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"We still believe that MAP was a legitimate and appropriate practice. And we are confident the court will uphold that view."
—A BMG spokesperson

STATES JOIN MAP FLAP

28 States File Class-Action Suit Against Majors
As had been predicted last week in hitsdailydouble.com (8/4), 28 individual states have joined the class-action suits being filed against the majors for alleged "price fixing." Warner Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, BMG and EMI Group were all named in the action. And just to spread the love around a little, they included a trio of retailers--Tower, Trans World and Musicland.

FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky opened the floodgates last May when he ruled that MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) policies enacted by the majors in the early ‘90s were illegal. Since that time, more than 80 suits (initiated by James John Retzlaff and David Jenkins "on behalf of California indirect purchasers of prerecorded music") have been filed.

A BMG spokesman summed up the feeling at the majors, stating, "We still believe that MAP was a legitimate and appropriate practice. And we are confident the court will uphold that view."

Trans World Sr. VP/CFO John Sullivan said, "MAP policies were set by the manufacturers," though Trans World still plans on contesting the suit. "If we could have obtained lower prices, we could have passed on the savings to our customers."

Musicland spokesperson Lisa Svac stated they had not been served with a complaint, "but management believes that any charges in this matter against Musicland have no basis; and we intend to undertake a vigorous defense."

Hey, anybody wanna buy 12 new Eminem CDs for a penny?

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