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AC/DC Biggest Catalog Selling Artist of 2008

AC/DC continue to dominate sales charts around the world as Black Ice remains the #1 selling album in the US, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Argentina, Canada and Spain. Released globally on Monday, October 20, 2008, Black Ice topped sales charts in 29 Countries, including the US where it sold an incredible 784,288 in its first week (marking the band’s first ever debut on the US album charts). Black Ice went on to sell another 270,923 units this week, bringing the first 2 weeks sales in the US to over 1 million copies. Sold exclusively at Walmart, Sam’s Club, and www.acdc.com in the US, Black Ice is poised to be the biggest selling rock record of 2008.

2008 is shaping up to be a year of firsts for AC/DC. With over 5.3 million copies of Black Ice shipped worldwide, combined with over 5.1 million in catalog sold this year, AC/DC have surpassed The Beatles as the #1 selling catalog artist in the US for 2008. For the first time in the band’s extensive history, AC/DC graces the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Additionally AC/DC are the first band to release an entire album for video game play with the release this week of The AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band(R) Track Pack(TM). Also sold exclusively at Walmart and Sam’s Club in the US, AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band(R) Track Pack(TM), gives music fans a whole new way to experience rock’s hardest hitting act with access to 18 live recordings from AC/DC’s epic, live performance at Castle Donington. Columbia Records have partnered with Walmart and MTV to create “AC/DC Rock Band Stores” in New York’s Times Square and in Los Angeles to give fans in the these cities fast access to all AC/DC music and merchandise.

AC/DC kicked off their Black Ice World Tour on October 28 in Wilkes-Barre, PA. This first leg of the tour, which runs through April 23, 2009 in Birmingham, UK, has been receiving critical raves. The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader raved “If this is what AC/DC sounds like on opening night after a seven-year layoff, later dates on the tour are going to be amazing.” The Chicago Tribune proclaimed their live show “a celebration of all that is great about rock ‘n’ roll,” calling the band’s music “Rock ‘n’ roll that outlasts time.”

Black Ice World Tour Dates
November 5 Detroit, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
November 7 Toronto, ONT Rogers Centre
November 9 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
November 12 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
November 13 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
November 15 Washington, D.C. Verizon Center
November 17 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
November 19 East Rutherford, NJ IZOD Center
November 21 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
November 23 Minneapolis, MN Xcel Energy Center
November 25 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
November 28 Vancouver, BC General Motors Place
November 29 Seattle, WA Key Arena
November 30 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
December 2 Oakland, CA ORACLE Arena
December 4 Oakland, CA ORACLE Arena
December 6 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
December 8 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
December 10 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center
December 12 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
December 14 Houston, TX Toyota Center
December 16 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
December 18 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena
December 20 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Bank Atlantic Center
December 21 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
January 5 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
January 7 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena
January 9 Toronto, ONT Rogers Centre
January 11 Cincinnati, OH U.S. Bank Arena
January 13 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
January 15 Omaha, NE Qwest Center Omaha
January 17 Fargo, ND Fargodome
January 19 Minneapolis, MN Xcel Energy Center
January 21 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
January 23 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
January 26 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
January 28 Little Rock, AR ALLTELL Arena
January 30 Memphis, TN FedEx Forum
January 31 Nashville, TN Sommet Center
February 18 Oslo, NO Telenor Arena
February 20 Stockholm, SE The Globe
February 22 Stockholm, SE The Globe
February 25 Paris, FR Bercy
February 27 Paris, FR Bercy
March 1 Antwerp, BE Sportpaleis
March 3 Antwerp, BE Sportpaleis
March 5 Leipzig, DE Halle 1
March 7 Dusseldorf, DE ISS Dome
March 9 Oberhausen, DE Kopi Arena
March 11 Bremen , DE AWD Dome
March 13 Rotterdam, NL Ahoy
March 15 Dortmund, DE Westfallenhalle
March 17 Prague 02 Arena
March 19 Milan, IT Datch Forum
March 21 Milan, IT Datch Forum
March 23 Budapest, HU Papp Laszlo Budapest Sportarena
March 25 Frankfurt, DE Festhalle
March 27 Munich, DE Olympiahalle
March 29 Zurich, CH Hallenstadion
March 31 Barcelona, ES Sant Jordi
April 2 Madrid, ES Palacio de los Deportes
April 14 London, UK 02 Arena
April 16 London, UK 02 Arena
April 18 Dublin, IE 02 Arena
April 21 Manchester, UK MEN
April 23 Birmingham, UK NEC

Source: Columbia Records

Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game development company, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), announced the release of AC/DC Live: Rock Band® Track Pack™, the video game that gives music fans a whole new way to experience rock’s hardest hitting act with access to 18 live recordings from AC/DC’s epic, live performance at Castle Donington.

AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack is available starting this Sunday, November 2, 2008, nationwide at all “AC/DC Rock Again” store areas within Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club locations for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PlayStation®2 computer and entertainment system. In addition, the game will be available at the AC/DC Rock Band “pop up” stores in New York City at the MTV Store in Times Square and in Los Angeles at Hollywood and Highland, in partnership with MTV. AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack will be available in the U.S. on the Wii™ home video game console from Nintendo on November 16, 2008.

AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack marks the first time the iconic rock band has released an entire album for video game play. The band’s first inclusion in a music-based video game came with the launch of Rock Band 2, which featured AC/DC’s “Let There Be Rock”.

The AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack set list includes18 live tracks with more than 100 minutes of game play for each instrument:

“Thunderstruck”
“Shoot to Thrill”
“Back in Black”
“Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be”
“Heatseeker”
“Fire Your Guns”
“Jailbreak”
“The Jack”
“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
“Money Talks”
“Hell’s Bells”
“High Voltage”
“Whole Lotta Rosie”
“You Shook Me All Night Long”
“T.N.T.”
“Let There Be Rock”
“Highway To Hell”
“For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”

All tracks from the AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack are also available for play in Rock Band and Rock Band 2by entering a special export authentication code for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system versions.

Pricing Info:
AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack (Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system) MSRP $39.88
AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack (PlayStation 2 system) MSRP $29.88
AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack will also be released in Europe, Australia and New Zealand this December on Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system, PlayStation 2 system and Wii.
AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack follows the debut of AC/DC’s newest album, “Black Ice,” which features the first release of all-new material from the band in eight years. The album has quickly become the #1 selling album in the U.S. since its release on October 20th, selling more than 780,000 units. “Black Ice” also represents the first time an AC/DC album has debuted at #1 in the US. “Black Ice” is available now exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam Club retail locations as well as through www.walmart.com, www.samsclub.com and on the band’s web site www.acdc.com.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.
Electronic Arts is the exclusive distribution partner for Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack.

Retailer launches ‘Rock Again AC/DC Store’ in 3,500 locations

New York and LA ‘AC/DC Rock Band Pop Up Stores’ and Black Ice Trucks Get Ready

For AC/DC fans about to rock … Walmart salutes you! This weekend thousands of fans will converge in groups, stores and in special events for the release of Black Ice — AC/DC’s first album in eight years, coming to all Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations Monday, Oct. 20. The album will begin selling at 12:01 a.m. in 24-hour Walmart stores.

Since the original announcement for Black Ice, news on the band continues, including the recent announcement of a new U.S. concert tour and the advent of the unique AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band(R) Track Pack(TM) video game, also to be sold exclusively by Walmart and Sam’s Club starting early November.

Now, upon the retail launch of Black Ice, Columbia Records and Walmart plan to give fans even more access to this legendary band. In each of its 3,500 Walmart stores, Walmart will create a “Rock Again AC/DC Store” within the store. While the new $11.88 Black Ice CD album holds centerstage, it will be surrounded by new AC/DC apparel, DVDs, past albums, games, and even a social gaming station for fans to try out their rock-n-roll skills on Rock Band.

In addition, Walmart and Columbia Records have partnered with MTV to create an “AC/DC Rock Band Store” in New York’s Times Square and in Los Angeles to give fans in the these cities fast access to the band’s newest items. These pop up stores will open 12:01 midnight Oct. 20 to begin selling the album, AC/DC apparel, the Rock Band video game, and Rock Band branded apparel and accessories.

Also new, Walmart has dispatched interactive Black Ice trucks on the streets of New York City and Los Angeles this week. Making new stops each day, the trucks fill the air with AC/DC music, invite fans to be the first to hear the new album before release, and allow players to demo the new AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band(R) Track Pack game on the truck’s back stage. These trucks will also sell the album starting 12:01 a.m. Oct. 20.

Featuring 15 tracks, Black Ice is AC/DC’s first album of all new material in eight years. It will be sold exclusively at Walmart, Walmart.com, Sam’s Club, samsclub.com, and acdc.com for $11.88, with free shipping online. Fans can go to walmart.com/acdc to preview tracks from the new CD, checkout new videos of the band, get information on the pop up store and Black Ice truck schedules, shop for apparel and more.

“Fans have waited more than eight years for a new record from AC/DC and finally the wait is over,” said Columbia Records co-Chairman Steve Barnett. “The band has consistently delivered the kind of anthemic rock music that defines generations and ‘Black Ice’ continues in that tradition.”

“We’ve turned up the volume to support what we know is one of this year’s most awaited albums from one of the world’s most popular bands,” said Gary Severson, Wal-Mart’s senior vice president of Entertainment. “This is the first time in our history where we’ve taken such a large area within our store to celebrate a legendary band, and we invite fans of all ages to come out with us and get ready to rock. Only at Walmart can you find all of these items together, easily and affordably, to celebrate their U.S. tour and music.”

The “Rock Again AC/DC Store” provides music fans with unbeatable values on everything AC/DC, including:

• Exclusive Black Ice album

• More than nine varieties of AC/DC and Black Ice t-shirts

• AC/DC sleepwear and hats

• “No Bull: The Director’s Cut” AC/DC DVD

• A wide selection of past albums, still some of the most popular catalogue music sold

• Rock Band 2

• Exclusive AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band(R) Track Pack (in November)

The AC/DC Rock Band stores will open Sunday, Oct. 19 at 10 p.m. The stores will be open through Jan. 4, 2009 in New York at the MTV Store in Times Square and at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles.

Source: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.