[kj] More bitching

[Paul Wady]

Worth going in there just to chat to the staff, I tell you.  
Which is I think a major point you are hiding.  Cool environment.  People we can relate to in a certain way.  Have you seen pixx of the posters/albums n things on the wall in the main Ladbroke Grove shop?  Woah!  That place is a shrine, a temple.  Folks go in to bathe in its beauty.  Mick Jones tried to do that with his rock and roll public library, a gigantic collection of ephemera he has hoarded over decades.  Seen it twice.  Had my first proper chat with him the second time, after all those Carbon Casinos I went to.  Kind of to do the same thing as above, be in a certain space.  
I really feel for your posting.  When I hit New York last year I went roaming around Greenwich Village, kind of looking for the same there.  Found this awful shop in the end, full of teenage kiddies rock n roll merchandise.  But in the street outside there was a Delorean!  I got pictures!!  Should have used it to go back to CBGB.  If you visit London have a look at the Intrepid Fox in the centre of town, too.  


From: gasw30 at hotmail.com
To: gathering at misera.net
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:23:10 +0000
Subject: Re: [kj] More bitching








Back in my home town there is a small local record store that still seems to be going strong. It manages to be mainstream yet also position itself to catch the main musical currents in the town (metal and alternative) but without scaring off the Easy Listeners and pop teens.

So it's got a paradoxical specialist, yet broad, appeal. However, the store also sells musical instruments. It also has a separate shop down the road selling only musical instruments, and another store in our nearest city which also only sells musical instruments.

Maybe this is how it has survived.

Back in the mid/late 80s, when I were a lad, there was an indie specialist. It lasted a few years through the gothic era and while 'alternative' actually meant something. But then it died and the owner went to manage a mainstream national chain (remember Our Price anyone?), which also subsequently disappeared. Yet the small local shop persists, having even seen off Our Price. 

Hurray!

Rough Trade in London might be a good case study. It opened in Notting Hill in the late 70s. It owned a record label for a while but got rid of it. It is still going strong. It runs a service The Album Club, "a premium music recommendation service 
aimed at those people without the time or opportunity to visit a store 
like ours..."

http://www.roughtrade.com/site/about.lasso 







> Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:46:36 +1300

> From: bq at soundgardener.co.nz

> To: gathering at misera.net

> Subject: Re: [kj] More bitching

> 

> It's almost impossible competing with iTunes, Amazon etc, because they

> have scale, distribution costs are far smaller with electronic data, and

> there are no retail middle-men. They're giving most consumers what they

> want...

> 

> The rest of us might lament the demise of indie record stores, but

> honestly, how much money would we throw their way per month if they were

> around? Because you'd be a bit daft buying anything other than rarities /

> imports from them when you can get large distribution releases cheaper at

> Wal Mart etc.

> 

> > Like both local television stations and newspapers, record stores need to

> > rethink themselves and once again appeal to[today's] people's local and

> > immediate needs and tastes. 

> > How about a shop that sells anything out there but specializes in the

> > local

> > music/video/arts scene or some underserved niche, maybe even helping to

> > promote

> > local gigs, clubs, festivals, etc.  If they can become locally relevant,

> > knowledgable (become 'authority figures' or 'experts') and trustable to

> > know,

> > provide, and be able to 'hook up' people's gig, tkt, pre-order,

> > band-updates,

> > release dates and similar needs, they'd become an unsubstitutable local

> > focal

> > point and prized local resource. If they can get industry-'insider'

> > access, and

> > even priviledges, they'd have a place in people's lives again.

> >

> > It's sort of what dj music stores provide now, and why some are valued

> > (and some

> > more than others). Radio stations (Pirate radio, Indie 100.3 in Los

> > Angeles, for

> > example) are trying this to some extent. 

> >

> >  

> > That all said, I am not saying record stores/mgm't. did it all wrong or

> > got

> > lazy; they didn't.  I loved them stores and miss them lots. The only thing

> > they

> > got wrong was how fast changes would come and how to stay abreast of it

> > all

> > (that said, i'm sure the Much More Powerful Forces still would've crippled

> > the

> > local music shops, methinks). I think they still have a niche to fill, and

> > I

> > think with the right mind and gameplan, they will come back.

> >

> >  

> > How to make it all profitable, fuck if I know, but I hope someone figures

> > it

> > out.

> >

> >  

> > Question to Gatherers:

> > how much of your music-knowledge/product needs that you used to satisfy at

> > your

> > local record shop do you now turn here to the Gathering (and Gatherers'

> > associated websites) for?

> >

> >

> >

> > ________________________________

> > From: Alexander Smith <vassifer at earthlink.net>

> > To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)

> > <gathering at misera.net>

> > Sent: Wed, September 29, 2010 4:23:23 AM

> > Subject: [kj] More bitching

> >

> >

> > I think the sticking point that really burns my toast this time around is

> > that

> > time was when US release dates and UK release dates didn't matter.

> > Invariably

> > the Brit edition would come out first, and I could stroll down to any one

> > of

> > several independent mom' n pop record/disc shops here in the great C of NY

> > to

> > buy the imported version only days after its UK release.

> >

> > Nowadays, with very little exception, ALL THOSE INDEPENDENT DISC SHOPS ARE

> > GONE.

> > Sure, there is a tiny clutch of them left, but they're struggling.

> >

> > Both the culture and the very way we "consume" music has changed so much

> > that

> > the old methods of obtaining albums is completely outdated. Hell, albums

> > THEMSELVES are completely outdated in many people's perceptions.

> >

> > LAZY, SPOILED YOUNG PEOPLE & TECHNOLOGY RUIN EVERYTHING.

> >

> > Alex in NYC

> >

> >

> > _______________________________________________

> > Gathering mailing list

> > Gathering at misera.net

> > http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

> >

> >

> >

> >       _______________________________________________

> > Gathering mailing list

> > Gathering at misera.net

> > http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

> >

> 

> 

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