Do you feel bad for record stores?
My 3rd favorite thing to do in this life is go record shopping. I love the smell of a new CD or the pulling out a vinyl sleeve for the first time. I love flipping through the stock and finding rare gems..it’s like magic to me.
With the advent of iTunes and file sharing we’ve all seen the record store slowly become obsolete (Tower, Virgin Megastore) and it’s saddened me.
However, when I go to look for records and I see a double vinyl going for $80, an “import” CD (with no new tracks, additions or anything making it different from the US release) going for almost $100 and snobby clerks who’d rather sh#$t-talk with their friends than type a few lines in the inventory computer to see of they have what I’m looking for (which I will probably buy, regardless of the price thereby keeping them employed) I no longer have pity on them.
As far as I’m concerned the record store is going backwards in terms of competing with the evolution of the market they’re in.
Thought? Opinions?
Record stores are a done deal. Their era is over. They have pretty much gone the way of 8-track tapes and cassettes. I was an AVID shopper at Tower records back in the 1980’s. (There was one a block away from the University of Washington where I went to college). I went there EVERY DAY to look around. The university neighbourhood also had several other used record shops – I visited them on a daily basis as well between classes. All long gone. (Weeping). I no longer even have a turntable now. (That’s a different story as to how that happened. I used to have a FANTASTIC album collection of like 400+ records, lost those as well). But yeah, it’s all CDs and DVDs for me now. I must admit that they are more durable and more compact and the sound/image never degrades.
Even back then, clerks at such places ignored customers. I guess it was part of the ‘coolness’ of the job and they were ‘trained’ to do so LOL. They HAD a solid customer base, but they blew it.
I don’t download music off websites – because I have heard of people getting slapped with REALLY hefty fines for downloading and then doing the file-sharing thing.
I actually became physically disabled about 10 years ago, so I do NOT have a lot of disposable income per month nor per year for the rest of my life. However, I DO have a DVD recorder with which I can burn whatever is available on YouTube onto DVD.
The stuff I burn is from the past, and I am not uploading it or file-sharing it, and I had in fact bought the artist’s works that I burn, so I don’t really feel guilty about it. It’s there on the internet for free, and I have the ability to burn it for my own private use, so I do.
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But I miss those days I used to spend haunting the used record shops looking for old albums.
Shirley Bassey – He Was Beautiful / Almost Like Being In Love (Medley)
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