Scott Tennant at Prety Goes with Pretty (a interesting music and lit blog) has a nice post here about the new Radiohead and Eagles albums. His point is basically that both releases (for different reasons) were like nails in the coffins of dedicated music retailers. I sort of wonder if there are any of those any more (old-school record stores).
The end of the record store is the one thing that really bumms me out about the shift to the internet-based new music culture. Call me a luddite, but I really have a serious nostalgia on right now for record stores. I used to work at one (Rose Records on State St. in Madison, WI) when I was in college, and used to shop at quite a few (Highlights included Rose, B-Side Recrods in Madison, Mad City Records in Madison, Amoeba in Berkeley, Rasputin’s in Berkeley, and Replay in Modesto California). I don’t miss the small selection and high prices, but I do miss the human aspect. I miss going somewhere where people worked who cared about records, and I miss browsing and b.s.ing about whatever was there.
Well, there are still definitely “record stores” around. Two you mentioned still are with use: Amoeba and Rasputin. Amoeba actually has 3 locations, and Rasputin has 10–including Stockton and Fresno, so this is not limited to big college towns.
B-side’s still around, too.
It ain’t like the old days, when you could walk into the RECORD (vinyl) store in any small town, and preview music by spinning the disc at a listening station, and talk to the sales people, but there are still some few out there.
Aw! I miss them too. I’ve actually been to the Amoeba in Haight-Ashbury (which is only a big deal because I’m from a pothole of a southeastern Michigan town). The record stores I went to as a youngster were really lame (actually, they were cassette stores). But I relate to missing the human aspect. It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut’s last book. He writes a whole chapter about how fun it is to go down to the corner magazine stand, by a stamp, lick it, put it on an actually envelope, and send mail.
Whereas now in our paranoid society, you are suspect if you send anything larger than a postcard with a stamp (an of course we no longer lick stamps, but that’s a whole ‘nother thing).
True story: I recently was mailing off a small package (a couple of CD’s or something). It’s a pain to go to the post office, so I weighed the item and put a bunch of stamps on. I happened to be home when the mail-person came, who said, “It’s a new rule–I can’t take this with stamps on it, it’s Anonymous Mail.” He proceeded to tell me how I could print a label with postage on the computer at home, and that way it would be traceable to me.
Kurt would have something to say, I’m sure, as would Ray Bradbury…
I too miss the record store ritual, but from my recent experience with the Radiohead iternet release, I think that online consumption, in the least, still inspired conversation. My Radiohead-fan friends and I have had the same amount of conversations, if not more than usual, about the internet release of In Rainbows. The general reaction reflects a sort of pride for our band’s ability to dodge the monetary restrictions of obtaining an album. I was impressed that Radiohead accepted “donations” for the pleasure of downloading their new album. I don’t feel sympathy for the mega-retailers because they didn’t have the opportunity to overprice the Eagles or Radiohead albums to make a buck.
I don’t know Radiohead’s justification for the internet release, but my friends and I attribute their release method to their integrity as musicians trying to share their tunes. Through numerous conversations with a handful of my fellow fans, we have concluded that Radiohead has successfully disemminated their album without having to carry the stigma of an already financially successful band trying to take advantage of their loyal consumer fan base. We still talk about the tunes as though the record/cassette/CD were spinning in our player. Though our purchase stories are shorter in length, our experience of aquiring the album is still significant to us. With the I-tunes store a click away, and with individual burning capabilities that retain digital sound quality, retailers seem to have reacted by raising their prices, probably limiting their sales even further. Radiohead found an admirable loophole in an unwieldy consumer market. Only money-hungry record retailers can really complain. I am confident that the release of In Rainbows positively redefined the album “purchase” experience.
I think the decline of the mega-record store (Tower, Virgin, etc.) has been happening for quite some time, but I’ve always maintained that specialty outlets are going to survive the crunch. Places such as Amoeba, Rasputin, and even the small Hyde Park Records that’s around the corner from my place in Chicago cater to music lovers who appreciate finding a good price on an item that’s hard to find. (All of these shops I’ve mentioned have substantial stocks of used CDs and records.) So, I’d imagine that their clientèle is staying fairly strong. While it is possible to find pretty much everything on the internet (Amazon marketplace) it usually still ends up being cheaper if you can go and pick it up at your local store and not pay for shipping. Also you don’t have to wait for it to come in the mail.
Also, there’s still something satisfying about going to a record store and browsing. Certainly you can browse on the internet, but it’s a much different experience.
I, for one, appreciate Radiohead’s move to release In Rainbows in the fashion they did. I actually chose to download and pay 4 pounds for it because a) I wanted the album and b) I wanted to participate in the process. Also, it’s nice knowing that the money is going directly to the band; it’s almost the equivalent of buying a CD from an unsigned band that you see on tour.
Subsequently, I’ve been checking out In Rainbows, and it’s a strikingly good album. It’s really impressive that Radiohead can continue to put out album after album of such high quality. Also, it’s amazing that they can still make the music sound fresh.
Actually, I’m revising my original post: I said, “I don’t miss the high prices and small selection,” but that was too facile. Brian’s point that small music retailers don’t actually charge more than the internet seems debatable to me (I think on average you may well end up spending a dollar or so more, even when you take into consideration the cost of shipping, etc., but I haven’t done any empirical comparison, so I could be wrong); but I should say that I think it is wrong to suggest that those places have limited selection. In fact, I remember being able, almost always, to get what I wanted from B-Side or Rasputin’s or Amoeba, etc. They don’t generally stock the full-on long tail, but those stores generally have a much higher proportion of stuff I am actually interested in listening to than something like Amazon. We’ll see, though; I still think even those may ultimately be unable to sustain economic viability in this day and age.
I feel a little naughty reading these posts and knowing despite Radiohead’s distribution, I still received it free from Ann (sorry Annie, I outed you)… and then proceeded to let my brother-in-laws download onto their computers. Is this wrong? Maybe I should buy it or give a donation.
I was never into record stores growing up, probably because of how far I had to drive to get to a store. My main sources for attaining CDs and cassettes were through the infamous BMG and Columbia House, via snail mail. Wow, good thing my credit cleared up after some of the stunts I had with those companies, never paying my bill. I bought my first Pearl Jam cassette this way, followed by Guns N Roses. There was always an incentive to get something for free. BMG and Columbia House had their ploy of by 3 get 10 free when you joined. Are they still around?
I have to say the stores I am really into are used record/CD stores. It is amazing what you can find there, specifically in the genre of opera. If I can help it I try to buy recordings that way before I MUST purchase a new recording from most likely Amazon (in my experience most record stores have poor selection with opera).
Otherwise I am like many people where we try to get it for free or off of i-tunes. I like buying music while sipping my coffee in my pj’s.