Friday, July 15, 2005

Album Cover Gives Wal-mart the Willies

Wal-Mart was irked by Willy Nelson’s latest album cover and, using its power as the country’s largest seller of music, made sure it was altered:

The regular cover, which features marijuana leaves, was replaced by a palm tree, in order to satisfy the retailer’s strict rules regarding packaging and lyrics. Critics have charged that as the nation's largest music retailer - it tallies more than $52 million in music sales - Wal-Mart has the power to persuade artists to edit content. In the past it has refused to stock albums by artists such as Sheryl Crow and The Prodigy.