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Billboard reported Tuesday that AC/DC's new album Black Ice, sold exclusively at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is "flying off the shelves" at both Wal-Mart and Sam's Club retail outlets. It is estimated that the album sold 193,000 copies in its first day of release (Monday), and is expected to sell nearly 800,000 by the end of the charting week. Black Ice is AC/DC's first album of new material in eight years and has spurred the release of a special "track pack" for Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA)'s Rock Band video game.

Despite the positive sales of the new album, Wal-Mart shares have lost over 5% since Monday, the day the album was released. The apparent non-effect of the album on Wal-Mart shares could be due to its own exclusivity, meaning some shoppers may be entering stores only to purchase the album. It could have nothing to do with the appearance of the album as well, which is a more likely scenario considering trading and the market this week.

Still, the success an exclusive album in the market right now indicates the positive and negative aspects of exclusivity with the music industry to market physical albums in a system focused on digital sales. AC/DC is not aligned with the major digital stores either, meaning that the move could be akin to the band's agreement to offer songs, albums, and other content with Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ).

Wal-Mart has taken the lead in selling albums exclusively, although most albums are live recordings or collections. The new album from the Eagles last year was the first time a new album of studio material was released exclusively to massive success. Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) will follow the trend soon with the exclusive release of the long-awaited new Guns 'n' Roses album, Chinese Democracy. Investors interested in the music industry and retail outlets would be wise to consider these decisions since they are indicators of massive success, even if that success is short-lived and does not make physical formats more viable in the current digitally-focused market.

Wal-Mart set to score big with exclusive AC/DC release originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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