Wal-Mart recently unveiled a new music policy under which albums the store considers "offensive" would no longer be allowed on any store shelves. Artists would have to produce a "clean" version, removing offensive material, in order to be stocked. Wal-Mart claims the policy is for the good of the customer. In the case of Flathead Valley, Wal-Mart's rejected business will fall into the laps of local merchants. Unfortunately, this side benefit will not be seen everywhere around the country.
Take Podunk, Kansas. Wal-Mart's move there 10 years ago drove away many local businesses, including the corner Woolworth's, and the local music store. Now, anybody who wants any banned Wal-Mart albums is stuck; they have lost their freedom of choice.
Okay, there is no Podunk. Unfortunately, many towns with isolated economies dominated by Wal-Mart face just such a problem. People who rely on Wal-Mart for music are now stuck. If their musical tastes don't conform to Wal-Mart's, they get the short end of the censorship stick.
I'm not referring just to "Gangsta Rap" or naughty punk bands. Singer Sheryl Crow's new album- you read that right, Sheryl Crow - is no longer carried because she sings about buying a gun at Wal-Mart in ONE line of ONE song. They even bullied John Mellencamp because of his new album's cover; they threatened not to carry it if he didn't alter the artwork. Mellencamp caved, and changed his album cover, thus reaffirming the fact that Wal-Mart is horning in on the artistic integrity of the artists whose products they carry.
Fortunately, the negative effect of discount-store censorship is partially reversed here in the Valley. According to Gary Diegel, owner of Sunshine Tapes and CDs, sales (especially in the rap genre) have improved since Wal-Mart's policy hit the Valley.
Business is returning to where it belongs, away form the corporate giant, back to small business. Despite the fact that a surge of discount stores in the Flathead this decade (including ShopKo, Costco and Wal-Mart) drove Woolworth's from Kalispell and Montana-based Drug Fair from the state, and drastically cut into the clientele of many a local business, this new censorship policy actually benefits locally-owned music stores.
Local stores spend their money in the Flathead Valley, and much of that money goes to other local businesses, and so on. Wal-Mart pays their employees, then sends the profits to their out-of-state corporate headquarters. Such strip-mining of local money can't be beneficial to the Valley's economy.
So fewer choices on Wal-Mart's CD rack brings the customer back to local business.
Although Wal-Mart's new policy may not harm, and in fact may help, our economy, masses of poor unfortunate souls across America have seen their freedom of choice die in the corporate offices of Wal-Mart.
Every market economy in America isn't fortunate enough to have access to businesses like Budget Tapes & CDs, Sunshine, or Whitefish's Soundgarden - small businesses that don't try to dictate the customer's conscience. These are businesses that know and can relate to people they need to stay alive: the customer.
These are the businesses that deserve our support.