Springsteen Sells Out -- To Wal-Mart!

Isn't Bruce Springsteen a pro-labor, small-town, union supporting guy? Then why will The Boss' Greatest Hits be released exclusively by Wal-Mart? Okay, its only his greatest hits, which you can download anyway song by song if you have the patience. But still, wtf?

There're a number of reasons Springsteen's move to sell exclusively through the mega-retailer is, um really confusing, if not down right contradictory to the Springsteen hagiography: The small businesses forced to closed when Wal-Mart comes to town; Wal-Mart's low wages and high employee health care which place a significant percentage of "sales associates" and their children on public assistance; and Wal-Mart's labor history in the US and abroad-including child labor, violations of state labor laws and anti-union practices in the US, and use of sweatshops abroad all seem to be things that fly in the face of Springsteen's caring public image.

And for those of us concerned about LGBT rights: In May, Wal-Mart's board of directors opposed shareholders who wanted to extend the company's anti-discrimination to include the transgendered. They were voted down by the shareholders--but still...

Click here for more on Springsteen's Wal-Mart sell-out

Comments

[dime4abeer]

What a bringdown! "The Boss" is now "The Bum." Springsteen is such a compulsive control freak, there should be no doubt he was well aware of this insult to all the hard-working slobs who buy his products and attend his shows.

In the name of Jdimytai Damour (the poor Walmart worker who was crushed on Black Friday), let's boycott the new release.

If anyone is at the inauguration, hold up a sign that says "WALMARTIANS FOR BRUCE"!

[jerseywolf]

I'm a long-time Springsteen fan. But this Wal-Mart move bothers me. I'm not sure what he is thinking here. I am not ready to discard all my cd's for this kind of screw-up - we are all fallible and capable of very bad decisions. And it would be silly to assume that he has become Dick Cheney with a Fender Stratocaster (picture that). But it would be nice if he addressed this. Why the exclusive arrangement with a company like Wal-Mart?

[Dan Sweeney - Huffpost Blogger]

Obviously, he's trying to support Walmart because it does so much for his music.

I mean, can't you just imagine a soon-to-be written Springsteen song starting off something like "Well, they closed down the hardware store when Walmart opened up on the hill/ Yeah I can't find a job, but to feed my family I swear I will..."

Hell, Walmart's probably the single biggest creator of Springsteen-esque decaying small towns we've got. The Boss' move is a bit like a comedian voting for Bush so he can keep writing jokes about him.

[MalMNN]

i understand your concern, but it's only a "greatest hits" album, not NEW material. will it really matter to WalMart's overall business? and, quite possibly, like Best Buy's exclusive with Guns N Roses, it will fail . i'm more interested in Bruce's new release.

http://www.musicnewsnet.com/2008/12/best-of-bruce-springsteen-at-walmart-only-.html

and, get this FREE, legal Bruce download-
http://www.musicnewsnet.com/2008/12/free-springsteen-download-today-.html

[atvalkyrie]

Wow, I do love reading judgmental people spout off about a company that they supposedly never shop at. Why does any of this affect you? It's not like Walmart's a new company, it's 45 years old...and it doesn't show signs of stopping, yet most of you reportedly NEVER shop there. And if you're trying to save the poor, downtrodden worker at Walmart, really, don't. We're fine. As for Bruce Springsteen, the man's never really been one not to show his opinion, so I'd think with his lack of statement, (which has never been his MO before,) he's kind of okay with what's going on. And if he's not, then I'm definitely sure he's okay with his paycheck.

[samandally]

All those small businesses that closed didn't pay well either and provided NO insurance for employees. That evil Walmart doesn't force people to shop there either, I choose not to shop there and it is MY choice.My god, Bruce loves money as well as the next liberal does, maybe he will do some good with it.

[TheBlackCat]

Actually that's not true. The tax foundation has shown that small businesses over all paid better and had better benefits than Walmart. Also, overall many small businesses employ more people than one big Walmart. After Walmart moves into a small town, overall wages decrease and unemployment rises.

But the big problem with Walmart is taxes. Walmart has evaded billions in tax dollars in the last decade alone. Those small businesses don't have the lawyers and lobbyists to get THEM out of paying taxes. So when Walmart replaces small stores, the community suffers tremendously at the loss of tax revenue.

It's always better to shop locally than at a chain. When you shop locally, that money is staying in your community. When you shop at a chain, your money is going OUTSIDE of your community, and most likely to an account in the Caymans.

[MoreLove]

Releasing a single-album greatest hits package is usually a cynical act to begin. Ah... non-story here, in my opinion, due to lack of substance.

[EnlightenUp]

I just checked the official Springsteen site, and when all of his albums come up, there is no listing for this particular "greatest hits" package... then I went to the Sony/BMG page, and in their montage of artists, Bruce was one of them.. I'm confused. Does he have 2 labels? Does he have his own? Did he sell the rights to some of these songs?

I'm wondering if there's some issue going on with the rights to his songs.. Notice on the Walmart GH, those are certainly not *my* favorite Springsteen songs.. and I've been a fan since age 7 (Mom has good taste), but they are mainly the "patriotic", pro-American "anthems" and the "top 40 hits"....an attempt to improve WM's image, perhaps? Or maybe Sony put out these particular songs in hopes of attracting the "type" of person who shops at WM--their demographic..?

[MPeter]

Do not call da Boss a sell-out. He, of all Americans has stood up so much for our rights. Da Boss is a good man. Do not demonize him.

[LLisaLL]

Walmart's demographic target is mainly lower to middle class income earners, the very ones who have allowed the company to flourish because of their affordable prices. If you want to give Springsteen a black mark for doing a deal with Walmart, then you need to also give every American family that shops at Walmart a black mark.

The way I see it, The Boss is simply using the retailer that has the best access to a large majority of his fan base.

[AbbieXHoffman]

Walmart has put a lot of small business owners out of work ultimately destroying local economies and by taking the big money out of the hands of the small business owners who in turn spend it within their local economies. Now the likes of Walmart take the big money out of the local economy and puts it into the hands corporate CEOs that don't live in our communities and spend it elsewhere.

Yes Walmart does "charity" for local areas but charity doesn't make economies healthy. It may help the poor--but it doesn't negate the destruction of the local middle class and small business owners.

We are quickly ridding ourselves of the middle class and that's what made our country the strongest in the world.

Bruce, people loved you for so long partly because you were a voice of opposition to this very priciple and they called you our Boss, as a replacement for the corporate Boss's. Now do we have to call you "the Machine"?

Say it isn't so. Perhaps Bruce didn't think this through or perhaps he lost control over the distribution or perhaps I am totally wrong. I'd like to wait to hear if he has a retort to this criticism.

Has he responded?

Buy local, think global Bruce!

[RevengeIsNear]

The Boss is still cool. Let him slide on this one...

[Chbronze]

This can't be a surprise to anyone, can it? Walmart has proven itself over and over again as the worlds leading merchandiser. If "The Boss" wants to look compassionate he can volunteer this weekend at the shelter. This is, was, and will always be about selling records.

[rektruax]

"This is, was, and will always be about selling records."

Seems to me it's people who use the phrase "sell out" (non-ironically) are the ones least likely to understand what you've said here. They've some grandiose idea that their favorite artists are creating just for them, and are insulted when the broadest audience possible is sought. A machine the size of the one The Boss has built requires a lot of revenue. Greatest Hits retrospectives have historically earned well.

[CologneCitizen]

Americans are so complicated,. They need a drawer or place for everything to label and put it in a certain box for good. To shop or not to shop at Walmart seems like a way expressing yourself politically. Probably Springsteen likes money like everybody else. If he figures he gets a good deal at Walmart, let him go ahead. His music is good, and I hate it when people look for hidden messages in songs. Music business is and will be there to make money, preferably more than less. Springsteen is not a better person than the rest of you, and he doesn' t need a tag or label put on him: ATTENTION: SELF RIGHTEOUS PEACE AND MONEY LOVING GOOD HUMAN BEING AHEAD.

[eddoreandarisia]

Rationalizations...rationalizations... Why are some people attempting to put some kind of positive spin on Springsteen's motives here? It's obviously a totally hypocritical move by Springsteen on the one hand, and on the other hand, if indeed he's lost control of the rights to these songs, he should state that. Moreover, he could disconnect from major labels and do his own thing if he wanted. He certainly doesn't need the money. But the main point here is anyone of Springsteen's stature can easily suffer from the "Fog of Fame" and only see things lopsidedly. You can imagine how he himself is rationalizing this Walmart move. Maybe we need to stop having so many expectations of these icons of American society and see them as vulnerable to these inexplicable behaviors as anyone else. How many heroes do we have ultimately? Probably a lot fewer than we would like.

[JimR]

Your post is all over the place.

Anyway, there is nothing obvious about it, which is why some of us like to get facts first before we go off on bizarre rants.

And think about this: It would make more sense for him to make his album of new material, out next month, available only at Walmart. But that one will be available everywhere. And it is highly unusual for an artist to release both a greatest hits album and an album of new material within a month of each other. That leads me to believe this wasn't his call.