Record Store Day

[vibratoforever]

I recall a conversation many years ago with the owner of a classical cd store in Sheffield where he asserted that he had a business for life. Sadly he was wrong, the shop closed some years ago. Now when I visit the nearest classical store to me in Nottingham I cannot rely that I can purchase the latest cd releases. The Amazon store presents no such problems and the outcome is inevitable.

[verismissimo]

... (Of course it's not as though music was ever cheap in NZ, with all those oceans to cross.)

...

I used to find lovely things on LP, kea, (often WRC and NZ composers) at Records Preservation Book and General Trading Palace in Cuba Street, Wellington. Still treasured. Doubtless long gone.

[antongould]

I think AG should apologise for bringing up such an unsavoury subject, and spend £50 at his local record store as penance.

Not the worst punishment ever, tbf.

I apologise and will spend 4 quid in Windows......I suppose I should use another thread to ask how Pompey got on yesterday.....

[verismissimo]

I apologise and will spend 4 quid in Windows......I suppose I should use another thread to ask how Pompey got on yesterday.....

Think Pompey's been dead a while, AG.

[silvestrione]

Think Pompey's been dead a while, AG.

Never mind Pompey, I'm going to watch the Cherries, Bournemouth, tomorrow, for the first time since the late 60s, courtesy of the fact that they and Ipswich are now in same division, and Ipswich is close!

In those days Beale's Department Store in Bournemouth had a classical record department, where I bought one half of Bruckner 8 (all I could afford) EMI Karajan BPO, found my little record player could not cope with the fortissimos, and never went back for the other LP! Wonder what happened to it.

Still very good record shops in Cambridge (Heffers) and Norwich (Prelude Records). These days Foyles in London seems to be the best-stocked.

[Nick Armstrong]

Funny old thread this; but funny old idea, the 'record shop day' and the (I think) silly 'virtual £50' thing...

It's got me thinking though - mainly about why I can't summon up much regret about the decline of traditional 'record shops'. I have a lot of nostalgic good feelings about the hours and hours I used to spend in classical departments when I was in the 'building my library' phase of collecting. The lunchtimes or stop-offs on the way home spent in MDC Cheapside or HMV or Tower Records...

I start to think - what a shame that those who are in that early phase of collecting can't do the same thing as easily (two of the above have gone, the third a tragic shadow of its former self)... but then I think, many people didn't / don't have the luxury of several (or any) adjacent stores (as some have pointed out above)... and nowadays, the younger generation will rely on other online techniques anyway. For most people - those not living in towns, the younger collectors - the online facilities are a huge boon compared with the past, and reliance on a shop, it seems to me.

And that's certainly the case for me, at the stage I've reached in collecting. I don't feel the need to browse any more. On the rare occasions I've gone into a record shop in the last decade, I've come out with nothing. My purchasing over the last 10 - 15 years has changed completely - it's very specific, I will want a certain version of a certain piece, probably slightly off the beaten track, and it's almost never going to be 'in stock' in a shop.

Also the ability to buy part of a recording - one or two smaller pieces - from the full issues 60 - 70 minutes, is a huge boon. I love being able to cherry-pick (the recent Delphian 'Rachmaninov songs' release is a classic instance)

Plus I want to be able to listen on the move. I love my iPod - especially since I can now plug it into the car. In fact the latter as well as an iPod socket has two 'ports' for SD cards, so I've been able to make 2 favourite 'travel compilations' - the equivalent of about 20 CDs - which stay in the car; plus the rest of my 160GB can plug in for longer journeys. The ability to do all that without faffing about with CDs, their cases and booklets, is a huge boon. (I'm not one of the 'booklet fans' anyway - I rarely read the booklets (not being into opera, the lack of libretti isn't something that worries me).

And even at home - now I can play from the computer wirelessly through the main hifi - if I want to hear a piece that I have in iTunes having burnt it from a CD on my shelf, it's the iTunes version I'll listen to rather than using the CD. I'm much much less likely in future to buy anything on a physical medium.

So all that - plus the whole streamng / Spotify / Qobuz world that I haven't even tried to get into (yet) - means that sadly for all the hours spent in record shops in the 80s and 90s, I don't miss them. At all.

[pastoralguy]

When I started collecting in 1977 all I could really afford (apart from birthdays and Christmas) were CfP Lps, some of which were good to very good and a couple that were duff. I used to browse enviously through the full price discs that were way out my budget and waited for the great day when I would be Able to afford them. These same recordings are now being sold in 'big boxes' for often less than a pound each and in much better sound.

So, yes, I think the young collector has a type of access that we older folk could only dream of.

[MickyD]

I think I'm very much on your wavelength, Caliban. But I have to say that I wouldn't have missed those halcyon days of the 1970s and 80s in London record stores for the world...always so exciting to go in and not know what you were going to find! With so much easily available these days, the excitement and the gloss has been lost for me. But I guess that maybe it is also to do with age..

[Petrushka]

When I look at what I've bought this month and compare with what I was buying 40 years ago then it's no contest is it?

Back in April 1974 I purchased volume one of Kempe's Richard Strauss boxed set on EMI. The price sticker is still on it: £5.95 for a 4 disc set. I was out of work at that point having just finished college so goodness knows how I managed to afford it. In any case, it wouldn't have been far off what my weekly unemployment benefit was at that time. Nowadays the entire Kempe set of all the Strauss orchestral works is going on Amazon for £19.54 - less than half of the present weekly jobseekers.

LPs were far too expensive and so, in all honesty, were CDs in the early years when collectors were ripped off in my view.

I loved browsing for LPs whenever I went anywhere and the collecting bug started in the 1970s but those prices are hard to believe and collectors now are spoilt beyond my wildest imaginings of 40 years ago.

This month alone I've purchased the VPO 1946-1949 Karajan set, the Karl Böhm Symphonies edition and Giulini the London Years. The first two boxes were bought for shelf saving purposes only where the duplicates have been stashed away for resale/charity shop. All a far cry from when I spent my last bean on that Kempe set 40 years ago!

[MickyD]

Anyone interested?

I have CD Review on just now. Andrew discussing this with James Joly and some guy who is head of Presto classics. Frankly, I think Joly has a cheek since he wholeheartedly expounded the virtues of the download during his stewardship of Gramophone!

....and how magnanimous of him to tell us that he "actually bought a CD" in a shop last week!

[visualnickmos]

....and how magnanimous of him to tell us that he "actually bought a CD" in a shop last week!

Exactly what I thought!

For me, nothing beats the 80s and 90s and the wealth of CD outlets of one sort or another where one could browse, chat about the versions, etc etc - thank Gawd for Gramex, that's what I say; the last of the last. Long may it's doors stay open.

[aeolium]

LPs were far too expensive and so, in all honesty, were CDs in the early years when collectors were ripped off in my view.

I loved browsing for LPs whenever I went anywhere and the collecting bug started in the 1970s but those prices are hard to believe and collectors now are spoilt beyond my wildest imaginings of 40 years ago.

I agree with that. The cost of full-price LPs in the 1970s and of full-price CDs in the 1980s was ridiculous. On the other hand some of the crazy bargain prices these days are not very auspicious for the future of recordings. It's great for people building a collection now (whether of CD or download) but will the sheer abundance and cheapness of historical recordings crowd out the opportunities for today's artists?

[Ferretfancy]

There's a wonderful essay by Charles Lamb in which he recounts how he and his sister used to press their noses to the window of Colnaghi's shop, staring at a Leonardo manuscript which they coveted. They scrimped and saved, and at last hurried home with their purchase, sitting up until late, turning the pages and considering which ones need a little repair. The essay ends rather ruefully, with Lamb realising that " Now I could buy a wilderness of Leonardos "

I used to feel like that when record buying back in the early fifties, as in my first real job I earned £370 a year, and premium LPs cost 43 /9d. Nowadays we still complain a bit, and seek out bargains, but how lucky we are !

Incidentally, I noticed recently that the Colnaghi Gallery has at last disappeared from the bottom of Bond Street.

[teamsaint]

I agree with that. The cost of full-price LPs in the 1970s and of full-price CDs in the 1980s was ridiculous. On the other hand some of the crazy bargain prices these days are not very auspicious for the future of recordings. It's great for people building a collection now (whether of CD or download) but will the sheer abundance and cheapness of historical recordings crowd out the opportunities for today's artists?

Record companies are going to have to be very canny to keep their markets.

IMO both record companies and book publishers will have to ensure plenty of added value, to get sales of new product.
Amazon's Autorip is the kind of thing that will help. Book publishers are also bundling hard copy and e versions at times. New physical product will also, I suspect,be somewhat cross subsidised by " e only" versions of old back catalogue.

Its an interesting subject, but heading off topic.
Traditional routes to market for the big players, (with publicity in the mainstream media) remain important. There are lessons to learn across industries as well. Sales of e books in certain sectors are flattening out, and showing signs of decline.

[gurnemanz]

I agree with that. The cost of full-price LPs in the 1970s and of full-price CDs in the 1980s was ridiculous. On the other hand some of the crazy bargain prices these days are not very auspicious for the future of recordings. It's great for people building a collection now (whether of CD or download) but will the sheer abundance and cheapness of historical recordings crowd out the opportunities for today's artists?

Old codgers' corner: I seem to remember you had to pay extra for stereo.