I originally started this blog posting almost a month and a half ago when I was laid off from my part-time record store job. My exodus from that pillar of the retail community had nothing to do with my performance so much as the serious mismanagement of the company at large. Combine this with an apparently dying record industry and the prospect of buying an album somewhere other than a department store or a website gets that much harder.
I planned on waiting until I picked up another part-time job to write about this. Let the latent bitterness subside, regain some monetary breathing room and rattle on with a clear head. Unfortunately my limited work availability (about 10 hours a week over 2 specific mornings) doesn't really make me into the hottest potential entry-level candidate for Whatever, Inc. But I did get a few calls on the ads I did respond to, so that was good. But speaking of good, now's as good a time as any to put this matter to sleep.
A record store, an actual record store closing is like finding a dead unicorn on the side of the road in my universe. Pretentious employees (a crime of which I've found myself guilty from time to time) aside or sometimes even included, record stores are great. You may not necessarily be able to listen to the album before you buy it but you can hold it. You can look at the artwork and take full satisfaction in knowing that you're going to walk out of there and be able to listen to your bounty very soon. Not to mention the fact that record stores, good record stores have a selection that can nearly compete with nearly any online storefront. A good record store can also blow away any big box (i.e. Best Buy) or department store as far as selection goes. I've never found a copy of The Clash's Sandinista album at Wal-Mart, I've never seen a special edition Pavement re-issue at Target and I'm pretty sure Best Buy's not going to carry the new Califone when it comes out in October. Any of those purchases would need to be made online or at a record store.
As far as who's to blame for the dwindling record store numbers, I'm not sure anyone has enough hands with enough fingers to point at the guilty parties. The online merchants definitely get some recognition here. Amazon.com makes it incredibly easy to buy CDs and other various products pretty cheap and if you don't mind that sort of thing, used. Third party marketplace vendors usually have out-of-print items available as well, provided you're willing to pay enough for them.
iTunes and MP3 players are killing the art and enjoyment of buying a CD. I got an iPod over three years ago and every CD I've bought since has been ripped to my computer and put on my iPod. Aside from that 2 week span between my first iPod dying and the acquisition of my second I haven't really listened to any CDs in the past 3 1/2 years. When my CD player died a few years back from a case of terminal skipping I never bothered replacing it. iTunes took over. Again, I openly admit to being part of the problem.
Downloaders of pirated music are obvious instigators of the problem. And you can't blame them because when it comes down to it, what would you rather part with--X amount of hard drive space on your computer, a blank CD and a little time or anywhere from $15-20 bucks?
Downloading can be used for both good and evil. If I'm interested to hear an album before I pay an inordinate amount of money for it I have no problem with downloading it. Personally, I want to make sure I'm going to enjoy something before I drop some money on it. If you can get your hands on something a few weeks or months before its available to the rest of us poor assholes then good for you. But the bands themselves get hurt here too. Being in bands, playing live music and recording songs is how some people make their living. And when you download the new album by whoever you're stealing from them. For every album I haven't paid for I've felt some guilt, but it depends on the band. I feel band for having ripped off a band like Built To Spill. Only a select few have heard of them and they're probably not rich men. But ripping off Metallica? I won't think twice about it.
Record companies don't help much either. They make music completely disposable by signing crappy "artists" and shitty "bands." Then they pay radio stations to shove the same 12 songs down listeners throats for three months straight and when a new single by anybody gets released the whole thing starts all over again. Most record companies only seem to want to take advantage of what's big at moment and give no thought to any possible future catalog value of an album or song. I know these companies are trying to make money but try and plan ahead a little bit.
Bands themselves shouldn't get off Scot free either. I know I'm not the only one who's ever bought an album with one good song on it. And that song's always completely different from the rest of the album. And if an album has 2 versions of the album's big song you know you're in trouble. I know its not exactly fair to point the finger at the bands. They've probably got some suit who knows next to nothing about music sitting in the control booth while they're recording. I'll bet he's feverishly taking notes while his presence throws the band completely off. I'm also guessing when this record exec isn't trying to micromanage everyone in sight or using his efficiency expert superpowers to make some old white men that much more money, he's crawling up the band's ass for that radio hit this album better produce and constantly reminding them what will happen if they don't deliver. Or dick bands like AC/DC, The Eagles, Garth Brooks and Guns 'N' Roses will go for exclusive distribution deals with bigger stores. So if you want to get that new G'N'R album you've got to go to Best Buy.
Big box stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart aren't making things easier for the little guy either. Ever wonder why a store like Best Buy will sell a CD $5 cheaper than an actual record store will? Chances are the big store will buy 10,000 copies of any given CD as opposed to the 100 the smaller store will. The warehouse/distributor will give usually give the big store a deal because they're buying so many. Then chances are that same distributor will lower the cost of each CD even further if that big store signs some kind of contract to distribute other things like plasma TVs and stereo systems. You know, stuff a record store's not going to ever sell.
I planned on waiting until I picked up another part-time job to write about this. Let the latent bitterness subside, regain some monetary breathing room and rattle on with a clear head. Unfortunately my limited work availability (about 10 hours a week over 2 specific mornings) doesn't really make me into the hottest potential entry-level candidate for Whatever, Inc. But I did get a few calls on the ads I did respond to, so that was good. But speaking of good, now's as good a time as any to put this matter to sleep.
A record store, an actual record store closing is like finding a dead unicorn on the side of the road in my universe. Pretentious employees (a crime of which I've found myself guilty from time to time) aside or sometimes even included, record stores are great. You may not necessarily be able to listen to the album before you buy it but you can hold it. You can look at the artwork and take full satisfaction in knowing that you're going to walk out of there and be able to listen to your bounty very soon. Not to mention the fact that record stores, good record stores have a selection that can nearly compete with nearly any online storefront. A good record store can also blow away any big box (i.e. Best Buy) or department store as far as selection goes. I've never found a copy of The Clash's Sandinista album at Wal-Mart, I've never seen a special edition Pavement re-issue at Target and I'm pretty sure Best Buy's not going to carry the new Califone when it comes out in October. Any of those purchases would need to be made online or at a record store.
As far as who's to blame for the dwindling record store numbers, I'm not sure anyone has enough hands with enough fingers to point at the guilty parties. The online merchants definitely get some recognition here. Amazon.com makes it incredibly easy to buy CDs and other various products pretty cheap and if you don't mind that sort of thing, used. Third party marketplace vendors usually have out-of-print items available as well, provided you're willing to pay enough for them.
iTunes and MP3 players are killing the art and enjoyment of buying a CD. I got an iPod over three years ago and every CD I've bought since has been ripped to my computer and put on my iPod. Aside from that 2 week span between my first iPod dying and the acquisition of my second I haven't really listened to any CDs in the past 3 1/2 years. When my CD player died a few years back from a case of terminal skipping I never bothered replacing it. iTunes took over. Again, I openly admit to being part of the problem.
Downloaders of pirated music are obvious instigators of the problem. And you can't blame them because when it comes down to it, what would you rather part with--X amount of hard drive space on your computer, a blank CD and a little time or anywhere from $15-20 bucks?
Downloading can be used for both good and evil. If I'm interested to hear an album before I pay an inordinate amount of money for it I have no problem with downloading it. Personally, I want to make sure I'm going to enjoy something before I drop some money on it. If you can get your hands on something a few weeks or months before its available to the rest of us poor assholes then good for you. But the bands themselves get hurt here too. Being in bands, playing live music and recording songs is how some people make their living. And when you download the new album by whoever you're stealing from them. For every album I haven't paid for I've felt some guilt, but it depends on the band. I feel band for having ripped off a band like Built To Spill. Only a select few have heard of them and they're probably not rich men. But ripping off Metallica? I won't think twice about it.
Record companies don't help much either. They make music completely disposable by signing crappy "artists" and shitty "bands." Then they pay radio stations to shove the same 12 songs down listeners throats for three months straight and when a new single by anybody gets released the whole thing starts all over again. Most record companies only seem to want to take advantage of what's big at moment and give no thought to any possible future catalog value of an album or song. I know these companies are trying to make money but try and plan ahead a little bit.
Bands themselves shouldn't get off Scot free either. I know I'm not the only one who's ever bought an album with one good song on it. And that song's always completely different from the rest of the album. And if an album has 2 versions of the album's big song you know you're in trouble. I know its not exactly fair to point the finger at the bands. They've probably got some suit who knows next to nothing about music sitting in the control booth while they're recording. I'll bet he's feverishly taking notes while his presence throws the band completely off. I'm also guessing when this record exec isn't trying to micromanage everyone in sight or using his efficiency expert superpowers to make some old white men that much more money, he's crawling up the band's ass for that radio hit this album better produce and constantly reminding them what will happen if they don't deliver. Or dick bands like AC/DC, The Eagles, Garth Brooks and Guns 'N' Roses will go for exclusive distribution deals with bigger stores. So if you want to get that new G'N'R album you've got to go to Best Buy.
Big box stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart aren't making things easier for the little guy either. Ever wonder why a store like Best Buy will sell a CD $5 cheaper than an actual record store will? Chances are the big store will buy 10,000 copies of any given CD as opposed to the 100 the smaller store will. The warehouse/distributor will give usually give the big store a deal because they're buying so many. Then chances are that same distributor will lower the cost of each CD even further if that big store signs some kind of contract to distribute other things like plasma TVs and stereo systems. You know, stuff a record store's not going to ever sell.
I haven't bought a CD since the store closed. I know that even though I'm not part of the struggle to keep record stores open anymore that I should still fight to help the little guy. But at this point I don't have the money or the energy to give a fuck. Since I got my first iPod, music, what was once a driving force in my life has now turned to little more than data files on my computer. The sound and the music are still there but the overall experience is dying. As is a big part of my youth...
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