You could say that Trans World, the company that owns such gouge-a-riffic chains as Coconuts, Sam Goody, and FYE, just surrendered to less-greedy merchants on the market, but apparently it's dropping the Scissor Sisters' just-released second album, Ta-Dah, for spite. Why? Because Sisters lead singer Jake Shears says the chains' prices are too high-just like that. The New York Post reports:
"I have a little F.Y.I for FYE, your CD prices are too high," Shears said in the middle of the band's set at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers convention.
Shears was reacting to the price Trans World was charging for the latest Jack White-fronted Raconteurs CD, which he saw while shopping at FYE.
The comment so enraged Trans World president and CEO Jim Litwak that he pulled Ta-Dah from his stores-never mind that the Scissor Sisters' first CD was retailing on FYE's site for $28.9[8].
That's right, just a plain-old single-disc album, no bonus tracks, DVDs, or harem included, for almost $30. (But since the purchase is more than $25, you get free shipping!). That album is listed as on backorder, though, which means either the company has pulled it as well, or that people are still willing to pay that much. No one seems to know exactly what Trans World was charging for Ta-Dah, but certain chains, like all of Trans World's, often charge $15 or more for new releases.
If the company already has copies of the CDs, and it knows that many people are still willing to get ripped off despite musicians' protests, why not make the most of it? Wouldn't that make the money that much sweeter? And why doesn't anything you actually want seem to be among their "Over 10,000 CDs Under $10!"?
Ta-Dah is, however, a fair $9.99 on iTunes, on Amazon (before shipping), Best Buy's website (with a free-shipping promotion), and, very shortly, less at your local used record store-because some of the hapless mall shoppers who already paid the $15-plus for the album might decide they deserve a few bucks back.