So here I am, another statistic. I got laid off last week from my third job in the last 5 or 6 years overall. March '07, February '08, and now April '08. Thats the music business for you, especially in bad times. So, anyway, I don't know exactly who looks at this blog, but if anyone has any suggestions or ideas, I'm open to hear 'em!
On a different note, I was in a record in upstate NY last weekend, and had a thought. The subject of declining physical sales in music is nothing new & just seems to be getting worse. One idea I haven't read much about is - how about LOWERING prices? My thinking was brought about by this: I was in this store that has lots of great used records at very reasonable prices. Prices so reasonable that, if I hadn't just been laid off, I would have taken a chance & just bought some. Because the PRICE WAS RIGHT and they interested me. It wasn't anything I really HAD TO HAVE, but I would have taken a chance.
I remember maybe about 10 years ago being in Tower Records on West 4th Street here in NYC, and noticing that most of the domestic CD's were being priced at $18.98 retail. Obviously thats when file sharing was getting under way. I know thats when I personally started to NOT take a chance on new releases simply because they cost too much. I wonder how many other folks had the same experience? Working at Etherea last year, when the latest piece of crap from REM came out, the vinyl version was priced at $30! Personally, I wouldn't pay $3 for it, but thats not the point. The point is what if I did love REM? I don't care how nice the package is, their latest album is not worth spending $30 on.
I could probably go on & on about this, and other folks have. I don't understand & probably never will. If the price was right, I bet a lot more people would take a chance, used or new. I know I would.
5 comments:
Sorry to hear that.
Oh, man. Really sorry to read that, KB. Hang in there.
If it were a few years ago, I'd tell ya to jump ship and come out to Minneapolis - the job market here was so strong for so many years, but now we're no different than anyplace else.
Things are not too bad at my place of employment, but we have been slower than usual this year so far and had our hours cut (only 4 hours a week but you sure feel it at the end of the month!) a few weeks ago and hopefully it's only for the summer. Now I have every Friday afternoon off and alot less money to actually go out and do something on said afternoon. As Alanis sang..."Isn't it ironic..."
here in the northeast, the local indie chain of record stores keeps prices pretty low for releases when they first come out but after that...
but you're right, when I was younger (just before cd's became ubiquitous), I had a delivery truck job and used to stop once a week at all of the major record stores in Boston, where I could pick up new LP's for no more than $3-4, mostly $1-2 (it'd probably be closer to $6-8 now comparably) but at those prices you could take a chance on 10-20 albums a week (with 4-5 being the new releases that week that you knew you wanted to get) & taking a chance on half to 3/4's of them based upon the album art, the band name or because you had heard one of their songs on the radio.
I amassed quite a collection in those days doing that (5000+ LP's, cassettes & 45's).
Sadly, I lost most of them in a house fire about 10-12 years later.
Torch1971
Thanks for checking in Torch1971. You're right. What really gets me is that I work in the business. I know how much it costs to produce CD's & LP's. Lets just say the profit margin is generous. Of course I want folks to earn a living & get paid, but when releases cost $1-$2 (for CD's) per unit to produce its difficult to swallow.
the day i don't read your blog... i hope you will still do your Daily Travels. Nam Yo Ho Ring phone blessings to you.
And along with your less would mean more idea - i hear they are reducing the prices at the mets and the yankee stadiums. If the tickets are less, parents can take kids more often and they would be the fans of the future. I've never understood big prices.
How do kids date if they aren't flicking through the record shops, or going to the game, or the disco.
oops - this is a long post.
I hope you get unemployment and the emergency money and may you be inspired
Post a Comment