EMI abandons independent music stores

According to a recent report from music industry veteran Wayne Rosso, EMI Group has been contacting small accounts, mostly independent "mom & pop" record stores, to tell them that they would no longer sell them product.

He adds:

EMI intends to save money by not selling their CD's to independent retailers. Instead they want these retailers to go to one stops for their product. These retailers are the only ones who buy catalog anymore. You sure can't find it at Walmart and Best Buy. These are small businesses who have been loyal customers of EMI for 20, 30, 40 or more years. Like in the movie High Fidelity, these guys know every catalog number ever released. Every disk ever cut out of the catalog. They live and die by making personal recommendations to their customers–turning them on to new music. These shops are where music lovers go to discover and buy music.

Active and catalogue artists on EMI include Radiohead, Beastie Boys, Yellowcard, Less Than Jake, Stiff Little Fingers, Foo Fighters, The Decemberists and many others.