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195 responses total.

 For me -
   PJ's on Packard for LP's
   Encore Recordings on Liberty (tends to be a bit snooty but they have
  a good classical selection
   Tower is decent for new CD's (good selection of world titles.)

  Record Town in Briarwood is way way too expensive, as is BMG music service,
but that is another item.

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 When I go shopping for music, I usually have something in mind, and usually
don't want any help, unless I cannot find it in stock-- Like Abbey Road on
CD. 

I usually listen to the radio.  I work at Best Buy Ann Arbor.  Most of the
time I shop for music, I do it because a manager is pleased with something
I've done and says I can have a free CD.  So I'm no expert at music
shopping.  That said, Best Buy has been sending me to other stores to do
some remodeling.  I can't believe how much more space these other stores
have for music than we do.  Have any of you shopped for music at the huge
new stores in Southfield (we closed the old Southfield store in fall 95. 
It was about the size of the current Ann Arbor store) or Okemos?  The Best
Buy stores in Grand Rapids, Waterford, Kalamazoo, Madison Heights, and
Port Huron are also much bigger than Ann Arbor.  Does all that additional
space make the selection significantly better?  Are things easier to find? 
Or is music shopping the same at any Best Buy stores because the same
buyers and inventory analysts serve all the stores? 

I generally buy stuff from Schoolkids in Ann Arbor, sometimes from Borders
if Schoolkids doesn't have it.  Schoolkids has survived and prospered when
other chains moved in across the street, which is why I prefer to support it
over Borders.

If I know exactly what I want, meaning I've already heard it, then
I'll buy it anywhere.  If I know the piece I want but need advice
as to which performance I'd prefer then I go to SKR and ask one
of two salespersons who know what I mean when I say clean, powerful,
honest, minimalist, pulse-filled, not Itzhak-like, etc.  If  all
I want to do is listen to what's new out there I go to Borders 
and spend about an hour at the listening stations and take my
chances with getting head lice.

I usually know what I want, unless I'm looking for something totally unknown,
like my unfulfilled quest a couple years ago to find "something like waltzes
performed by a Salvation Army size brass band".

I like SKR because they know their music and can offer good suggestions
when I haven't a clue.

Heh, I should probably link this to the music conference.
 
There probably is not one "best" shop in Ann Arbor.  It would depend 
on what you wanted.
 
If Best Buy's selection of the current hits covers your needs, 
they are probably the lowest prices in town for new CDs.
 
If you need a somewhat better selection of rock music, Where House
Records on S. University is likely to undercut the Big Three stores 
by a buck or two.
 
Schoolkids main store: ah, the homegrown favorite.  The staff is generally
knowledgable but tends to arrogance.  Prices are high - $16-$17 on 
most discs, and sometimes there are real gouges on more collectible 
items.  But you can manage the prices with coupons from CURRENT, 
the $1-discount on multiple purchases, and the frequent 20% off sale.
And they do get a lot of stuff that few other places do.
This is really the only good source in town for folk music.
 
Schoolkids annex: used CDs of many varieties.  New CDs of the most 
obscure trendiness here, still somewhat overpriced.  Basically, if you are 
over 25 and still shopping here, you need a life -- you shouldn't be 
listening to Come, Tsunami, the Boredoms, or bands like that anyway.  :)

Schoolkids Classical:  good classical shop, again somewhat pricey,
staff very knowledgable.  I often just buy whatever they're playing in the
store.  Selection is maybe "deeper" but not as "broad" as Tower.

Tower Records:  Ann Arbor's Tower Records is very well run.  
Good selections in all departments except folk music: Tower seems 
congenitally unable to comprehend folk music, chain-wide.
Prices maybe a buck cheaper than Schoolkids on rock and jazz, 
often $2-4 cheaper on some classical items.  I do not find that the staff 
has a lot of deep knowledge -- there were some folks who were very good 
with classical music some years ago, but they are long gone.
Tower has the best selection of "geegaws" -- cassette & video tape, 
storage units, things like that.

Borders:  Borders has decided that there is a mint to be made selling 
music to the middle-aged in a soothing environment.  Smaller classical
deparment, interesting jazz and rock selections, nothing too cutting-edge.
Borders' real strength is the hundreds of discs they have put into 
listening stations; you can spend hours there previewing the discs they 
are promoting this month.
 
I'm fascinated with how the stocks of Schoolkids, Tower and Borders 
are complementary.  When I start looking for an obscure rock, jazz or 
classical item, I can usually be sure that one of the three 
will have it -- but I can never tell *which* one will have it.
 
Encore Music (still says Liberty Music on the awning):  In the last year 
Encore has acheived critical mass in used CDs.  There's a *lot* of neat stuff 
in that shop for $9 or less.  Also lots of vinyl -- it amazes me 
that they are still buying old LPS!  Encore is probably one of the best shops 
in the country for classical LPs.  And the staff is fun, and they play 
neat stuff on the house stereo; this is a worthwhile place to go and 
browse.

Did that answer the question, Valerie?

vinyl.

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 Liberty and Thompson.

Right, just a handful of storefronts down the hill from Schoolkids.
 
Liberty Music was Ann Arbor's classical store for many, many years: 
I think the bags used to carry the legend, "Since 1939."
Schoolkids was pretty intense competition for them when SKR Classical opened,
and I suspect Liberty did not handle the transition to the CD era well. 
Sometime around 1990 or 1991 the store was sold to some of the employees 
and as Encore Music they dropped out of the new-recording market 
and became a used shop.  But the old green awning has never been 
replaced.

to jeff way back in #5 -- I was in the Okemos Best Buy looking for a CD 
player last week, so I took the opportunity to check out the CD selection.
I think the Okemos selection is quite a bit broader than the Ann Arbor
store; there was actually some interesting stuff in the folk section.
 
I have to wonder about who does their ordering, though.  There were 
35 copies of the new Clive Gregson album, and over 20 copies of the 
WOMEN OF KERRVILLE collection.  Best Buy isn't going to sell all of these,
I don't believe.  Most of them will get returned for credit, which will 
choke the small labels which issued them.

I have not worked in that department at Best Buy, but I don't think that BBY
deals directly with small record labels.  Names on cartons the CDs come in
usually seem to be WEA-Chicago or DART.  So perhaps those big distributers
can take the stuff BBY sends back and ship it to a different store.

I was once in a video rental store (I think it was called Broadway Video) on
Packard south of Stadium where they also sell CDs.  Just walking through the
store not meaning to look at the CDs, the Best Buy label on the front of a
CD caught my eye.  It was a price tag put there for a BBY store near
Cleveland.  And the BBY price was about $2 less than the price this other
store had put on the same piece.

Best Buy music buyers can also move things around the company.  I've seen CDs
with three or more labels showing how well traveled they had been.  So maybe
the title you saw 20 copies of had sold well at that store and its siblings
had been brought in from all over place.

  (((consumer #64   <--->   music #205)))

BTW, popcorn, PJ's Used Records and CD's is still in business.

Though I'm generally not much on chain stores, I really like the
Tower Records outlet in the Galleria.  Their selection is a lot
more varied than I would ever have expected.  Schoolkids' is
always wonderful, of course.  I used to go to Wherehouse Records
(just down the street from Tower) all the time, but haven't been
there in a few years.

This item has been linked from Music 205 to Intro 104.
Type "join music" at the Ok: prompt for discussion of
musical recordings, and where to get them.

Also, "join consumers" for discussion of where to buy
things in general.

  A friend of mine who was friends with some Schoolkids employees said
that Schoolkids' owner is a real jerk, so he tries not to support them.
(I didn't ask about any examples of his alleged jerkiness).  To me, the
fact that they've survived in the face of bigger competition, and driven
out smaller competition, does not *necessarily* mean that they're worth
supporting, other things being equal.

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Mmm, I don't know anyplace which lets you stack discount offers.

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Re something way back there:  someone said BMG music service seemed way
overpriced to them.  If $7 a CD is way overpriced for you, I want to know
where you shop!

  Are all their CDs $7?  If so, where are they, and what do they carry?
(Used or new, pop or obscure.)

The last sale they had was $4.99 per CD, plus the shipping and
handling, generally $2 to $2.50 per CD.

BMG is the former RCA Record Club.

 BMG is a total rip. You wait eons for your music, usually priced at $14.99
and higher, and they never tell you how much is shipping, and how much is
handling. I'd just as soon as go to Meijer, where the prices on most is $9.99
and some are as high as $13.99 and you get to hear your music now.

I dunno, I just got 8 CDs for $60.  That's well under $9.99 each.
For that kind of savings, I'll wait.  >8)

 Hey, more power to you Rob, but I find that they don't have what I want, when
I want it, at the price and the time I want it. 
 Since I listen to oldies, classical, and other stuff, BMG often doesn't suit
me. I usually do better at Encore or Tower.

I usually have a major problem with "record club" services' selection, so I
only caved once on one of those deals.  Finding 10 CDs I really wanted was
a major challenge, though.

I know the feeling, the last time Columbia sent me something I decided
to see if I could find ten CDs I really wanted.  I managed to find three.

The best way to do it is to find someone you know who's already in the club
and have them give you their stack of catalogs... so you basically end up with
a list of everything they've had in stock for the past year or so.  The
promo's they send out have all the CDs that are cheap and they're trying to
get rid of on them.

In order to save money through BMG (I've never saved a cent with Columbia
House) you have to wait for the sales and order a lot of CDs.  The more you
order the more you save, generally.  NEVER pay full price.  You don't have
to.  I've never paid BMG more than $8 per CD.

Does anybody have any good leads regarding buying new and/or used CD's, now
that I've made the sacrifice and disposed of my cassettes and cassette
singles?  I'm looking for prices $8.00 or lower, which will count out most
new releases, but I specialize in compilations, especially those from Rhino
Records or CD's sung by that reclusive act called "Various Artists."

Ack!  Why dispose of your old recordings?  I've still got about 
a thousand LPs downstairs.
 
Encore Music on Liberty Street seems to have an interesting
"various artists" selection of used CDs.

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Re 36 - But how many people would buy 8 CDs if the slogan were,
"The more you order, the more money you spend!"  >8)

I would...bonus points for honesty...

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss