Years ago when I first got into music, in the early 80's, there was a fantstic choice of record shops in Glasgow. Small independent shops like Echo, 23rd Precinct, Listen, Bruce's, Missing. There was a great choice about where you could shop, and they all had their own unique identity.
Then the big chains came along, Virgin, HMV and (briefly) Tower. They piled high and sold cheap (or not so cheap in the case of HMV), and the small independent specialist shops slowly went to the wall.
Now these small shops were staffed by people who loved music and knew their regular customers. I could walk into a shop, as the staff to recommend something, and walk out with a record by a band I'd never heard of, and 99% of the time, would love it. That's how I discovered Guns n Roses. Live Like a Suicide had just come out on import. £8 for 4 songs?! That was a hell of a lot in those days, but I took the advice, and didn't look back.
You could also hang out in these shops, and talk to the staff about music. The big stores weren't like that.
So, we had a city centre with five huge record shops, one Tower, three HMV and two Virgin, and a few second hand record shop that numbered single figures. (I'm not counting FOPP here as it was taken over by HMV).
First Tower closed. Now, out of the big three, the staff there were closest to the small indy shop staff. They knew about and loved music. They catered for a huge variety of tastes AND knew what they were talking about. (That's the only shop I've EVER seen a copy of the Jack Officers album. A spin-off/side project of the Butthole Surfers).
Then it was Virgin, when Richard Branson sold up. There was a management buyout which resulted in Zavvi, but as a shop, it didn't last long, and went the way of tower.
Now HMV is in dire straits, and although I wasn't a fan of the shop, and only bought from it when there was a sale on, I hope is survives in some form on the high street, because after the big three pretty much killing off the competition, if it goes, there's only about 4 small independent shops left, and three of them are predominantly second hand stores.
I want to be able to walk into town and browse record shops. I do buy downloads, but I also buy cd's. I want to have a choice about where to buy. Yes, I use Amazon, but I want to shop there because I WANT to not because I HAVE to, which, is the way it looks like things are going.
Then the big chains came along, Virgin, HMV and (briefly) Tower. They piled high and sold cheap (or not so cheap in the case of HMV), and the small independent specialist shops slowly went to the wall.
Now these small shops were staffed by people who loved music and knew their regular customers. I could walk into a shop, as the staff to recommend something, and walk out with a record by a band I'd never heard of, and 99% of the time, would love it. That's how I discovered Guns n Roses. Live Like a Suicide had just come out on import. £8 for 4 songs?! That was a hell of a lot in those days, but I took the advice, and didn't look back.
You could also hang out in these shops, and talk to the staff about music. The big stores weren't like that.
So, we had a city centre with five huge record shops, one Tower, three HMV and two Virgin, and a few second hand record shop that numbered single figures. (I'm not counting FOPP here as it was taken over by HMV).
First Tower closed. Now, out of the big three, the staff there were closest to the small indy shop staff. They knew about and loved music. They catered for a huge variety of tastes AND knew what they were talking about. (That's the only shop I've EVER seen a copy of the Jack Officers album. A spin-off/side project of the Butthole Surfers).
Then it was Virgin, when Richard Branson sold up. There was a management buyout which resulted in Zavvi, but as a shop, it didn't last long, and went the way of tower.
Now HMV is in dire straits, and although I wasn't a fan of the shop, and only bought from it when there was a sale on, I hope is survives in some form on the high street, because after the big three pretty much killing off the competition, if it goes, there's only about 4 small independent shops left, and three of them are predominantly second hand stores.
I want to be able to walk into town and browse record shops. I do buy downloads, but I also buy cd's. I want to have a choice about where to buy. Yes, I use Amazon, but I want to shop there because I WANT to not because I HAVE to, which, is the way it looks like things are going.
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