The changing face of the music biz

Three tales from the music biz.

It’s been a strange week for old fogeys who used to go to the record store to get their music.

AC/DC’s new album is atop the charts, even though you can only buy it at WalMart or Sam’s Club. The group’s Sunday night concert at the Xcel got good reviews.

Guns N Roses released their album on Sunday. But you can only buy it at Best Buy or at iTunes. It got a terrible review from NPR’s music critic today.

And today, Bruce Springsteen is providing free downloads of the title track from his upcoming album, Working on a Dream (today only). The first step toward making a pile of money with an album, now appears to be giving away a piece of it for free.

Music marketing clearly has come a long way from the days when a record company would just pay a disc jockey to play its junk.