CD returns to Best Buy ad...$7.99

[russtcb]

I was at 2 Best Buy's in Michigan yesterday (due to their online ordering system sucking). I looked at both CD sections and both had tons of copies of Chi Dem with the regular 12.99 price and absolutely no indication of the sale on the CDs themselves or any signage at all.

Ofcourse at one of them, I went to find the hard drive I was purchasing and it was marked 119.99 with no indication at all that it was 89.99 this week. So maybe they're just lazy?

[faldor]

I was at 2 Best Buy's in Michigan yesterday (due to their online ordering system sucking). I looked at both CD sections and both had tons of copies of Chi Dem with the regular 12.99 price and absolutely no indication of the sale on the CDs themselves or any signage at all.

Ofcourse at one of them, I went to find the hard drive I was purchasing and it was marked 119.99 with no indication at all that it was 89.99 this week. So maybe they're just lazy?

Yeah I think that's the case.  Just some lazy, poorly managed employees at certain stores.  I don't think they're going out of their way to sabotage Chinese Democracy.  I went to my hometown Best Buy today and they had the $7.99 sale price in plain sight, so overall I found 2 stores that played along and 2 that didn't.  Sale ends tomorrow.

[TomFriend]

The fact is, Best Buy did a fair amount to promote this album. Axl didn't put in a single public appearance.

If people want to point fingers and place blame for the album not selling, Best Buy shouldn't be the first port of call. I'm just glad we got the music. It's not my place to care or be concerned about whether it sells or not. If Axl wanted to get out their and promote it, I'm sure he would have.

[cotis]

The fact is, Best Buy did a fair amount to promote this album. Axl didn't put in a single public appearance.

Would you be speaking of the single-digit number of commercials or the signs that were on the doors for the first two weeks. Or, excuse me, the picture of Axl in the weekly ads for one week, maybe two weeks tops.

[russtcb]

The fact is, Best Buy did a fair amount to promote this album. Axl didn't put in a single public appearance.

If people want to point fingers and place blame for the album not selling, Best Buy shouldn't be the first port of call. I'm just glad we got the music. It's not my place to care or be concerned about whether it sells or not. If Axl wanted to get out their and promote it, I'm sure he would have.

I don't blame only Best Buy but I sure do blame them. Placing pictures of Axl in one weeks ad and leaving the CD out in the middle of the aisle wasn't exactly the "monumental promotion" promised on their part.

[Jdog0830]

so fucking awesome... i went to the best buy in hixson tn yesterday, and they had probably a hundred copies of cd on the shelf.  all of them were marked at the super-bargain price of 7.99!  this tells me one thing... they are expecting to sell a shit load of cd's.  otherwise, why fill the shelves like that?  why advertise that amazingly low price?  could this mean that the better video is about to come out?  either that or a major tour is about to happen.  they know there's going to be a gnr storm blowing through that store soon, and they want to get out ahead of it. 

Please be kidding.

There is no band promotion going on for this album. Best Buy have either realized that there will be no promotion from the band, or their exclusive deal is about to end. Either way, its a fact that they have thousands upon thousands of overstock copies of this album. As there is seemingly no sign of any GNR activity whatsoever at the moment, Best Buy are understandably eager to cut their losses and shift a few of the CDs, hence the discount.

How you can leap to the conclusion that this means GNR world domination or even the Better video are right around the corner is beyond me. If we were really about to be in for some 'monumental promotion', they wouldn't need to half the price of the CDs in order to sell them.

The only problem is this sale only runs through Saturday and 2 out of 3 stores I went into this week didn't even publicize the fact it was on sale.  So that's not exactly an effective way to push units out the door.

true or trying to promote the album in prepration for a new music video or a tour they think they made a mistake i think and are trying not to admit it and thats wrong

[TomFriend]

The fact is, Best Buy did a fair amount to promote this album. Axl didn't put in a single public appearance.

Would you be speaking of the single-digit number of commercials or the signs that were on the doors for the first two weeks. Or, excuse me, the picture of Axl in the weekly ads for one week, maybe two weeks tops.

It's the stores job to include the album in its in-store displays, stock the album on time, include it in their catalogs and promotional handouts, and sell it for the agreed price.

Is is not the stores job to promote the album. That's the job of the band and the label.

[faldor]

The fact is, Best Buy did a fair amount to promote this album. Axl didn't put in a single public appearance.

Would you be speaking of the single-digit number of commercials or the signs that were on the doors for the first two weeks. Or, excuse me, the picture of Axl in the weekly ads for one week, maybe two weeks tops.

It's the stores job to include the album in its in-store displays, stock the album on time, include it in their catalogs and promotional handouts, and sell it for the agreed price.

Is is not the stores job to promote the album. That's the job of the band and the label.

As GNR fans, we owe Best Buy a huge collective THANK YOU for shelling out the cash to make the release of Chinese Democracy possible.  However, it's hard to argue they've handled things swimmingly since the deal was announced.  With or without cooperation from the band (which I agree seems inexcusable) they could've done A LOT MORE.

[ppbebe]

to whom is 'it' inexcusable?    it's the band's album after all.
the electric shop attracted xmas shoppers with the come-on.

[D]

I would be shocked if Best Buy didn't have some sort of lawsuit in the works

if certain things were in the contract that GNR were required to do and didn't, I say that is possible.

[ppbebe]

and if gnr did what they were required to do or weren't required to do anything in particular in the contract?

[faldor]

Well I do think eventually some sort of push will be made.  Whether it be a tour, a video, public appearances, etc.  That would do nothing but help create some buzz and interest.  That's why it is looking more and more like this exclusive is going to last a lot longer than we originally were led to believe.  I'm sure things haven't exactly gone to plan on any front, but it's still a Best Buy exclusive so whenever something, anything happens they will still be the ones to benefit.

[King Axl]

The fact is, Best Buy did a fair amount to promote this album. Axl didn't put in a single public appearance.

Would you be speaking of the single-digit number of commercials or the signs that were on the doors for the first two weeks. Or, excuse me, the picture of Axl in the weekly ads for one week, maybe two weeks tops.

Can you name any band in recent history that didn't make any public appearances to promote its' new album?

Best Buy held up their end of the bargain. You almost NEVER see TV ads promoting a band's new album anymore, but Best Buy did that. It may not have been as frequent as any of us would have liked, but they still did it. They put the release date in their flyers 3-4 weeks before the CD hit, giving people time to pre-order. The CD was at every checkout on November 23rd, as well as at a display near the front of the store.

What did the GN'R camp do to promote the record?

Stop blaming Best Buy. Were it not for them, the CD might still be unreleased.

[freddiebrph]

The fact is, Best Buy did a fair amount to promote this album. Axl didn't put in a single public appearance.

Would you be speaking of the single-digit number of commercials or the signs that were on the doors for the first two weeks. Or, excuse me, the picture of Axl in the weekly ads for one week, maybe two weeks tops.

Can you name any band in recent history that didn't make any public appearances to promote its' new album?

Best Buy held up their end of the bargain. You almost NEVER see TV ads promoting a band's new album anymore, but Best Buy did that. It may not have been as frequent as any of us would have liked, but they still did it. They put the release date in their flyers 3-4 weeks before the CD hit, giving people time to pre-order. The CD was at every checkout on November 23rd, as well as at a display near the front of the store.

What did the GN'R camp do to promote the record?

Stop blaming Best Buy. Were it not for them, the CD might still be unreleased.

I agree! People acting like BB is the reason CD is not selling, as well as they think it should,  are just looking for any excuse.  Its very simple , if people want to buy it, they know its at BB, GO GET IT!  Do any of you think not touring, not doing interviews (where you actually talk about what people want to know about THE ALBUM), having no hit singles on the radio, and no videoes, MIGHT just be hurting the cause a little bit? I do a lot of traveling in the car for my job, I hear gnr on the radio every day, its just not nugnr. why?

[faldor]

I don't think anyone is claiming Best Buy is the reason the album hasn't sold as well as expected.  There are obviously many factors that have attributed to that.  But Best Buy IS one of them.  For better or worse.  You can't honestly say Best Buy has done the best possible job they could've done (a Wal Mart type job) with this exclusive.  It's been amateurish at best.

The blame doesn't fall squarely on them, but they definitely are part of the equation.

[nekomex]

I would be shocked if Best Buy didn't have some sort of lawsuit in the works

if certain things were in the contract that GNR were required to do and didn't, I say that is possible.

indeed, i wonder if they just agree to have the exclusivity and the didnt care about promotion from the band, they just assumed that the band was going to do it?. how can you buy 1.3 million copies and dont get a contract to make sure that all parts do their best to sell the cd?

[Robman?]

Well I do think eventually some sort of push will be made.  Whether it be a tour, a video, public appearances, etc.  That would do nothing but help create some buzz and interest.  That's why it is looking more and more like this exclusive is going to last a lot longer than we originally were led to believe.  I'm sure things haven't exactly gone to plan on any front, but it's still a Best Buy exclusive so whenever something, anything happens they will still be the ones to benefit.

a push for a 10 month old album? the question is...why bother?

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Well I do think eventually some sort of push will be made.  Whether it be a tour, a video, public appearances, etc.  That would do nothing but help create some buzz and interest.  That's why it is looking more and more like this exclusive is going to last a lot longer than we originally were led to believe.  I'm sure things haven't exactly gone to plan on any front, but it's still a Best Buy exclusive so whenever something, anything happens they will still be the ones to benefit.

a push for a 10 month old album? the question is...why bother?

There are bands out there pushing THIRTY year old albums...

[TomFriend]

Maybe this album really was Axl's gift to the fans.

[IKnowWhereIAM]

I think everyone who is turning this into a blame game thread, needs to take a step back, a deep breath, and ask:  This 'blame' everyone is throwing around, what is it, really?

The Label, the Band, and Best Buy have people to worry about these things, if they are even worrying...if you've been a fan for more than 5 minutes - you know you can't believe anything you read or hear, and only half of what you see with your own eyes...a front row ticket doesn't mean you're going to see a concert, until Axl walks on stage.  Quit the crying and hypothesizing (or take it to a shit stirring - rumor monger site), enjoy CD, and be thankful that the perfect storm that held up CD, let up long enough for it to drop.  GnR has never been a 'conventional' band, and continues to redefine how things are done...and yes, they have redefined the phrase 'coming soon' - hold the jokes please.

If you really need something to look forward to, there are only about 130 shopping days left until Christmas.