Wal-Mart is acting as a union of CD purchasers of sorts, threatening to drop their CD stockpile if labels don't fall in line with lower CD prices. Here's my thought on the matter: Wal-Mart can do whatever they want: if they don't stock the CD I like, I don't shop there for that CD (well, I don't shop there for any CDs anyway, but you get my drift). Note that this doesn't work out too well in Middle America where Wal-Mart is often the only major music retailer around.

I don't want to see either side win this battle. Wal-Mart doesn't stock nearly as many albums as a Tower Records or a Virgin Megastore, and it limits exposure for up and coming and independent artists. I hope that the music industry comes up with a new business model that allows it to break free from Wal-Mart and Best Buy, because it means that it can focus on developing its product rather than maximizing returns on distribution costs. Once a secure and fair peer-to-peer technology exists, it will benefit both musicians and consumers. To hell with Wal-Mart.