Green Day Lashes Out at Wal-Mart Policy

Should the freedom of expression dictate terms to the marketplace or vice versa?

Green Day has the most popular CD in the country, but you won’t be able to find it at your local Wal-Mart. The band says the giant superstore chain refused to stock its latest CD, “21st Century Breakdown,” because Wal-Mart wanted the album edited for language and content, and they refused.

“Wal-Mart’s become the biggest retail outlet in the country, but they won’t carry our record because they wanted us to censor it,” frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said in a recent interview. While Wal-Mart sells CDs from acts known for raunchy content, including Eminem’s latest, they offer customers the “clean” version of those CDs, which are edited for content that may be objectionable. But in Armstrong’s view, “There’s nothing dirty about our record. They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried in there. We just said no. We’ve never done it before. You feel like you’re in 1953 or something.”

“21st Century Breakdown” contains curses and some references considered adult. Wal-Mart said that it’s the company’s long-standing policy not to stock any CD with a parental advisory sticker. “As with all music, it is up to the artist or label to decide if they want to market different variations of an album to sell, including a version that would remove a PA rating,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien said. “The label and artist in this case have decided not to do so, so we unfortunately can not offer the CD.”

But guitarist Mike Dirnt said: “As the biggest record store in the America, they should probably have an obligation to sell people the correct art.”

Not being sold at Wal-Mart didn’t stop the band — which kicks off a U.S. tour summer tour in Seattle on July 3 — from landing at the top of the album charts this week. “21st Century Breakdown” sold about 215,000 copies since it’s debut on Friday… While Armstrong, Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool are still top-sellers without Wal-Mart, Armstrong said the store’s policy is disappointing, considering it has become the dominant seller of CDs with the decline of traditional music stores.

Personally, I’m on the side of the free market. If Wal-Mart chooses not to sell an album with objectionable lyrics, they should not be forced to do so. In turn, if the marketplace reacts by going to other discount stores, smaller record stores, or online retailers, then Wal-Mart can choose to rethink their stance and determine whether or not it is financially worth it to the company to pursue that market.

If Green Day chooses not to record a clean version of their album, they should not be forced to do so either. In turn, if they lose sales and radio airplay because they can’t distribute their product to enough outlets or get their songs on the radio, then Green Day can choose to rethink their stance and determine whether or not it is financially worth it to the band to get their product into wider distribution.

It’s interesting the reaction that’s been provoked, because I can guarantee that if an advocacy group came out and said, “Don’t buy the new Green Day CD. It’s full of swears and objectionable lyrics,” the band would immediately come back and say something like, “If you don’t like it, don’t buy the album. You’re not our target audience anyway.” However, now that the shoe is on the other foot, and Wal-Mart is saying, “If you want the CD, you’ll have to go elsewhere,” the band is complaining about Wal-Mart’s practices. Sure they may be the largest music store in the country and the only outlet in some areas, but if the free market wants it bad enough, it will find a way to get it.