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Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

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HMV about to enter adminastration!
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Moon Cat
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Re: HMV about to enter adminastration!
Jan 15, 2013, 12:51
Squid Tempest wrote:
What strikes me about that pic is that back in the day record stores were a real destination, an exciting place to go - where the cool people would want to be. So sad that that feeling has been lost for future generations - they will never feel that excitement when buying new music. You don't get to go out and meet like-minded people when you're downloading a new track.


I suppose you could have one tab open here when you're downloading something and virtually hang-out for nostalgia's sake:^)

Actually, as I mentioned somewhere up there, if physical record shops go the way of all things, it's the sniffing about and rummaging for stuff I'd miss with that occasional bit of luck at finding something you may not have been looking for or seeing something you wanted but forgot about for cheap and so on. Clicking isn't quite as satisfying as a good rummage. Plus, the advantage over online ordering is that you get to go home with the fruits of your hunt there and then rather than hoping the postman doesn't run off with 'em. And, you get to go....out!

I agree about the potential effects of the demise of the physical product - the art, the tactile feeling, the trophy hunted etc. Plus, a fairly important point; unless you have the right kit mp3's can still sound pretty cack compared to physical formats at the moment. I'm no audiophile, but I don't want to be shoe-horned into an MP3 only universe just yet thanks!

You have to wonder though, if the physical side of the market will just be whittled down to a collecters market, with such items being sold in dark corners or specialist haunts populated by the music equivalent of antique dealers, happy (and presumably able) to pay inflated prices for limited editions and so on. The (near) demise of physical formats will almost certainly push up the prices of whatever's left. Look at vinyl. Lovely and desirable though it is, it wasn't so long ago it was a dead format. Now it's successfully re-branded as for a music cognescenti. In shops it's often a good £5-10 more expensive than its cd counterpart, but call anything 'collectable' and up goes the price tag. Actually, even online its usually the most expensive format.
It's funny, but just before Christmas this girl and her mum - girl say 18-20 - was in Fopp and the girl was saying how pleased she was her dad had given her his old record deck and she was sticking to vinyl from now on.
Then she clocked the prices of some of the albums. From the sharp intake of breath and the visible shock on her face, I'd say she wasn't quite ready to abandon all other formats as yet. My fear is that CDs, if they are still about at all, will go the same way.
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