Proper music shops

You're not alone. I never got to see the heydey of record stores (I'm 24), but I still love the feeling of rifling through stores looking for something that might pique my interest. It's just such a tactile and unique way to discover music - there's an element of chance and spontaneity to it which is sorely lacking in online shopping.

I'm with you completely. I hate buying records online. I'm lucky that there is a pretty good independant record store not too far from me. I spend a lot of time there.

Flipping through stacks trying to find the album you want is a tremendous waste of time, and if you "discover" something you're taking an absurd gamble because you have no way of listening to it or looking up other people's opinions of it, barring an iPhone with headphones and an expensive high data plan. So what, do you buy it based on the cover art and name? No thank you. If you're talking about used albums that is different, as there is actually a benefit to finding a nice used copy in a physical store without paying shipping etc., but I don't buy used albums because I'm pretty sure people usually rip them and then resell them and I won't participate in that pseudo-piracy.

I love the internet for sampling stuff.  But if you've never experienced the sublime pleasures of browsing at a local store and finding something unexpected I feel sorry for you.

Ever the iconoclast, eh Henry? I know I shouldn't bother, but here goes...

Henry Plainview wrote: Flipping through stacks trying to find the album you want is a tremendous waste of time,

Some people enjoy it. Is doing something you enjoy a tremendous waste of time?

Henry Plainview wrote: if you "discover" something you're taking an absurd gamble because you have no way of listening to it

Not true. A decent record store will always have a CD player and some headphones at the ready for a customer wanting to check something out. I spent a very pleasant afternoon in a little store in Newcastle a few months ago working my way through a pile of Japanese oddities, some of them recommended to me by the store owner, before settling on which ones to purchase.

Additionally, often a record store 'discovery' comes from noticing an album you've already seen other people mention favourably (on PA, for example) and taking a punt on it. Yeah, it's a bit of a gamble, but not a huge one and it's a great way to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, which is a healthy thing to do now and again.

Trouserpress wrote:   Henry Plainview wrote: if you "discover" something you're taking an absurd gamble because you have no way of listening to it Not true. A decent record store will always have a CD player and some headphones at the ready for a customer wanting to check something out. I spent a very pleasant afternoon in a little store in Newcastle a few months ago working my way through a pile of Japanese oddities, some of them recommended to me by the store owner, before settling on which ones to purchase. Additionally, often a record store 'discovery' comes from noticing an album you've already seen other people mention favourably (on PA, for example) and taking a punt on it. Yeah, it's a bit of a gamble, but not a huge one and it's a great way to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, which is a healthy thing to do now and again.

When I was a kid, the best part of any family vacation was finding the local music store and spending a few good, solid hours browsing through their selection.  Stores in different towns would carry different albums, I remember; it took me two years to find a shop that was actually selling Queen's Innuendo album.  I also remember stumbling across the double-disc package of Styx's third and fourth albums, The Serpent Is Rising and Man of Miracles.  Really the best was when you could go to the store and 'discover' that one of your favorite bands had released something new; that was how I found Somewhere to Elsewhere, the last Kansas album.  It was a VERY happy day.

Be that as it may, I too grew up in the wake of vinyl, and have only recently discovered how wonderful it is.  Thankfully we have two incredibly excellent, incredibly old-school record shops here in Bloomington.  I also love digging through antique shops - found a pristine pressing of Love Beach once.

However, concerning the wonderful sensation of dabbling through a used album section, and every once an a while stumbling on a diamond in the rough...yes, I do miss that, very much.  I have far greater access to the music that I love nowadays, but I do get achingly nostalgic for those old cross-country album hunts.

Slartibartfast wrote: I got my start in the vinyl era, which of course some insist isn't over yet.

verslibre wrote: Henry Plainview wrote: Flipping through stacks trying to find the album you want is a tremendous waste of time, and if you "discover" something you're taking an absurd gamble because you have no way of listening to it or looking up other people's opinions of it, barring an iPhone with headphones and an expensive high data plan. So what, do you buy it based on the cover art and name? No thank you. If you're talking about used albums that is different, as there is actually a benefit to finding a nice used copy in a physical store without paying shipping etc., but I don't buy used albums because I'm pretty sure people usually rip them and then resell them and I won't participate in that pseudo-piracy.   I am not ashamed of being an internet creature.   I think you're merely too used to the "convenience" that online shopping has misled everyone to believe is standard. Browsing through music in a store, or doing the same for books or whatever your passion is, well, "doing it online" just isn't quite the same. There is but one independent music store that is surviving in my region, that has been operating for over three decades. Even the chain stores are gone (Best Buy and Walmart and Target don't count).   I'm sorry you think realtime browsing is a tremendous waste of time. Everyone else I know, online or offline, thinks otherwise.

I don't understand why browsing a physical store is any better than online, but there are no music stores locally so I'm not really an expert.

I have read that the more you touch things the more attached you become to them, maybe that is why I'm so indecisive shopping for things in a physical store.

Here is the article I was talking about.