| StoreTags: local, record stores
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I know many record stores are hurting these days or at least that's how it feels when i go in some of them and notice all the regulars who used to work there are missing and the guy who owns the shop is manning the place 24/7.
i've spoken to people who say things like "i haven't bought an actual CD in a year or so.. i just download the tracks i want from itunes". i know that's not everyone and more than likely lot's of people are still buying CD's and records but the masses aren't so much. and of course p2p file sharing is another ball of wax.
I got wrapped up thinking about all of these things because i'm pushing a few releases and will be pushing more in the coming months (right down people's throats!).  I used to be able to get local shops to carry releases pretty easily in san diego. either they would just buy a couple copies after hearing it or would do consignment. after the consignment ones sold then they would just buy them outright next time because the release (s) had been proven to sell.
these days it's more difficult. policies have changed in some record stores and of course for obvious reasons.. some stated above.. they can't just outright buy stuff all the time anymore.. even if it's gonna sell! of course there are record stores that are more supportive of indy acts still seeking distro. or perhaps they just think the music is good and they wanna have it in their store.. which is an experience i've had w/a few record stores/mail order shops in the UK/EU.
i've had varying degrees of success w/promo's and follow up and generally being a persistent pain in the ass. sometimes it's pretty frustrating and sometimes it's reassuring.
I'm just curious what the climate is in your home town? do you even have a decent record store? if so what's it called? are they supportive of local artists? are they supportive of electronic music at all? what's your experience been in dealing w/record stores and indy releases? | |
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03/14/07
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nagrom
We had one record store that was manned 24/7 by one guy for... 35 years.
It closed forever in December.
Now we have NO record store.
03/14/07
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datathinner
Houston, Texas has Chemistry records. they do consignment (but usually never buy CD's outright). Most of the peeps that run the shop are pretty well connected in the Houston electronic scene (which consists of dubstep, dubstep, and more dubstep ... blech!)
03/14/07
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lunatinker
hate to say it, but i have bought much less music the last three years than previous.
not cuz I download it, but because funds are allocated for food, etc. 
my consideration the food and music are before paying any other bills just doesn't work anymore.
in 2006 i did buy some super em411 artists' tunes and that feels good (sounds good too!).
but i'm jaded and indifferent to mainstream klunk...
03/15/07
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sclr
i have to agree. i am getting less and less $ for things like music. and the stores locally only carry a certain amount of obscure stuff. and like someone else mentioned seem to run out of the more pop stuff too. i think most of the stuff i have been getting lately has been a really concentrated few cds that i had to get online because it just isn't available anywhere here. and the other part of recent buys have been at shows. i'll buy a band/projects cdr any day over something i can just get in most music stores. you usually end up with something genuine.
03/15/07
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Jetsom
I used to make a day out of going record shopping. Even if I came away with nothing or had no money. It's about the sociable aspect, being recommended things you wouldn't have thought of & having dedicated time with no distractions to listen to things carefully too. I miss it.
03/17/07
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Tenine
Mmm... Barbarella 
03/17/07
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ignatius
yes, barbarella. ;)
thanks for sharing your record store thoughts/habits etc guys. i've had some conversations w/peoplein PDX nad other places and there are some places that are doing rather well. usually because they offer harder to find things or just have something unique to offer.
03/17/07
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elronhubbard
the church of scientology has been systematically buying out record stores and locking the records in a volcano base. you see, when the intergalactic coalition was captured and sent to earth on space rockets that closely resemble dc8s they liked to entertain themselves with a form of telepathic brain enturbulation that very closely resembled your modern day phonographs.
we have at least 10 of every olivia newton john record. including the grease soundtrack.
03/18/07
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whitecar
Music Millennium and Everyday Music take consignments. I don't know about Ozone.
. Record stores are for sure hurting due to downloading. It seems like it's only one or two copies of the newest LP or CD and that no one has any back catalog probably because they can't afford to. This has made me feel weird about even going shopping for new electronic music where I am usually looking for something very specific and if I can't get that, then I'll get one that I need (hence the back catalog).
I have yet to make the switch and start ordering vinyl online. The thrill of the hunt will be gone. But at least I would get the exact record I want. I feel like I woke up one day and everyone had ipods. Personally, I only really buy vinyl which I love for the sound as well as the artistry and am just never really going to be that interested in collecting mp3 files .
03/18/07
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Jetsom
"I feel like I woke up one day and everyone had ipods." no shit
03/18/07
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ignatius
i use mp3 files as a matter of convenience. it's way easier and nicer to have my ipod in my car on a long trip than to have 30 CD's. w/the ipod i can have most of my music with me in a decent enough form to listen in the car.
when i first got my ipod i listened to even more music because it's such a portable and uncomplicated thing i don't have to think about. i just throw it in my pocket or backpack or whatever and listen when i feel like it.
i still buy vinyl too and sometimes i even buy the same release on CD and vinyl so i can hear the difference. for example.. autechre's untilted and draft 7.30 both sound really amazing on vinyl and i prefer that. but i like havng the files too.
so, yeah.. i felt like everyone one day had ipods too and i guess i was one of them. i tunes is fun for making all kinds of playlists w/50 different artists and genre's in there and getting lost and listening to stuff you forgot you even owned...
i still have tons of music on vinyl that i don't have digitally and will probably at some point spend 100 hours recording it all and digitizing it so i can make mixes in tracktor or live and just to have for back up.
but i do like having a physical thing w/music on it.. CD vinyl whatever. i like the artwork and having stuff on a shelf that i flip through w/o having to look at a computer.
03/19/07
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strategy
I am a total anachronism, running a semi-independent record label (Community Library is a P&D label of an overseas record distributor, meaning that they produce and distribute our stuff, I do curating and promotions and working w/ artists), YET I am not served by internet at home and dont' have a wi-fi laptop AND I don't have an iPod or anything. I shop strictly at record shops and so I have NO trouble getting record shops to buy from me, perhaps it is an unstated reciprocal loyalty.
For me "hard copies" and buying them at record shops are a matter of necessity-
1) I live alone in a NW Portland apartment- without roommates, the $60 a month for comcast broadband is not affordable, making anything related to online mailordering or mp3 culture something I know about but dont' participate in directly. My mailorders tend to take the form of direct label purchases because often labels have plentiful back catalogue that distros and mailorders no longer list/stock (especially vinyl!)
2) You couldn't pay me to make my music collection somethign that doesn't have physical form. I nearly lost a thesis to computer failure; I nearly lost album work to computer failures. I just will never fully entrust computers with an investment like music. Mp3s are for hearing demos, and even then they are mainly pretty bad sounding. I don't have a car and dont' listen to headphones while cycling and mainly buy vinyl for DJing, so iPod never appealed. and for DJing vinyl is something that I dont' see any reason for giving up: the amount of time I'd spend digitizing, I could be out there making music, or DJing.
3) Record Stores are not just a place to get records but they were and still are loci of music community happenings. I am guaranteed to see favorite friends and acquaintances for every trip to any record store in town, almost and to be turned on to music I didn't know about before... it's not about what you are looking to buy, its' what you aren't looking for but find anyways, that ends up being the most rewarding, whether its music or otherwise. Just go to the record stores folks!
03/19/07
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ignatius
i do love to go to record stores but i also like the hard to find stuff that is only on line or is totally indy unsigned artist posting his tracks and stuff. internet is great for that. finding things i would otherwise never hear because a record store simply can't/won't carry everything that's out there and of course some things simply are not distributed any other way.
sure, some places like ameoba and easy street have huge selections of not just music but books art etc and do instores and all that and i love that. leaving the house to go look for music is great but it's always a mixed bag for me. sometimes i make that awesome discovery of something or find a killer used record... but usually i strike out and leave empty handed and i don't want to be continuously disappointed so i go less frequently and spend more time experiencing the music i already have either on a piece of vinyl or my ipod or cd or whatever.
maybe you get to the record stores first and buy all the records i should be finding ;)
i will always have the physical thing as well. i'll always have my CD's and vinyl and will never let that go because it would be to devistating to have it all corrupted or lost by some stupid computer mishap. plus i think i can actually keep track of it better in physical form. and of course there that something about vinyl.
anyway- good discussion.
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