Chinese Democracy is $1.99 at Best Buy

[Albert S Miller]

So tell me how this works please .  CD was exclusively sold at Best Buy am I correct?  Obviously there was a contract between BB and GNR, my next question is... does such a contract have a experation date and can another store purchase CD and then sell it in their own store during this contractual time frame.  Once the contract has expired if it does, can any store then stock the cd to sell?  Whole reason I am asking this is I saw it today at Fred Meyer store, and granted it was one copy and it was $14.95.  I was a little bit shocked to see it there and so I was wondering more about how this process all works .

The Best Buy exclusivity has ended.  It's been awhile now actually.  So the CD can be sold at any store who wants to sell it.

And I believe even during the exclusivity timeframe, any independent record stores were free to purchase and sell CD at their stores.

Thank You so much Faldor

[HBK]

In Chile ChinDem.

Normal Price > US 12 :: And Now > US 7

But, Only In One Store On.Line

 

[reayj2003]

It's great that CD is back in the billboard 200! I read in every GN'R article that 'Chinese Democracy' was a commercial dissapointment.. But was it really?? What is a rough worldwide sales figure?? Anyone?

[LunsJail]

So tell me how this works please .  CD was exclusively sold at Best Buy am I correct?  Obviously there was a contract between BB and GNR, my next question is... does such a contract have a experation date and can another store purchase CD and then sell it in their own store during this contractual time frame.  Once the contract has expired if it does, can any store then stock the cd to sell?  Whole reason I am asking this is I saw it today at Fred Meyer store, and granted it was one copy and it was $14.95.  I was a little bit shocked to see it there and so I was wondering more about how this process all works .

The Best Buy exclusivity has ended.  It's been awhile now actually.  So the CD can be sold at any store who wants to sell it.

And I believe even during the exclusivity timeframe, any independent record stores were free to purchase and sell CD at their stores.

I thought it worked like this: the Best Buy deal applied only to US distribution. But.....any store could buy it as an import through a foreign distributor and sell it that way.  You probably didn't see many copies other places because 1.) imports are more expensive and 2.) CD wasn't exactly selling like hot cakes in the US anyways.

[ComeOnAxl!]

It's great that CD is back in the billboard 200! I read in every GN'R article that 'Chinese Democracy' was a commercial dissapointment.. But was it really?? What is a rough worldwide sales figure?? Anyone?

Would love to know a recent worldwide figure.

[Nytunz]

Well.. i just got bought the Chinese Democracy LP here in Norway.. 31$

But anyway.. the LP looks amazing!

[gnr-4-ever]

My copy is gonna arrive soon, thanks to a certain forum member. 

First copy I bought was a German one, so I guess I'll have a American copy soon too.

[Dr. Blutarsky]

There was so much attached to CD that anything less than the greatest selling album of the decade would be considered a failure.

How many artists would love their album to sell as many copies as CD?

Anyway, did they ever fix the distortion issues with the LP? I bought it day it came out and Prostitute sounds like shit.

[Eclipsed107]

just because it sold more than most artists though doesn't mean it wasn't a commercial failure.

it didn't even debut at number 1 on the billboard.  not even number 2.  it made a fast exit and the only way it could make it back on was by going to a 1.99 clearance event.

the album shipped over a million in the states but every best buy i had ever been in had at least 30 sitting on the shelf, i have a friend who works at a best buy in allentown pa, i asked him how CD was selling and he told me they had hundreds in the back.

just because it was a commercial failure though doesn't mean the album was a failure, it's a very good album and I think Axl achieved what he wanted to from a creative standpoint.  I'm playing the LP right in fact.

[jarmo]

The whole "commercial failure" aspect is amusing.

There was no way the album could ever be considered a success in any way by some people, who like to think of themselves as "objective".


The album sold a bunch of copies in the USA basically because people had read about it somewhere or heard about it.

I walked into a Best Buy in L.A. and saw that they had a Will Smith DVD prominently on display by the entrance while the Chinese Democracy display was further back. Didn't exactly look like Best Buy was pushing their exclusive a lot at that store. This was during the release week...

They didn't push it to the masses the same way some other exclusives have been.


The biggest problem is the fact that people don't want to give the album a shot. They have decided they don't like it based on all the shit they read and heard.



/jarmo

[LongGoneDay]

I think it's real simple. The band is tied to the expectations raised by a whole separate band, with which the Chinese Democracy era lineup shares a name with. Guns N' Roses is one of the most popular bands of all time, but in the eyes of many, that band ceased to exist a long time ago. Thankfully Axl is still making music for us to enjoy, but he alone isn't what made Guns N' Roses popular, no matter how many people want to believe he is.

It's not lack of promotion. Chinese Democracy has been talked about since the late nineties. The name Guns N' Roses promotes itself. There was plenty of anticipation, probably more so than for any other album. People know it's out there, they just don't care for it. I don't know anyone that doesn't know Chinese Democracy is out. I've played it for plenty of my friends, some of which have been fans since '86. Aside from my myself and brother I also don't know anyone personally who liked what they heard.

There is no denying it's a different direction from the earlier material. That's a great thing in the eyes of many. Chinese Democracy was a huge success to some people, it's their favorite album. Some people probably had their minds made up before they heard it, and plenty of people were underwhelmed by what they heard. Any band that has the turnover in personnel, and change in sound that Guns has had is going to endure it's share of criticism. I think you can be a fan of the band and still be realistic enough to understand why not everyone else is in the world is. It's not a conspiracy.

[jarmo]

People decided they don't like it before hearing a single note.


Most great bands and artists have changed direction at some point in their career. It's nothing new.



By the way, promotion isn't just telling people something is available, it's also making them go to the store and try to get them to buy it.

I'm sure everybody knows Coca Cola exists. Why is it being advertised then?

If Coke needs to be advertised, and it's that well known, how come Chinese Democracy with almost no promotion had enough promotion according to you?

I don't get that logic...



/jarmo

[Eclipsed107]

The whole "commercial failure" aspect is amusing.

There was no way the album could ever be considered a success in any way by some people, who like to think of themselves as "objective".


The album sold a bunch of copies in the USA basically because people had read about it somewhere or heard about it.

I walked into a Best Buy in L.A. and saw that they had a Will Smith DVD prominently on display by the entrance while the Chinese Democracy display was further back. Didn't exactly look like Best Buy was pushing their exclusive a lot at that store. This was during the release week...

They didn't push it to the masses the same way some other exclusives have been.


The biggest problem is the fact that people don't want to give the album a shot. They have decided they don't like it based on all the shit they read and heard.



/jarmo

i don't think that's true at all, the album was the most streamed album of all time on myspace right?  http://www.nme.com/news/guns-n-roses/41217  Obviously people had an interest right off the bat and wanted to hear it. 

I think the problem was that Gn'R just isn't relevant in America like they once were, Axl doesn't tour here, most of the CD tour dates have been overseas.  There was little to no promotion, a single that was seldom heard, no videos, no interviews, Gn'R didn't do a single thing to get people excited for the album, it just kind of came out and that was that.  13 years or however long in the making and it had an extremely quiet release.  With a proper release it would have sold fine IMO, especially if it was released to more stores than just Best Buy.  A special edition would have helped as well. 

CD came out in 2008 and the last tour date in America was in 2006, I guarantee you if Gn'R was touring America while CD came out the sales would have been higher.

The album would have been considered a success if it sold well, but it didn't.  It sold below expectations therefor it was a commercial failure, maybe the expectations were too high, and I agree with you on that Jarmo, but that doesn't change the fact that it sold poorly.

But again, I hardly think that makes the album a failure, most Gn'R fans like it, most like it a lot.  That's what Axl set out to do, create an album that the fans love, and for the most part I think he succeed with that greatly, which IMO was a bigger achievement than any amount of sales could prove.

Axl put replaced beloved members of one of the most popular bands of all time and still was able to make an album accepted by the fans.  That's saying a lot IMO.  Yeah CD was a commercial failure, but the album succeed in ways that most people thought it couldn't, I think that says a lot in it's on right.

[Halo69]

The whole "commercial failure" aspect is amusing.

There was no way the album could ever be considered a success in any way by some people, who like to think of themselves as "objective".


The album sold a bunch of copies in the USA basically because people had read about it somewhere or heard about it.

I walked into a Best Buy in L.A. and saw that they had a Will Smith DVD prominently on display by the entrance while the Chinese Democracy display was further back. Didn't exactly look like Best Buy was pushing their exclusive a lot at that store. This was during the release week...

They didn't push it to the masses the same way some other exclusives have been.


The biggest problem is the fact that people don't want to give the album a shot. They have decided they don't like it based on all the shit they read and heard.



/jarmo

I'll have to agree with that! I do have to say though, that the album is also weaker than any other GNR album, which was something that you would also expect to be a possibility due to the fact that it was a completely new line up. We already knew it was going to be different, but it was also weaker. Not to bash Axl or anyone...its just my personal opinion on it, and i believe that also had something to do with it.

I honestly believe though, that the next album will be amazing and that it will be much better than Chinese Democracy.

[Z?phyr]

@Halo69 Weaker? wtf ... CD is a great album, great production, great songs, great musicianship and great people, reasons enough to me to support it all the way ... period IMHO

[LongGoneDay]

People decided they don't like it before hearing a single note.


Most great bands and artists have changed direction at some point in their career. It's nothing new.



By the way, promotion isn't just telling people something is available, it's also making them go to the store and try to get them to buy it.

I'm sure everybody knows Coca Cola exists. Why is it being advertised then?

If Coke needs to be advertised, and it's that well known, how come Chinese Democracy with almost no promotion had enough promotion according to you?

I don't get that logic...



/jarmo

I don't disagree with you that some people had their minds up already. Guns is no different from any other band that has had personnel changes. Every band has it's share of purist fans that aren't going to accept changes, but I think that is being overemphasized. I think they are in the minority.
I'm also not saying that the band should have no promotion. I'm saying that the "lack of" promotion is not the reason it wasn't better received, in my opinion. I've read a lot of posts here about people not knowing Chinese Democracy was out. That hasn't been my experience. The album was a legend before it ever came out. How many albums do you know by name 7+ years before it's released? It was easily the most hyped up album I've been alive to witness. It was anything but a secret where I live. I saw an ad on TV. I heard the tracks on the radio. The radio station WAAF here in Boston has been a huge supporter of GNR as long as I can remember. The tracks were played frequently, and failed to generate much interest beyond a couple of days.

I'm actually surprised people expected more promotion, or greater album sales. Considering what it is, an album made by the lead singer of Guns N' Roses with an entirely new cast of musicians, I think it sold pretty damn well, especially for music today. If anyone dropped the ball in terms of promotion, it was Axl. He is the only one the public would care to see, or hear from in interviews. That's not his bag, and I respect that. If he's not concerned about promoting it, why are we? In the end it comes down to the music. To think that you can dismantle one of the greatest rock bands of all time, disappear for 10 years, replace key contributors and then expect to recreate that magic and chemistry of the classic era, and turn out chart topping records like nothing ever happened is beyond delusional. No amount of promotion was going to change that.

[jarmo]

I'm also not saying that the band should have no promotion. I'm saying that the "lack of" promotion is not the reason it wasn't better received, in my opinion. I've read a lot of posts here about people not knowing Chinese Democracy was out. That hasn't been my experience. The album was a legend before it ever came out. How many albums do you know by name 7+ years before it's released? It was easily the most hyped up album I've been alive to witness. It was anything but a secret where I live. I saw an ad on TV. I heard the tracks on the radio. The radio station WAAF here in Boston has been a huge supporter of GNR as long as I can remember. The tracks were played frequently, and failed to generate much interest beyond a couple of days.

My whole point was that you thought it had enough promotion, yet something well known such as Coca Cola is constantly promoted/advertised even though we all know it's available in almost every store.

It's not enough to inform people they have a choice of buying something, you need to make them want to buy it too.

Especially when for years people have been told they won't like it.


That was the point I was trying to make.



/jarmo

[Tyson]

Jarmo is 100% correct.  Regardless of how the album sounds, a serious marketing push would have unquestionably helped album sales.  Releasing it at Wal-Mart instead of Best Buy, which would have  given the album way more exposure, could easily have doubled the sales. 

[LongGoneDay]

I'm also not saying that the band should have no promotion. I'm saying that the "lack of" promotion is not the reason it wasn't better received, in my opinion. I've read a lot of posts here about people not knowing Chinese Democracy was out. That hasn't been my experience. The album was a legend before it ever came out. How many albums do you know by name 7+ years before it's released? It was easily the most hyped up album I've been alive to witness. It was anything but a secret where I live. I saw an ad on TV. I heard the tracks on the radio. The radio station WAAF here in Boston has been a huge supporter of GNR as long as I can remember. The tracks were played frequently, and failed to generate much interest beyond a couple of days.

My whole point was that you thought it had enough promotion, yet something well known such as Coca Cola is constantly promoted/advertised even though we all know it's available in almost every store.

It's not enough to inform people they have a choice of buying something, you need to make them want to buy it too.

Especially when for years people have been told they won't like it.


That was the point I was trying to make.



/jarmo

I hear ya. I would think that once the person knows it's out there, it's up to the music to make people want to buy it. Then again, not everyone is buying music these days.
Unfortunately rock isn't exactly burning up the radio stations either these days, so it's not going to get the airplay it would have back in the 90's.
All things considered, CD did/is doing pretty well.

[jarmo]

I hear ya. I would think that once the person knows it's out there, it's up to the music to make people want to buy it. Then again, not everyone is buying music these days.
Unfortunately rock isn't exactly burning up the radio stations either these days, so it's not going to get the airplay it would have back in the 90's.
All things considered, CD did/is doing pretty well.

It's not always that simple. Sure, sometimes people buy an album because they liked one song that they heard on the radio.

Sometimes they might buy an album based on a review they read. It all depends.

Imagine how difficult it is when the thought in the back of the buyer's mind is "this album sucks" and he/she hasn't heard a single note. How do you convince those people?


It did well in the day and age we currently live in.




/jarmo