So I went to buy a CD for fathers day yesterday and could not find a music/record store. I know that there were some around the holidays but have they completely evaporated since then?
Can you gift a specific album via itunes? or do you just have to download it yourself and burn a copy to send?
It is an interesting problem…
Where I live (20 miles east of Seattle) we’ve had 2 video stores and the only remaining CD shop all close down in the last few months. I can’t recall the last time I actually went into a physical media store - it was probably a book store a few months ago.
nor can I,
it is amazing how they just disappeared…
I guess that there is always best buy…
If you can’t find one locally, Amazon has a pretty impressive selection of CDs.
The music industry had changed quite a bit in the last 10 years. Some for the better…some for the worse.
Two years ago I bought Metallica’s Death Magnetic. I can’t remember what I bought before then. I mainly download any more…both paid for and not.
So I went to buy a CD for fathers day yesterday and could not find a music/record store. I know that there were some around the holidays but have they completely evaporated since then?
Can you gift a specific album via itunes? or do you just have to download it yourself and burn a copy to send?
It is an interesting problem…
I’m not following. Are you looking for a specific “Music only” store?
Around here, Best Buy, Barnes & Nobles and Borders all have fairly extensive CD/DVD selections. Even stores like Walmart and Target have Music aisles.
Beyond that we have “CD exchange” stores where you can sell and buy Used CD and even have a “Record”, I.E. Vinyl record store.
~Matt
Not to answer for the OP, but where I live none of these stores “extensive” collections includes the stuff I want; the stuff that IS contained by the last “music store.” I drove by there the other day and a sign said “Everything half price” so maybe they are going out of business, too. I’m guessing that for a gift, you don’t want a download and “used” is inapprpriate, as well.
I went to a Borders Store to get something and they didn’t have it. The salesperson said, “We can order it and it will be in in two weeks.”
“OK, let’s do it,” I said, thinking I’m gonna give her some green dollars and she gives me a recept and I’ll bring that back in two weeks. No, no, no. Home Address required. DOB required. First name required. Credit card Number. Phone number. WTF? Basically, I’m going thru the whole internet thing except I get to pay sales tax, too. I said, “Let me speak to the manger.”
She said, “I am the manager.”
Honey, I’m trying to save your job, but it looks like your company won’t let me.
Not to answer for the OP, but where I live none of these stores “extensive” collections includes the stuff I want
That’s a different issue all together. I don’t want any of it 
Yes if it’s not “in store” you might as well go home and order it yourself these days.
I was at Farm and Fleet the other day and they have this cool “Order it yourself” keoske thing. In short you flip thru their online catalog, in store, pick what you want, qty etc and it prints out a receipt. Walk up to the register, pay, drive around to the yard and pick everything up. Very cool idea I thought. Basically bypasses the “Desk guy” that is looking stuff up for you at places like Home Depot, Menards etc.
~Matt
Well, MOST of the stuff I want IS in the record stores, but NONE of it is at Borders, Target, etc.
And someone mentioned the video stores, I had a real hard time finding one of them the other day in a mid-size city. Suppose, I mention “. . . . just like in Faces of Death.” Someone says, “What’s that?” “Oh, you haven’t seen it? We’ll get a copy, it’s kinda fun.”
You’re not getting it from a red box.
If you order it from Netflix, it’s too late by the time it gets here.
where I live none of these stores “extensive” collections includes the stuff I want;
Indeed. You will likely only find those sorts of music/CD stores in large cities or online. It’s part of what has been referred to as “The Long Tail” and it applies almost perfectly to the music business.
If you want top-40 pop schlock - you may be able to find that at Wal Mart or Target Yikes!
But if you are looking for Ambient Dub, or some obscure Coltrane jazz piece - you are out in the Long Tail and online via Amazon or via direct paid download is just about the only place you are going to find it.
I have mixed feelings about all this, as I grew up hunting through, first record stores, then CD stores for that fav obscure music that I liked. It was all about the search. Now, I can go to a web site and down-load whatever I want in a few seconds!
Maine has a chain - Bull Moose Music - and I can think of 2 independent places. My dad is really into music and knows where these are
Thanks Khai,
I was just at the mall for another reason and though that it was odd.
Maybe I will itunes the album and put it on an SD card or something…
The CD store is now called Target and Walmart.
so…this thread isn’t about record stores at all then? i thought we were going to talk vinyl.
I thought it was going to be about record stores too.
I really only actually buy albums physically if it is vinyl and I want to more ‘collect’ it. Pretty rare these days, I actually can’t think of the last time I did that. I used to be way more into that but even then I’d buy a lot of mail order straight from the labels (or, for my precious j-pop, from stores online carrying more speciality items).
I thought it was going to be about record stores too.
I really only actually buy albums physically if it is vinyl and I want to more ‘collect’ it. Pretty rare these days, I actually can’t think of the last time I did that. I used to be way more into that but even then I’d buy a lot of mail order straight from the labels (or, for my precious j-pop, from stores online carrying more speciality items).
yeah, i havent bought a cd or anything like that in probably 12 years. i still collect vinyl, most “smaller”/ local bands still put out vinyl so there is never a shortage at shows.
I used to like ordering stuff from the labels because sometimes they send along extra stuff if you order a certain amount or whatever, or just because.
In grade 10 I had a radio show with a friend on our school’s radio station (it broadcast into the cafeteria, so not as cool as that sounds). We were the only people with a radio show, and we’d play in the mornings before class started. I mentioned once in a letter ordering some stuff that I was playing some other bands they had released some 7"'s of, and they sent me some free stuff to play on our show and gave me some inside info on upcoming releases. We got sent to a university in another city to do a special class for a week and I chose radio and I got to do a fake/practice throw to a band that was going to be on a tribute they were releasing and mentioned that - the big indie nerd who was teaching us was all impressed and invited me to be on his for-real radio show on the university station. I thought I was the coolest 15 or 16 year old ever. Anyways, that’s why I like ordering from labels sometimes.
(The radio show was amazing. Once there was a knock on the broadcast room and this girl came in and was like ‘I just want you to know…me and my friends, like, we don’t like the music you play, and, like, we’re not going to sit in the cafeteria anymore unless you like change what you play.’ My friend Richard and I were thinking ‘we are the ONLY show on this station and in this school…ratings are irrelevant! Leave if you want!’ Anyways, the girl saw in my hand that I had an album by a local indie guy - very folky - and said ‘OH! Hayden! I’m friends with his brother. That’s okay if you play that.’ Then she left. I looked at Richard, looked at the Hayden album, and said ‘I ALSO brought a Napalm Death album today!’ so we played that instead and dedicated it to the girl who came to visit us.)
I used to like ordering stuff from the labels because sometimes they send along extra stuff if you order a certain amount or whatever, or just because.
In grade 10 I had a radio show with a friend on our school’s radio station (it broadcast into the cafeteria, so not as cool as that sounds). We were the only people with a radio show, and we’d play in the mornings before class started. I mentioned once in a letter ordering some stuff that I was playing some other bands they had released some 7"'s of, and they sent me some free stuff to play on our show and gave me some inside info on upcoming releases. We got sent to a university in another city to do a special class for a week and I chose radio and I got to do a fake/practice throw to a band that was going to be on a tribute they were releasing and mentioned that - the big indie nerd who was teaching us was all impressed and invited me to be on his for-real radio show on the university station. I thought I was the coolest 15 or 16 year old ever. Anyways, that’s why I like ordering from labels sometimes.
(The radio show was amazing. Once there was a knock on the broadcast room and this girl came in and was like ‘I just want you to know…me and my friends, like, we don’t like the music you play, and, like, we’re not going to sit in the cafeteria anymore unless you like change what you play.’ My friend Richard and I were thinking ‘we are the ONLY show on this station and in this school…ratings are irrelevant! Leave if you want!’ Anyways, the girl saw in my hand that I had an album by a local indie guy - very folky - and said ‘OH! Hayden! I’m friends with his brother. That’s okay if you play that.’ Then she left. I looked at Richard, looked at the Hayden album, and said ‘I ALSO brought a Napalm Death album today!’ so we played that instead and dedicated it to the girl who came to visit us.)
if you want some free vinyl i have some sitting around, send me your address…they are hardcore/ punk…so unless you dont care for the genre i’ll send your way.
One of my greatest joys in life used to be thumbing through albums for hours at Tower Records or The Wherehouse.
Soon paperback novels will also be a novelty item.
I guess that is progress.
I used to like ordering stuff from the labels because sometimes they send along extra stuff if you order a certain amount or whatever, or just because.
In grade 10 I had a radio show with a friend on our school’s radio station (it broadcast into the cafeteria, so not as cool as that sounds). We were the only people with a radio show, and we’d play in the mornings before class started. I mentioned once in a letter ordering some stuff that I was playing some other bands they had released some 7"'s of, and they sent me some free stuff to play on our show and gave me some inside info on upcoming releases. We got sent to a university in another city to do a special class for a week and I chose radio and I got to do a fake/practice throw to a band that was going to be on a tribute they were releasing and mentioned that - the big indie nerd who was teaching us was all impressed and invited me to be on his for-real radio show on the university station. I thought I was the coolest 15 or 16 year old ever. Anyways, that’s why I like ordering from labels sometimes.
(The radio show was amazing. Once there was a knock on the broadcast room and this girl came in and was like ‘I just want you to know…me and my friends, like, we don’t like the music you play, and, like, we’re not going to sit in the cafeteria anymore unless you like change what you play.’ My friend Richard and I were thinking ‘we are the ONLY show on this station and in this school…ratings are irrelevant! Leave if you want!’ Anyways, the girl saw in my hand that I had an album by a local indie guy - very folky - and said ‘OH! Hayden! I’m friends with his brother. That’s okay if you play that.’ Then she left. I looked at Richard, looked at the Hayden album, and said ‘I ALSO brought a Napalm Death album today!’ so we played that instead and dedicated it to the girl who came to visit us.)
if you want some free vinyl i have some sitting around, send me your address…they are hardcore/ punk…so unless you dont care for the genre i’ll send your way.
Thanks! I will send you a PM. I’ll take a look through my collection too…I have a few things I hold precious (? and the Mysterians original pressing of 96 Tears…I have a friend who was DJing and wanted to borrow it and I was like, ‘you must be crazy if you think I’m going to lend you that, especially for a club gig’)