Good read. A similar, but not exactly comperable, situation has arised in other arenas. For example, in the book ‘The Tipping Point’, author Gladwell talks about Airwalk shoes’ falling out of popular favor. Obivously Airwalk began small, catering to independent skate shops. When they became popular, of course, they sold their shoes through large stores like Foot Locker. Airwalk, however, sold their most technical shoes only to the indie shops. This kept their most loyal customers happy as well as providing actual skaters with nicer, trend-setting shoes as opposed to the trend-following shoes available at J.C. Penny. Once Airwalk started selling their whole line to major retailers they lost their street cred and fell off the map.

In short, people go to indie stores for more than price. They go because the person behind the counter can tell them that the new Cat Power EP came out last week and yes, she held one for you. They go because they can be around like-minded people. They go because they can pick up a flyer for a great show. They go because there is used vinyl in the back. I assume most people realize that the price they pay is for a great service, and that each person’s patronage actually matters.

Obivously according to Mac’answer and the law, the labels in question had no idea about this sale. Are the indie stores getting undercut? Yes. Will it hurt them in the long run? Hopefully not, because hopefully kids in the middle of America will pick up the new Cat Power CD at Best Buy and it’ll change their life. That’s what happened to me when I bought Clouds Taste Metallic at a national chain store. It completely blew my mind and here I am now on a music blog giving you my $0.02.