there used to be a cd warehouse in plano, tx that had an AMAZING metal section, pretty much the only reason the store existed, they carried pop cds but you could find anything in the metal section from grind to hardcore to death and black metal, but regardless of me buying a cd there every chance i got it shut down. The internet has become the only way to get metal albums, for me its not about embracing it, its about either excepting it or going without.

????

People buy CDs at stores? I am an old curmudgeon and I have been exclusive to online CD buying since about 2002. Help me out here, does anyone shop at brick and mortar CD stores?

I tunes is my drug of choice. The selection is great. Though some of the more rare old stuff is unavalable, you can find it elsewhere. I got Nuclear Assault’s ‘Handle With Care’ album used and in perfect condition on amazon for under $20 (shipping included).

The last time I bought an album from a physical store, was when Mastodon’s ‘Leviathan’ came out.

hmm. My local record stores seem to be doing just fine, and in fact one just opened a new branch, devoted strictly to vinyl (vinyl is genius for physical retailers, because it can’t be replaced by a digital substitute, since the very purpose of vinyl is to be analogue.) I stop by both stores in my ton at least once a week, and they never seem to be in too much trouble. Maybe it’s just because I live in a college town.

The only reason to go to a physical record store is to find something you aren’t explicitly looking for. Just picking through the CDs available, you’re sure to find something interesting based on the band name or cover art alone. I think that is still a valuable experience because it involves taking a risk. It’s not as fun to buy something you already know from sampling it on the internet.

Otherwise, if you are trying to find a specific record, it is WAY easier to order it online.

Also, online retail hasn’t been shady since like 2000 unless you’re buying stuff from the farthest reaches of the ‘net.

personally, i’ll buy cd’s directly from bands if their online stores are up and functioning. the relapse store has tons of stuff, so does http://www.stonerrock.com. if neither relapse or all that’s heavy has what i want, i’ll go to the individual record label and order it from them.

although the best thing to do is to buy the cd’s from the merch tables at shows. bands get a bigger cut (sometimes 100%) of the price you pay, and let’s face it, the biggest reason we buy music instead of getting it for free is to support the bands.

Just steal cars instead. Then download the pirated contents of their mp3 player. Drive the car to Lars Ulrich’s house, take a dump on his balcony, and wipe your ass with the Armenian flag.

In Canada (or at least in Southern Ontario), the two big CD/DVD retailers (other than Future Shop, Wal Mart, Best Buy, etc.) are HMV and Sunrise Records. They have big standalone stores in downtown Toronto, but in suburban areas around the GTA at least they’re mostly in malls. They do pretty well since none of them have been closed down to my knowledge. They both have a decent metal selection in terms of variety of bands, but never seem to carry more than 1-2 copies unless it’s a huge release. I’d like to say it differs depending on the record label, but they carried a shitload of copies of Megadeth’s Endgame and not necessarily the last Cradle of Filth release (then again CoF just left RR, so that could have had something to do with it). Nevertheless, i’ve picked up albums from the likes of Dark Tranquillity, Kataklysm, Chimaira, Unearth, Scar Symmetry, Katatonia, and other what I like to call “midstream” metal bands.

Another thing that helps Sunrise records is that most if not all of their locations have a ticketmaster outlet so you can buy and pick up concert tickets. I’m sure that can only help sales of CDs and DVDs in the “what the hell, i’m already here, why not browse to see what they have”

The hard copy or physical music experience is nearly dead. Nobody cares about the physical cd or booklet anymore. Yeah its great to have cover art to put it to your itunes files but honestly nobody gives a shit anymore. If you’re into vinyl, its great and the quality is way better than cd. But even thats a small crowd in itself so is it even worth it to make a hard physical copy for people to buy? IMHO, I don’t think so. More than likely its gonna be downloaded illegally anyways, sold on itunes, or whatever digital site. Regardless, lets face the facts. Bands don’t make shit off of album sales anyways unless you’re a band with a huge following. Bands like Daath, and the countless others in the metal community have to basically give their shit away so that its heard and the money they make is off of merch or ticket sales. It might not be much, but it works and you’ve got to love playing music to be able to live on it.

When I went to Best Buy to get the new Gojira album, I had an interesting experience as well. Only reason I felt I could go to Best Buy is because I bought From Mars To Sirius from there when I was introduced to them on the Lamb of God tour. I walked in and of course, The Way of All Flesh wasn’t on the shelf but there were a few FMTS albums. I went and asked the kid who worked in the section if they had the album in the back maybe? He went and checked and brought out a box to stack all of them ont he shelf where they belonged…I had to literally tell the kid to bring out the album that belonged on the shelf. No one in the stores cares anymore, it seems, about even trying to help the situation! They just clock in and watch people browse the aisles, just to find nothing.

I haven’t embrace online ordering yet because I can still download music for free and do it legally (as long as I don’t share with others. Yay Canadian piracy laws). I still buy physical CDs all the time. I’m only (or not only?) 21, and my CD collection is somewhere around 130 (That’s the equivalent to like, what? 500 or so in 1995?). I’m the type of person who either buys it legally from a store, or download a digital copy for free. I’m sure if the government finds a way to wipe out illegal/”legal free” downloading for good and are able to consistently catch people, then i’ll probably embrace online ordering, as long as I can still get a physical copy. I have no problem waiting 2-3 days later for that.

Aquarius Records in SF is the SHIT! And you can order online as well. Check it out! aquariusrecords.org

They have a great metal section (as well as many others) but the great thing is they write reviews for almost every cd in the store, which appears on the not for sale copy of the CD itself on the floor (as well as online).

Coming from a distributor’s perspective, it’s obvious why digital is growing and will eventually dominate: consumerism is driven by convenience and price.

As many have pointed here, it’s more convenient to go to iTunes or Amazon and find virtually anything you could possibly think to look for and purchase it in the middle of the night with the opportunity to own and listen minutes later. You can’t do that with a store. In addition to this, stores have high overhead expenses. Digital retailers do not, and thus can offer yet another bargain…a better price.

There is something to be said for packaging and the benefit of holding something tangible in exchange for your purchase. Mailorders will definitely be a great resource for CDs as the digital medium gradually takes over. But again, there is risk and expense in publishing CDs. Left over inventory, artwork and manufacturing costs…not too mention shipping and distribution fees. Digital is way less and more convenient for the content owner and the fan.

I recently bought the new Eluveitie album from the online Nuclear Blast store. What would make me opt for not getting the album on iTunes? The freebies. I think they are a smart form of marketing They had a deal where you could get a 20 by 30 inch poster signed by all eight band members. For the Eluveitie dork (because a fan of their music would never be dorky XD), this is a great way to attract physical CD sales. You couldn’t just buy this poster without the CD. The special bundle was $14, including the poster. When I got the CD at my house, they gave me additional ones for free. I got a complete Benighted and Sirenia album, along with Century Media sampler disc. $14 for four physical copies and a signed poster is pretty awesome. It is obvious that record companies have had to modify their marketing, but now I think they are actually starting to accept the fact that few will pay for music any more. I have no clue how the Century Media sampler disk got in my order from Nuclear Blast, but I’m not going to complain about hearing more music. Freebies of music, regardless of label, could help the music industry greatly in promoting bands. Some of the smaller bands now say that their income is made through merch and shows. Since I had not heard some of the bands on the sampler disk, I picked out the bands I liked and bought some of their albums on iTunes (ironic, I know). Back to the show+merch=income theory, I will want to see some of these bands live, and buy a shirt. So now, everyone is happy.