• From: Sussex UK
  • Registered: 2009-07-12
  • Posts: 1,465

Topic: Disappearing (rock) music

Went into HMV today in my local town, - (HMV have been a massive music retailer for years) and had to search for the CD section, - this is a bigish, 100meter long one floor store. For years the layout has been CD’s at the front, and then DVD’s and computer/console games at the back. Now the CD section was REALLY small and hidden inbetween everything else. I will add that there was still a v small Blues section and about 5 of Joe’s CD’s were in there.

Their stocks/shares have been hit pretty hard recently and they have had a very tough sales largely due to the very bad (for us) weather with snow on the ground stopping shoppers pre Christmas, - but thought it very telling and concerning that music sales look to be at risk.

Clearly the likes of Amazon and the food supermarkets have hit them hard, as well as i-Tunes download. There was a piece on the news the other day about 2010 music sales and the lack of guitar based (rock) in the charts. – As JB fans we could ignore it and carry on as normal, - but do wonder if us real music fans should be worrying about it….Must admit all of Joe’s CD’s that I have purchased have come from Amazon, but that is because the likes of HMV charge £15 per CD because it is minority interest, - maybe that is what they are getting wrong and should go back to holding better stocks on non-mainstream music and provide a better service? I did come out with a Smashing Pumpins CD for £12…although I now see it is on Amazon at £7.99…!!!

Wonder how things are over the other side of the pond and wider world?

Ian

My YouTube channel with plenty of my Joe's videos dating from 2009 inc his first Hammersmith Odeon ones:
http://www.youtube.com/ian916fun

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  • Registered: 2009-02-14
  • Posts: 686

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

Yeah,here too.,i ordered Joe's  Albert Hall cd in person at my local HMV-Workington- 23 quid- only to
go  onlione at their own site........8-99! Mr HMV,why should'nt i go in-store tomorrow and cancel my order to get it by post!!!!!

Come on you Blades!
  • Registered: 2009-02-14
  • Posts: 686

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

idolbone wrote:

Yeah,here too.,i ordered Joe's  Albert Hall cd in person at my local HMV-Workington- 23 quid- only to
go  onlione at their own site........8-99! Mr HMV,why should'nt i go in-store tomorrow and cancel my order to get it by post!!!!!


and up to 60 % of stores to close this year?........go figure,as they say over there... sad

Come on you Blades!
  • RickB
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Re: Disappearing (rock) music

Chatting with a friend at the bar between sets at the Eric Gales gig and he related the same. Dropped into his local store and the shelves were mostly  bare. He asked about a new release he was seeking and they said it could be ordered. He remarked that he could easily have ordered it off Amazon but was trying to support a local business... Tough times for retail business indeed. neutral
Rick

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  • Registered: 2009-02-14
  • Posts: 686

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

Yeah,so, online gets 8-99,the store gets 23 english pounds-how much does joe get from each? i don't mind a bit of profiteering,but 14 quid? mad

Come on you Blades!
  • From: Massachusetts
  • Registered: 2007-10-23
  • Posts: 1,929

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

We have a local record store called Newbury Comics.  They still have lots of CD's, and one store stocks lots of vinyl.  I can lose a lot of time in there.  There is also a store in NH/Maine called Bull Moose Music - very similar place.  I support them both - would hate to see them close.

Sandy

"There's a lot of people that are in so much of a hurry to be, I guess, to be famous or that they don't want to take the time to learn to play and do all that.They'd rather just knock it down off a computer and maybe get on a game show and get famous..That's fine if that's what you want to do.
"We're more old school than that. We like creating the sounds."  - Tom Petty
  • From: Ridgeland, MS
  • Registered: 2009-08-12
  • Posts: 1,248

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

It's sad to me that the whole experience of browsing a record store, buying an album, taking it home and poring over the sights and smells of the record jacket while the album spins on the turntable is fading away. Buying and listening to music used to be an experience. I will treasure those memories of the late 70's and 80's forever.

  • LynB
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  • From: Poole - UK
  • Registered: 2006-10-02
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Re: Disappearing (rock) music

Times are tough.  HMV not only have to compete with the likes of Play or Amazon who sell CDs at discount prices and often with free posting, but also with the download sites.  Personally I still like the feel of a 'real' CD (as opposed to a virtual one).

idolbone wrote:
Yeah,here too.,i ordered Joe's  Albert Hall cd in person at my local HMV-Workington- 23 quid- only to
go  onlione at their own site........8-99! Mr HMV

Interesting ... my local independent record store are selling this for just under £10.

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Re: Disappearing (rock) music

LynB wrote:

Times are tough.

Agree with you Lyn, not sure what the answer is! As long as their Flagship store remains, i'll be happy. I do miss the Zavvi Flagship Store by Tottenham Court Road Station.(previously Virgin) Spent many a happy hour in there.  hmm

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  • From: Bermuda Triangle
  • Registered: 2009-09-18
  • Posts: 37

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

I'm in Italy and the EU for work now aND it's not that rock music is disappeareing from the shop shelves, but the prices........MAN FAROUT:(:(!!!!

  • From: Central PA
  • Registered: 2010-04-28
  • Posts: 272

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

I hope CDs don't completely go away... I would miss the "liner notes." Lots of good reading in there! Much easier than looking up lyrics online. Even seeing the list of people they thank is interesting.

As for the comment that "guitar-based rock" is disappearing, I can't say I've noticed that. All the rock stations near me seem to be going strong. There's a vibrant rock scene, but it might be a little heavier than the classic rock crowd would like. Green Day, Shinedown, Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Slipknot, etc. are all good bands, and I know I'm forgetting at least twice that many. (Black Country Communion may step into that fray too at some point, but for now, as Jane will sadly attest, they haven't broken through yet.)

Agreed that when the Grammy nominations come out there's not a rocker in sight, just lots of Gaga/Perry/little-girlie-boy-who-must-not-be-named popsters. But then, hasn't it always been that way? A Grammy nomination is pretty much an anti-award when it comes to convincing me to buy an album or follow an artist. I think the last Grammy I agreed with was when Santana won for Supernatural!

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

  • bibi
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Re: Disappearing (rock) music

I hope there will allways be music stores. Sometimes I just listen to cd's because of how the cd cover looks like. (Hey, this could be rock, why not listen and try out if I like it?). If I like 4 tracks I buy it and continue listening at home. Off course I could spend a lot of time at youtube (or likewise). But to have the real cd's in my hand is fun and more appealing.
This is how I got to know Aynsley Listers music and via the Aynsley forum also Joe's music.
(Off course listening to what other forum members recommand is alos a good way to find out about new music.)

  • From: Windham ME
  • Registered: 2010-11-02
  • Posts: 256

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

Don&Jocelyn wrote:

A Grammy nomination is pretty much an anti-award when it comes to convincing me to buy an album or follow an artist.

Ditto. The last Grammy show I watched, Pink Floyd's "The Wall" lost to Christopher Cross for Album of the Year. 10 years later, Jethro Tull was awarded Best Heavy Metal Performance over Metallica.  roll

  • From: Salem, Oregon
  • Registered: 2010-01-07
  • Posts: 844

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

Pretty soon the only record/cd stores left standing will be the independents.....very very sad....luckily, we have Music Milleniumin in Pdx to savor...truly a great store.

Murfdog
  • From: Frederick County, MD
  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 857

Re: Disappearing (rock) music

Jane H. wrote:

yeah a loaded topic. interestingly enough though, around here vinyl is making a comeback. the one local independent type store, Record and Tape traders (they have quite a few locations now) have a decent selection and used to have a large area for used cds (they buy your old stuff) that now has become a large section for old vinyl

not exactly solving the other problems but anyway worth noting and i found interesting

Jane:  Unfortunately, they are disappearing around here....Frederick closed a year or more ago and so did Westminster :-(  I used to love to walk in there to kill an hour or so and see what cool stuff I could find.  Oh well, it's apparently not a sustainable business model any more.

CarljMD

Takers get the honey, givers sing the blues

16 Reply by Ges

  • Ges
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  • From: NW England
  • Registered: 2006-09-25
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Re: Disappearing (rock) music

Possibly just the way of the world with everything becoming "virtual" on line.

Or maybe the big business marketing departments and TV have an influence. I don't subscribe to satellite TV (not sure I can even spell it !) but on the channels I get, if I select the music channel I guess that 99% of the time I can expect to see so called R&B or rap complete with it's almost soft porn video. If that's all the easily influenced see, no wonder lots of people don't try other stuff.
For the rest, there seems to be nothing musical to watch, with the exception of the occaisional Jools Holland show.

Overall, TV is woefully lacking in anything other than this very narrow genre. Unfortunately for me, it is one music genre and accompanying culture that I just do not have any interest in.

I probably go in my local HMV two or three times a month and do like to support local real shops but they do not stock much of what I want to buy. The "blues" section is tiny. Yes, now Joe is famous they have most of his recordings,but previously - zilch. I understand that they have to sell lots of stock to survive and so give more space to mass market sellers and so maybe we have to accept that the lovely age of record shops is a business model no longer sustainable.
But I did go into the Oxford Street, London branch of HMV in December and they had a massive "blues" section, so they can do it. The credit card almost curled up !!

I also like other genres of music and have often bought a CD without knowing much about the performer just because it looks interesting but it seems that more and more I go into HMV and come out empty handed.

It's a bit like the catch 22 of being a left handed guitar player - "We don't stock lefties because no one buys them". I can't buy them because you don't stock them !!

Looks like I'll just have to go to more gigs and buy my CDs there.
Oh well ,someones got to do it !!


RIP Record stores  sad

17 Reply by Lester

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Re: Disappearing (rock) music

It is a sad fact that stores such as HMV can no longer compete
with the internet sites which can normally trade without adding
the VAT - currently 20% in the UK.
On the HMV theme, I had a very minor customer dispute in one
of their stores about 2 years ago. For the price of one English Pound
they could have kept my business - the store manager chose not to.
as a result I no longer support them having been a customer since 1979.

Lester..

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Re: Disappearing (rock) music

Lester wrote:

For the price of one English Pound
they could have kept my business - the store manager chose not to.

Sorry to hear that Lester. Would that be just one HMV store, or HMV as a whole ?

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