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"Chinese Democracy" shows limits of retail exclusives
When Wal-Mart sold 784,000 copies of AC/DC’s ” Black Ice ” during the album’s first week in stores, many label executives believed that more superstars would release albums exclusively through big-box retailers. And when Best Buy experienced disappointing sales of Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy,” some of those same executives thought, well, maybe not. “Chinese Democracy” (Interscope), the rock act’s first album of all-new material in 17 years, sold 261,000 units in its first week of availability, according to Nielsen SoundScan That included sales at Best Buy, exclusive digital retailer iTunes and other stores selling import versions of the album.… Read more »