Retailing records series; (part 8) censorship (III)

Indeed, the hearings and his high-profile wife brought Al Gore into the limelight, as well as 1984 presidential aspirant Ernest Holdings. But beyond that, they caused the RIAA to fold like a bad poker hand. The record companies capitulated and adapted the Parental Advisory Sticker.

This brings us back to the aisles of Wal-Mart, where albums dressed in Parental Advisory Stickers are taboo. Since Wal-Mart represents such a large percentage of the records sold, record companies and bands redesigned (or created alternative) covers for albums, released versions of CDs with masked lyrics, changed lyrics, or removed songs altogether.

Artists who will not give in to this sort of self-censorship will not get into the racks at Wal-Mart. Not getting into the racks could cost artists 10 percent of their sales, estimated Al Cafaro, former head of A&M Records.

Beyond the sales, however, this has had a chilling effect on the artists. When Perry Farrell created a papier-maché sculpture for the cover of Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual de lo Habitual album, he hadn’t given Wal-Mart a second thought. Until he had a pre-release meeting with his record company. “They said they thought I should consider a second cover, because we’d probably only sell a thousand copies.” The Ritual de lo Habitual albums in Wal-Mart had a white cover with the band’s name on it, along with the First Amendment.

“If you’re an artist,” noted retailer Don Rosenberg, “and want to write something about race, religion, politics, or sex, and you know it’s not going to be carried by a large percentage of retailers, you’re in the position of either singing what’s on your mind or selling records.”

“You may need to show ID,” wrote Rock and Rap Confidential editor Dave Marsh, “to buy records that make any meaningful commentary on the world.”

Or you might not be able to buy them at all if the only place near your home that sells CDs is Wal-Mart. But then, there’s an awful lot of music that you cannot buy at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart stocks its stores like the retail reflection of radio. Even online, the chain stocks only 80,000 titles, not quite a quarter of the number available. Many artists needed to expurgate a goodly chunk of those albums to get them on the shelves. Some artists don’t need to bother, as their company couldn’t get the records into Wal-Mart regardless – they’re too small, too low-profile, too anything, really. As with most of its merchandise, the music at Wal-Mart tends toward inoffensive, middle-of-the-road blandness. The quirky or controversial need not apply.