3 ms·

I went to Ameoba in LA 2 years ago. It had been a awhile since I was in a record store. It seemed sooooo dated. No way to listen to the CDs to see if I want on

I went to Ameoba in LA 2 years ago. It had been a awhile since I was in a record store. It seemed sooooo dated. No way to listen to the CDs to see if I want one. No way to check reviews like if I wanted to see which of 5 albums I should consider. Plus I don't even own a CD player at the moment. My laptop doesn't have one so I'd have to ask someone to rip it. I used to love records stores and some of my favorite music is stuff I discovered at the store but it feels like snail mail to email at this point. Sure album covers and liner notes are awesome but I've been online since 2003 with Rhapsody and other stuff since and just being able to play any album and then look at the influences lists and follow those totally killed doing it at the store for me. In Japan there are a couple of CD stores where all the CDs are open and there are 20-30 CD players for you to listen to them in. It's fun as nostalgia but even then it's not as convenient as online. It all feels like from another era like a livery or something.

toyg 10y ago
Any brick&mortar in the age of the internet cannot compete on convenience, that's inevitable; but they can compete on atmosphere, community and discovery. Bookshops have much in common with record stores, and have disappeared at a similar rate under pressure from Amazon and ebooks. The few survivors don't fight on convenience: they stock very limited catalogue, but attract patrons with events, community-building, specialist focus and so on. In some cases, what was a bookshop with a cafe attached is now a cafe with a bookshop attached. It can work, if you concentrate on the differentiators only an offline experience can give you.
- cr1895 10y ago
  Sometimes records aren't as fungible as books, i.e., a particular record is going to have a certain rarity, condition, and (obviously) location, whereas a book is a book and it doesn't really matter which specific copy of that book it is. In this case a brick and mortar record store can sell online (such as is often done through discogs) and not really compete with other online music sales.
  - toyg 10y ago
    > it doesn't really matter which specific copy of that book it is Heathen! Sacrilege! That is absolutely not true -- books have (or rather suffer, in most cases) revisions, cuts, changes, translations... Even something as direct as Stephen King's work can change significantly from edition to edition. And of course, books suffer the ravages of elements as much as records, which can reduce the enjoyment of illustrations, typography, notes and so on. Really, they are the same thing. The difference is that the experience of reading a book through digital media has only recently caught up with analog (and barely) thanks to eInk, whereas music was hit earlier by MP3s. Bookshops have just not adapted to the changing landscape as much as record shops.
    - cr1895 10y ago
      You're right; I was thinking the same after I posted. There certainly is a parallel. I suppose I've never given thought to whichever edition of a book I've read.

toyg 10y ago

Any brick&mortar in the age of the internet cannot compete on convenience, that's inevitable; but they can compete on atmosphere, community and discovery. Bookshops have much in common with record stores, and have disappeared at a similar rate under pressure from Amazon and ebooks. The few survivors don't fight on convenience: they stock very limited catalogue, but attract patrons with events, community-building, specialist focus and so on. In some cases, what was a bookshop with a cafe attached is now a cafe with a bookshop attached. It can work, if you concentrate on the differentiators only an offline experience can give you.

cr1895 10y ago
Sometimes records aren't as fungible as books, i.e., a particular record is going to have a certain rarity, condition, and (obviously) location, whereas a book is a book and it doesn't really matter which specific copy of that book it is. In this case a brick and mortar record store can sell online (such as is often done through discogs) and not really compete with other online music sales.
- toyg 10y ago
  > it doesn't really matter which specific copy of that book it is Heathen! Sacrilege! That is absolutely not true -- books have (or rather suffer, in most cases) revisions, cuts, changes, translations... Even something as direct as Stephen King's work can change significantly from edition to edition. And of course, books suffer the ravages of elements as much as records, which can reduce the enjoyment of illustrations, typography, notes and so on. Really, they are the same thing. The difference is that the experience of reading a book through digital media has only recently caught up with analog (and barely) thanks to eInk, whereas music was hit earlier by MP3s. Bookshops have just not adapted to the changing landscape as much as record shops.
  - cr1895 10y ago
    You're right; I was thinking the same after I posted. There certainly is a parallel. I suppose I've never given thought to whichever edition of a book I've read.