Fascism's New Face

I just read this on Salon's "The Fix" gossip section:

Blacklisting the Scissor Sisters: The New York disco-rock band the Scissor Sisters released a new album on Tuesday, "Ta-Dah," but it may not necessarily be coming to a store near you. The group -- whose single off the album, "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'," is No. 1 in the U.K. charts -- won't be appearing in any of the 1,100 stores owned by Trans World Entertainment, including FYE, Sam Goody, Strawberries, Wherehouse, Specs and Coconuts. The reason? Frontman Jake Shears complained at a record retailers convention last month that Trans World's prices are too high: "I went to go buy the new Raconteurs album, and it was like $18.99." Trans World president and CEO Jim Litwak said Shears was exaggerating the price but never apologized, "so we made the decision not to carry the band's new release." (VH1)

I'm no fan of the Scissor Sisters, simply because I haven't listened to much of their music, but this report disturbed me. A petulant CEO waiting for an apology is going to dictate what his customers have access to? This may seem minor, or even reasonable, unless you consider that most towns only have a Coconuts or Wherehouse or Sam Goody from which to purchase their $19 cds. (Quick aside: I worked at a Wherehouse, in the video section, for one month when I was 17. It was there I learned that the vast majority of video renters in this country are renting porn - and I mean vast! The most benign looking guys would come up to check out with like 15 porn titles, and then they'd throw "When Harry Met Sally" on the top of the stack.) To be sure, anyone with the Internet can access "Tah-Da" elsewhere, but what about the Jake Shears of tomorrow - the standalone queers in tiny red towns who have never even heard of the Scissor Sisters? Will they instead have to make due with the latest Dixie Chicks record? Oh wait, that's a bad example, because the Chicks are also known for ticking off corporate honchos. No, instead they'll have to settle for something by the repulsive Black Eyed Peas, or some other band that only Matt Lauer and his ilk can stomach. And if tomorrow's gays start listening to Matt Lauer music, the reverberations will be felt throughout the culture at large. I shudder to even continue this line of thinking.

But my point is, in an age where mega corporations have their hands in everything and have the ability to buy up any competitors, we don't need a Hitler or a Stalin to take away our freedoms. An idiot like Jim Litwak can simply limit our choices to fit his own preferences.

By the way, I believe a Trans World company was selling a cd for $18.99. Virgin and Tower charge as much, and Herr Guitar impulsively paid about that much for a copy of the Smiths' "Meat is Murder" three weeks ago at Other Music. Even the cashier was aghast, commenting that the 20-year-old album should definitely be sold at some sort of "Nice Price." The worst part was that HG went home, listened to two songs, and hasn't played the cd since, but that's a complaint for another post...

I know what you're thinking: By writing this, I am completely distroying my chances for worldwide distribution of my own album, which I have yet to make or even consider making. (Note to self: learn instrument and song writing and consider making album, and then reconsider due to possible blacklisting.) But hey, that's the kind of in-your-face social critic I am.