that? C'mon now

Nobody's blaming Best Buy for the lackluster sales.  Just pointing out the plain and simple fact that they handled their first (and probably last) major exclusive extremely poorly.  Simple as that, let's not read too far into things now.

[ppbebe]

fans caring about the sales for the band's sake is natural.
but fans blaming the band for the sales... is preposterous, like the tail wagging the dog.

But what if they do nothing to promote it? Shouldn't they share in the blame? Ive always thought of this as a clusterfuck on all sides. Everyone dropped the ball ( label, management, the band). This album had such a huge built in promotion ( notoriety to the point of becoming legendary). A few ads on national television here and there won't do anything to sell albums. Rockband won't help sell albums. They had to get out there and promote. And it's not selling out. This is what artists do. When they have the platform that GNR can get they use it to there advantage. They shouldve promoted this baby hard because I also feel that the leaked tracks killed some of the hype. They had to get out there and make people want to buy this album.

Its is their fault as well.  I am responsible for my products selling. No, I dont personally go out and sell it, we have people who market and take care of things like that.  If gnr's product is not selling as well as expected, than it is their responsibility to make sure the right people are doing what they are supposed to do.

but fans blaming the band for the sales... is preposterous, like the tail wagging the dog.

No, its warrented. The band....Axl in this case....is somewhat responsible for how the promotional campaign ended up. Its his band, his album, etc. He is ultimately responsible for "selling" it/ reenforcing it to the public when its released. The label gave the band millions of dollars for the "art". Most of those millions were probably wasted along the way. You cant expect the label, after spending millions of dollars, along with the length of time it took Axl to finally release it to be excited about funding a full fledged promotional campaign.

Everyone knows that the labels are only in it for the money. Even more so now then back in the day. But if you take their money in making the album....then you really cant complain later on. Both are to blame.

yea and in that case, what do you care? why do you care about the sales? is that your business?  you aren't from best buy or the label, are you?

[IKnowWhereIAM]

...blame...clusterfuck...dropped the ball...killed some of the hype.

I was really getting sick of reading the blame game, negativity BS, and wanted to throw my opinion into the mix...and then I had an epiphany:  In '87 GnR didn't do any groundbreaking, earthshattering marketing.  There were very few who 'got' the band, and it was like our own personal band of sorts...then MTV picked up video, and everyone finally saw what we liked.  We were 'in' (not as in as the Sunset Strip fans, but hopefully you get the point) on the ground floor of something special.  Fast forward to today...a large number of fans seem wrapped around the axle (not axl) wanting everyone else to still love what we do.  They were not rabid GnR fans, and moved on with the tides of the music industry.  The fact is, when you look at the big sellers of today, I don't think anything on CD is going to win those people over.  Obviously there was curiosity about GnR & CD by the record breaking number of downloads from MySpace...but nothing caught fire.  I know many of you are emotionally invested in this, and want 'your' band to succeed - well they did.  They sold a shitload of records.  And they will continue to, as long as Axl is making music.  Will that success look like 1987 all over again?  I don't think it ever could - too much has changed.  But we still have 'our' band, and a great album in CD.   Isn't that enough to make you happy?   I can't wait to see what comes next! 

[TomFriend]

Its not 1987 anymore and if Axl cared about having a hit album, he'd have got out there to sell it.

Anyone who blames the hard-working people at Best Buy who have several other products, lines, issues and matters to worry about other than GN'F'N'Egos is an idiot and should be ashamed of themselves for thinking their beloved band, who failed to put one single solitary appearance as a unit in to the promotion of what we're told was a collaborative effort over the course of 15+ years, are so infallible and were somehow 'screwed over' by people who made every reasonable effort to shift their product.

It's a fucking joke. Some of you people make me sick to be honest. You'd blame anyone for anything as long as it didn't mean you had to accept that precious godlike Axl might actually be a normal human being. somehow less than flawless, and actually in some way accountable for his own successes and failures.

Perish the fucking thought.

[Jdog0830]

Thank you Ali a little more promotion would have helped to from Best Buy but the past is history we need to think about the future

[AxlsMainMan]

Here in Canada, the Best Buy I went to really went above and beyond instore promotion for the record.

As soon as you walked into the store, massive displays were in every concievable department with 100s if not 1000s of copies at the ready.

Even at the checkout counter they had displays set up. Sure these displays had the old school Gn'R logo like inside the Appetite' booklet, but it was still cool to see that eventhough the album was not a Best Buy exclusive in Canada, they still made a tremendous effort to make it more than apparent that CD had indeed been released that fine November day.

I don't know if this was just a Canadian thing, but most of the copies of CD came with 2 free drink coasters.

HMV made a fairly big push for the album too and had huge posters in their windows saying THE WAIT IS OVER...CHINESE DEMOCRACY...IN STORES 11/23/08.

[Jdog0830]

Well in America after the loyal fans got the album and about 2 weeks went by their was nothing about CD but that's just from what I have seen

[IKnowWhereIAM]

Its not 1987 anymore and if Axl cared about having a hit album, he'd have got out there to sell it.

Hammer has met head of nail.  It is 2009 - GnR selling 1.5 million albums isn't 'failure' by anybodys standards, except the fans who want CD to sell 6 mil and top the charts.

To assign 'blame' is pointless.  If the Band, label, or BB were up in arms over 'lackluster' sales, I am sure more qualified people would be reminding everyone who was to blame...the fact is at this point we 'fans' are crying over an empty casket.  This seems to happen every time there is a break in official info.  This album is a great album, but it apparently is not for everyone...that doesn't make me enjoy it any less.  I am sure GnR has plenty more surprises left for us, and I look forward to them.