Radiohead's DVD ships 10,000 copies through America's indie shops

In America, Radiohead's DVD The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time is sold only by independent record shops. Target, Wal-Mart and the other big DVD sellers don't carry it.

Susanne Ault reports in the 14 March issue of Video Business, the American video trade paper, that the Coalition of Independent Music Stores got the DVD directly from Radiohead. The coalition is about 70 shops that market together, and it had tired of losing customers to the chains. It negotiated the rights to sell the DVD in shops and passed them on to more than 130 other independents, so about 200 shops have stocked it since the start of the year. The band's website sends buyers to the coalition's site.

Don Van Cleave, the coalition's president, puts the number shipped at about 10,000. The coalition sold it to the shops at $25, and some, such as Homer's in Nebraska, charge up to $35.98. Shipping was out of control--$1.25 a unit. But it has been great. We were able to give [indie shoppers] something cool.¹

The coalition has sold CDs that only the independents carry before, but this is its first high-profile exclusive DVD. More exclusives are at the top of the agenda for its convention in April, though no second DVD is lined up yet. Criminal Records in Atlanta has sold about 100 copies, and Matt Vaughan's Easy Street Records about 300 across its two Seattle shops. [Gigantic Lying Mouth] will easily be within the Top 5 selling DVDs for us in the first quarter.¹