All they do nowadays is complain about how business for them is way down because of cd burners and how their gonna have to close up shop soon. I was in a store a few months ago and heard the owner saying that same thing to a guy over the phone. I kinda feel bad for them a little bit but I'd wish they'd stop all their whining.
The independent stores in Indianapolis are doing just fine.The best is Luna Music. www.lunamusic.net but then again they have their own labels too.
Independent record stores face a hell of a lot more competition from the Wal-Marts and Best Buys of the world than they do from file-sharing. The jobber system of record distribution (used extensively by the RIAA members) is basically a shakedown that bigger retailers can avoid, thus forcing indie stores to keep prices higher or reduce their margins. Best Buy, on the other hand, uses $9.99 first-week cd sales as a loss leader to get people into their store. With that said, good customer-friendly indie stores could survive this revolution longer and better than, say, Wal-Mart's cd section, since they are more likely to carry semi-obscure things that are not readily available via file sharing.
I don't feel bad for indie record stores as much as I do for music in general. I don't know how I would have discovered some of the music I listen to without the mom & pop stores. Luckily, Virgin Megastore has a somewhat decent selection of international and non-mainstream music, but it's still going to be hard to develop local acts without the small retailers. Record labels like to whine about file sharing because it's a convenient excuse for their poor performance, but for indie record store, the impact is real.
also the likes of amazon.com and other e-giants are surely taking their toll. i loved to support the indie stores, but they just can't provide the service we've become accustomed to. obviously there stock is small compared to online vendors. special orders could take weeks sometimes for something amazon could deliver to your door in less than a week and it was cheaper.
As someone who managed a very large indie store for almost 5 years, I think I can add something here. 1)They ARE being screwed by the likes of Best Buy. Stores like that can, literally, sell CD's for the same price that most indie stores pay wholesale (and I'm not including the cost of shipping and other overhead it takes to run a store). Although, I don't blame Best Buy as much as I blame the major labels who make arrangments w/ those stores to let them buy in larger quantities and also giving them first rights to extra stuff. The best example was a few years back when the Led Zeppelin BBC recordings CD came out. Best Buy not only was selling it for around $18.99 (our wholesale cost was $17.99), but they were the only stores in the US allowed to have the version with the extra interview disc. 2)You can survive by selling used CD's. Actually, that's the only way to survive.
Right on, Skip. Here in Philly, I'm still lucky enough to have a few really good indie stores i.e. Spaceboy & Digital Ferret, whose title collections are probably as deep and wide as one can ever imagine. Definitely a recommended stop, if you ever visit this side of the land. The hopeless rebel that I am, I try my damnest to give my hard earn bucks to these fellas and various other indie stores, before dropping a penny at the conglomerate Towers, Virgins and HMV's of this world. Mall stores ??? Sam Goody's and FYI's ???? NEVER -EVER !!!!
You have my support - I always check for secondhand first, before jumping into new. Sometimes I get lucky. I win, the owner wins and we're all happy. Well, somewhat...
I have no problem with used for big acts (i.e. U2, Brittany Spears, Rolling Stones, etc.) but I don't like used for smaller groups as they need every dime they can get. I used to be a concert promoter and it is expensive as mess to stay out on the road for these guys. CD sales on the road for smaller acts is often one of their best income sources.
i'm with hangthadj (clearly a smiths fan?) on luna music. the BEST source for robert pollard's every-other-day guided by voices releases. fantastic. as a matter of principle i make every attempt to purchase music in forms that will directly benefit worthwhile bands (U2, et al, can f-off). but it is getting more and more difficult.... i sympathize with indie store owners, most definitely...and not ONLY because i loved "high fidelity" (book and movie)!
That is why you're a saint, Nic. I, too - realise the struggles of the indie bands and the indie labels. But the accurate truth is that there are very few secondhand stuff to be found from such indie acts. And coupled with the fact that most cd's or lp's are approx $10-$12 at shows, when the band tours, make it a very wise investment. But money's tight nowadays and if I can find a used item at the local store for a couple of bucks less than the road show price, I'd do it, at the unfortunate loss to the artist that I dearly enjoy....such is the unfortunate truth. BUT the probability of the above happening (me finding used cd) is something like 2 in 10.
Indeed I am a Smiths fan. And I'll tell ya another nice thing about having Luna Music here in Indy....do to the good relationship between Mr. Pollard and the owners, New years Eve Guided by Vooices concerts. Hell yes.
I wish I could give you a set list, but as often happens at GBV shows to about half the audience i don't remember it all.
As I was reading this thread, I kept thinking of the used CD store I frequent. It's always very busy in there.
The markup is normally 100% or better. It's the only way to stay alive when you consider the normal indie store MIGHT make $1 per new CD it sells (when you consider the price of running a store...payroll, bills, rent, etc, etc).
Record Exchange, a sort-of indie chain in Virginia/Carolinas is selling used video games and movies now. It's gotten to the point where they make money with used stuff so they can maintain this hobby of selling records.
The used CD store I frequent does seem to have a few new cds - typically local artists or non-mainstream types like Billy Bragg. They just put them in with the used things. I'm not sure what the deal is with these things, though.