They cost $25 a pop and are available only at Walmart -- and have been flying off the shelves.

What are they?

The Garth Brooks boxed set.

The country's biggest- selling album is available at only one retailer, and it's being considered No. 1 only because the retailer says so.

Wal-Mart, which inked an exclusive deal with Garth Brooks this summer, says it sold half a million copies of the six-disc "Limited Series Boxed Set" through pre-orders and one day of store sales (Nov. 25), outpacing the disc that Nielsen SoundScan reported as the chart-topper, System of a Down's "Hypnotize."

Wal-Mart chose to bypass the SoundScan system entirely by not putting a scan code on the $25 boxed set.

SoundScan, the music industry's official sales tallying company since 1991, creates two charts weekly -- one that goes to Billboard magazine and does not include exclusives such as the Brooks box, and a "comprehensive" chart that includes all sales. An Alanis Morissette disc released this year at Starbucks first, for example, was not included in the Top 200 until it was available at multiple retailers.

Wal-Mart was rather dodgy with sales info about the Brooks "Limited Series Boxed Set," which comprises the albums "Sevens," "Scarecrow," "Double Live" and "The Lost Sessions" plus the DVD "All Access."

The retailer would not disclose the exact number sold nor the number of boxes available for sale, noting they don't give out sales figures for any merchandise. A company spokeswoman says the Brooks set became Wal-Mart's all-time top-selling music item after only three days of sales. Due to its limited run, it is quite possible the set will be sold out by the new year if not Christmas.

While the rest of music industry is aching for results that resemble those of Brooks and Wal-Mart, there's another degree of exclusivity that's helping keep sales limited to the stores: Brooks' tunes are not available for download.

I was there on the morning after Thanksgiving at 0300 hours -- and saw hardly a cart without one .

Garth, I know you promised the girls that you aren't going backout on the road -- but we really want you back, even if only in the form of recorded music and television specials. Country music needs you.

Posted by: Greg at 01:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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