Are record shops worth saving? (Part 1)
Encore Records, Ann Arbor, MI.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)Last Saturday, independent music retailers organized a national Record Store Day, complete with in-store freebies and exclusive releases from dozens of bands who want to see these business survive. As someone who spent two of the best years of my youth working at an independent record store, I have a nostalgic attachment to these mom-and-pop shops.
I don't know if I was motivated more by sentimentality or pity, but I felt an obligation to honor the spirit of the day and visit my local music store. The shop was ripped right out of "High Fidelity," and contained all the requisite elements for an indy music store: aloof, yet knowledgeable staff; equal ratios of vinyl and CDs; postered walls; a selection of local music; and a lazy pet cat. But nostalgia aside, I couldn't shake the reality that stores like this can't last much longer.
It's a shame, because some aspects of shopping in a record store haven't (or can't) translate into the world of online music. I'm not delusional enough to think that everyone should go back to buying CDs or LPs, but at the same time, my gut tells me that music consumers (and our culture in general) may realize all too late that there's something worth preserving about today's endangered music shops.
Billy Corgan talks about why he loves his local record shop.
What's worth saving
Arguing in defense of record shops, here are five things I think the best brick-and-mortar music retailers get right.
Rock 'n' roll ambiance
(Credit:
Donald Bell/CNET Networks)
For the devoted, stepping into a great music store is like stepping into a temple. For these people, downloading music is like worshiping at an online church--there's no ritual to it, no pageantry, no reason to dress up. In light of the inherently private experience of actually listening to music, there's something balancing about discovering and purchasing new music in a comfortable public space that reaffirms your identity as a music lover.
The community aspect also comes into play. I've yet to see a music store that isn't plastered with flyers for local shows. Especially in small towns, music stores often act as a vital hub for the community's live music scene.
Inviting exploration
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Donald Bell/CNET Networks)
The Web has made it very easy to point, click, and preview new music within seconds, but the experience often feels less like exploration, and more like judgmentally picking your way through a digital haystack. There's no digital equivalent to the tiny thrill I get crouching down to the bottom shelf and flipping through used CDs for hidden gems, or finding a carefully curated bin full of Balinese gamelan recordings on vinyl.
In my experience, if a shop is doing its job right and stocking the shelves with great music, the act of exploring and browsing is tremendously more satisfying offline than online. Even if you don't walk away with the music you came for, the exploratory part of shopping and discovering is different, more memorable, more of an experience.
Mixing formats
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Donald Bell/CNET Networks)
For the most part, shopping for music online means shopping for downloads. Sure, you could buy an LP from eBay, a CD from Amazon, or an AAC file from iTunes, but there's no single site that lets you compare and purchase multiple formats. As a music fan, I spend most of my money these days on downloads, but I'm also a sucker for a cheap CD or a rare LP.
Just last month, I spent $5 on eBay for the Moog synthesizer rendition of the "Star Wars" sound track... an 8-track cassette. For me, music comes in all shapes and sizes, and I appreciate that many independent music retailers still reflect music's legacy of mixed-formats.
Used music
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Donald Bell/CNET Networks)
You can't get a used MP3. Well, you can, but it's called piracy. Major labels and online retailers despise them, but used CDs are a great value for consumers, and the used CD trade is one of the few things keeping mom-and-pops afloat.
I consider it one of the least appreciated swindles of the 21st century that we're still paying new CD prices ($12-15) for music with lower fidelity and no resale value. Without old CDs to sell back to record stores, I probably would have starved in my early twenties.
Collectibles
Promos, schwag, posters, limited edition vinyl, box sets, T-shirts, stickers, patches, bands have always offered dozens of ways to consume their brands and their music.
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Moog Music)
When you really love a band, weaving them into the fabric of your life requires more than a download on your iPod. Mom-and-pops seem to get this better than online retailers. In the extreme, you've got mall chains like Hot Topic, who put the collectible merchandise ahead of the music itself.
What'd I miss?
So, now you know what I'd miss if music stores vanished from the face of the earth. What about you? I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets a little sentimental about this stuff, so add your two cents in the comments section.
Before you take me for a total softie, though, stay tuned for part two of this blog post, where I'll confess all the record shop quirks that drive me crazy, and ultimately, drive me away.
Donald Bell is CNET Reviews' senior editor for MP3 players and portable audio, and one half of the MP3 Insider blog and weekly podcast. He also likes getting his hands dirty with digital audio tools for musicians and DJs.
Donald Bell is an electronic musician, a veteran record store employee, and a fearless hardware hacker. He's also CNET's Senior Editor for MP3 and digital audio.
Jasmine France is CNET's resident digital audio doyenne, writing and editing product reviews, crave blogs, and feature stories on all things MP3. And if you need advice on headphones, she's your girl.
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Odds are you're going to find rock, urban music and then a smattering of albums from other genres. If you want to go truly deep into another field, like electronic music or jazz, many indie stores won't be much better than the local Best Buy. It's not always easy to explore elsewhere, but I've found that online is an easier place to explore when you're off the beaten path.
I wouldn't likely have ever found Ethiopiques (Ethiopian jazz) or Thunderheist (indie dance) by flipping through the stacks at the local record store; the latter didn't even have a full album until this month, but they've been touring for a couple of years on EPs!
The record store vibe will probably drift away, but you'll get some of it back by going to the concert or going to a truly knowledgeable music site like Pitchfork.
I live in Toronto and you can get Ethiopiques and Thunderheist (vinyl as well) at my local record store. As well as other record stores in Toronto they are quite common.
I don't understand buying music on line why would anyone want compressed music
As for all those downloads, unless you have some good speakers, you pay good money for bad sound. Am I the only one that is tired of the record company radio station mass market retailer pushing yet another format war to be replaced again in a few years?
1. Horse and buggy - who needs cars, theres a lot of nostalgia, riding behind a horse at 2 mph.
2. Black and white t.v.'s - who needs a flat screen, plasma, HDTV/ with Blu-Ray . Black and white t.v's made the movies very nostalgic.
3. Paper Documents/ file cabinets - who needs fancy computers with 2.2 GHz, 250GB hard-drive, HD with 8 GB of RAM that weigh less than 2 lbs. Rooms filled with file cabinets and dust, were very nostalgic. There is nothing like sneezing for hours from inhailing dust bunnies.
I digress because this topic is senseless !
The faster we can get the rest of these shops closed, the sooner the record labels will be willing to make more music ( oldies etc ) available on portable music devices ( MP3/ Itunes etc ).
These things include:
record stores as opposed to online stores,
vinyl records instead of CDs or mp3s,
classic video game systems (both original systems, and new "expired-patent" systems) vs modern consoles, computer games and emulators,
etc.
The best part about the few that I've listed is that one may use both alongside each other. I can download the mp3s for portable use, and keep my vinyl for when I'm at home (unfortunately Motorola never finished their namesake; the in-car record player). I can hook up both an Atari 2600 and an Xbox 360 to the same TV. I can buy from the record store, and then order something online that the store doesn't carry. I can own a car and still go horseback riding, or go on a carriage ride. I can keep paper backups to whatever documents I like, while storing most of them in digital format. I can keep paper money in the same wallet as my debit card.
It's the things which aren't mutually exclusive and provide some benefit, though it may not be convenience, that people get excited about and want to save.
The faster you can give up having any fair use rights on any of your music.
As for the tech, sorry but you actually don't get that even some of your yestertech has a place and use in the moden world. Especially the horse. Paper as well. A computer still can't edit a paper as well as I can with a pencil. Sounds funny but it's true.
Record shops are dying and will die because of one thing-convenience. It's just too bad that the independent record shops will be first to go instead of the F.Y.E.'s.
And they will not re-open.
Music is the best. FZ
But back to saving record (what an anachronistic term) shops. I used to buy all my music on CDs as vinyl has long since died. You can say that vinyl sales are up 24% but that is meaningless. If I sold one vinyl album in 2007 and two in 2008 I could say that vinyl sales are up 100%. Big deal. But I digress. When Yahoo Music offered their service where you could buy WMA tracks (with crazy DRM) for $.79 each I went that way. We all know what happened to that service. So now I will never buy DRM tracks ever again and I am very wary of buying MP3s. I would prefer to buy CDs. But why should I pay $15 for a CD when I can download it for $10? What is that 50% premium buying me? The fact that I own it? Well I own any music that I download that is free of DRM. Is it buying better fidelity? I guess. But if don't have $5,000 in electronics so that I hear the difference between compressed and uncompressed music does it really matter?
But if I go to a indie record store to buy an album I have to hunt through stacks of poorly organized material with no pricing information. And God forbid if I ask one of these miscreants that work there for help. If I'm not looking for some off-the-wall music like a version 'Helter Skelter' recorded by Charles Manson in his prison cell on a Styrofoam cup using a paper clip or something else that they think is 'cool' their interest in helping me ends instantly. They act like they are doing me a favor instead of the other way around. While this makes for a hysterical movie it makes a poor shopping experience.
It's simple. A record store needs to have a huge selection, low prices, and friendly & knowledgeable staff. That's it. Don't trick it up. Keep it simple. Most stores only are lucky to have one of these features. I'm afraid to say the reason we don't have better music stores is because people don't demand better music stores. Why not? As much as I hate to say it; most people don't care about music. I think people are more into watching movies, playing video games, and doing stuff on the computer.
Just look for FLAC files and check out the samplerates. Anything above 16bit 44.1Khz is better than a CD.
But then, some of these old effects, such as tube distortion and tape hiss are considered by many as enhancements to the music. Where is the progress in that!?
As for the people who commented on "owning" music. The fact is that all music is licensed to you, you never own it. Personal performance licenses are the same, no matter what format you buy your music in. You may argue that at least if you buy a CD, you can rip it and copy it to other devices, but this is still copyright infringement in most countries. Unless the license message printed along with the music says otherwise, any copying of the material is forbidden. So buying music with DRM attached may seem like a bad deal, but in reality it is only stopping you from committing an infringement of copyright.
I run an indie label and all my artist's music will be available from my new online record store without DRM. My personal licenses allow you to copy our music onto other devices that you own, and even share the files with a few close friends. It will be available in MP3 format as well as FLAC files in CD quality and Studio quality (24bit 96Khz). If you are a commercial user of music, you can even download it with a variety of commercial licenses.
Sad as I am to see the demise of the high street record store, I feel that eventually most high street retailers will suffer the same fate. I already do 90% of my shopping online. As with any facet of life, convenience usually wins over quality in the end.
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by tothlaw
April 30, 2009 10:01 AM PDT
- A record store is like a temple to me. I was shocked and saddened to discover that the Virgin Records at The Block was gone. I mentioned my sadness to a manager at The Corner Bakery (an approximation of a bakery though actually on a corner). He asked me if I ever bought CDs? I told him "yes of course." He said "That's why they closed -- you were their only customer."
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(26 Comments)I am an old guy (born 1953) but I like Kanye's new record. I am an active guitar player and not a bad songwriter. My high school and college days were spent perusing record stores (pre-internet, children) and they have always been, to me, symbols of what is best in us, places where like-minded souls gather if for nothing else than to absorb the good vibrations. Ok, over the top, but from my heart. I also have all of the vinyl I ever bought and, yes, I love the sound of it. But my response is not mere nostalgia. If the only truly American art is jazz and its progeny (I include here rock, soul, hip hop, etc), then record stores are places where American art was once celebrated and disseminated. That educational process is only roughly approximated by the internet and much of the sense of a common artistic community has disappeared (not that Virgin Records ever really lived up to my memories of the great book and record stores of my youth) I like Donald Bell's suggestions for reviving record stores though MP3 is a dismal approximation of a record (is there a pattern here? Corner Bakery, Virgin Records? are we stuck with dismal approximations of the good things we grew up with?) Perhaps the best thing for old guys to do is shut up, dust off the discwasher, and wait for the merciful release we can all look forward to (the next Stones album...).