We're all cheerfully commercial as bands cozy up to consumer brands

Yes, we all were a little surprised to see the deals signed between LiveNation and Madonna and Jay-Z. We frowned a bit as we saw the Eagles sign a deal with the devil... sorry I mean Wal-Mart to be the exclusive distributor of their new album. But when Bacardi signed a one-year deal with Groove Armada to release its album and provide downloads on its branded sites back in March - it spoke volumes that this was not the record industry that I grew up with.

The word 'sell-out' is barely uttered anymore as more and more bands look to non-traditional deals for distribution and touring support.

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