The Swarm

November 15, 2007

Band of Horses to Wal-Mart: 'Keep your money'

TDS Editors

In-Forum (via Brooklyn Vegan):

In a phone interview last week, Bridwell said the more-holistic-than-thou response didn’t surprise him. He was wary from the start about the Wal-Mart deal, which at first was for a Web site (which no longer seems to be functioning) and later called for a TV commercial for the store.

“I called my family, talked to my girlfriend about it, talked to the guys in the band and decided it’s no big deal,” he said. “We tested it with that Web site thing that I figured nobody would really even see. But in the Internet age, you can’t do anything without someone catching wind of it.”

“Some fans, they don’t even give a crap. They’re like, ‘Whatever, bands got to get paid.’ But at the same time, I was reluctant to do it in the back of my mind, and some fans reminded me there is a reason to feel that way about it,” Bridwell said. “So once I saw our fans were let down by it, I nixed the TV commercial, and said, ‘You know what, this isn’t for me. Keep your money.’”


Post a comment


6 Comments

#1 revilo says:

Walmart is not good enough for them as they are on the road with that hunk of crap ZUNE.. LOL

#2 huh says:

What's wrong with the zune? It plays music?

#3 Wal-Mart CD Floorspace says:

Wal-Mart is reducing floorspace devoted to CDs.

#4 You Know You're Right says:

Shouldn't this be titled "We whored ourselves out to Wal-Mart once and our fans were pissed, so now we're backtracking on being greedy bastards"?

#5 Oh what Martyrs says:

Why is this news? Indie bands turn down money and promotion like this from unethical entities like WalMart all the time.

Band of Horses publicizing this is like Walmart bragging about how well they treat their employees.

#6 Who gives a crap? says:

It's their music, it's their career, it's their choice. I piss on all you self-rightous nay-sayers. Who gives a crap whom Band of Horses licenses their music to? And how many of the five posters before me actually bought Cease to Begin? Would you turn down a promotion on the basis of ethics? I doubt it. And when is the desire to succeed (and success in our shitty country is measured by how many figures are in your bank account) become "being greedy bastards"? Suck a lemon.


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