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Grex > Music2 > #154: Schoolkids II, and Music Retailing |  |
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| Author |
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| 25 new of 247 responses total. |
eeyore
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response 43 of 247:
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Nov 19 15:17 UTC 1998 |
Colombia, from what I understand, actually does have a really good
selection....both in music and videos.....and I know somebody who on a
pretty regular basis getss really good deals from them....like 3.00 cds and
such.
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gregb
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response 44 of 247:
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Nov 19 19:27 UTC 1998 |
Interesting. I've found them to be more ixpensive. Plus they bug you like
crazy to order more stuff. Very annoying.
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goose
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response 45 of 247:
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Dec 15 20:58 UTC 1998 |
Keep in mind (for those of you who like to "support" the artist whose
music you're buying) the record club purchases actually cost the artist
money in royalties. They are considered to be a promotional expense
and the burden of cost is placed on the artist. It's sick; if it were a
regular store purchase the artist might make a buck or so in royalties,
but if it's a record club purchase the artist will pay a few dollars
in royalties.
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mcnally
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response 46 of 247:
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Dec 15 22:26 UTC 1998 |
Really? That's atrocious..
On the other hand, if we could get everyone in the world to order a
Michael Bolton CD from BMG maybe we could solve that problem once and
for all.. :-)
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hhsrat
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response 47 of 247:
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Dec 16 01:18 UTC 1998 |
How about a Spice Girls or Hanson CD?
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jep
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response 48 of 247:
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Dec 16 13:37 UTC 1998 |
re #45: I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. People like Shania
Twain, Garth Brooks, etc. will get by somehow, and that's the music I
buy via record clubs. I think it's very difficult to argue these people
are losing anything through any form of promotion in which they
participate.
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gregb
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response 49 of 247:
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Dec 16 14:22 UTC 1998 |
I've re-joined BMG and considering I can get CD's for 6 bucks (+ s/h) vs. 15,
I don't feel bad about it either.
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anderyn
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response 50 of 247:
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Dec 16 19:39 UTC 1998 |
I find that I don't want to make any of the artists I normally buy lose
money, since none of them are big stars (tm) anyhow... I do admit to
not worrying about folks like, oh, Madonna, but I still worry...
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cloud
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response 51 of 247:
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Dec 17 02:45 UTC 1998 |
A word about music bought from record clubs: I once had a terrible time
re-selling some music bought from a record club -- Because they had been
bought from a record club! The only place that would accept them was School
Kids Annex, and then only for a greatly discounted price. Apparently this
was all because of moral (?) objections to those companies.
Anyone else have some insite into this phenominon? Aside from the fact that
they were rotten CDs to begin with...
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orinoco
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response 52 of 247:
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Dec 17 22:13 UTC 1998 |
How did these stores know the CDs in question were bought from record clubs?
Re#48: Yeah, that's my opinion basically - the music I buy from record clubs
tends to be from well-known, well-established mainstream artists, and I don't
feel that bad about losing them a few dollars. The bands which I _would_ be
concerned about costing them extra money? - well, I can't buy their music from
record clubs anyway...
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scott
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response 53 of 247:
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Dec 17 23:40 UTC 1998 |
The record club CDs typically have a little box printed into the sleeve
graphics somewhere saying "manufactured for xxx", or something like that.
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orinoco
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response 54 of 247:
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Dec 18 03:28 UTC 1998 |
Really? Hmm...never noticed that...
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gregb
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response 55 of 247:
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Dec 19 04:12 UTC 1998 |
With BMG, you'll find it with the UPC on the back.
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lumen
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response 56 of 247:
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Dec 19 04:30 UTC 1998 |
Oh yeah. I read packages with great interest, mostly because it's there and
it's something to read. I suppose the music stores won't repurchase the
recordings, or do so at much lower prices, because collectors can be finicky.
In the world of comics, the ones that sell for higher prices than the cover
are the ones sold in the comic book stores, without a UPC barcode. Now I know
there's not as high of a demand for music recordings, and there isn't a
definitive way to limit them, but-- I still think music stores figure their
clients won't want to buy recordings with the BMG or Columbia marketing
labels.
I think Dan's right-- most of the artists that advertise in record clubs are
very mainstream and are making *quite* a bit of money. They can probably
afford it; they get paid from other sources-- music videos, MTV show
appearances, arena concerts, etc. But I could be wrong. Musicians aren't
as rich as you'd expect since they generally put their money back into
equipment, anyway.
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krj
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response 57 of 247:
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Dec 19 21:14 UTC 1998 |
According to an acquaintance who has worked in the record business
in promotion & office support: In the old days, record clubs such as
BMG were not given access to the best analog master tapes for their
manufacturing runs, so the record club LPs were not as good.
This continued into the early CD era, even
though it made no sense in a digital era, just because it was
the way business was done. I've lost touch with this acquaintance,
so I can't see if the record labels and record clubs have gotten
smart enough to exchange digital masters. I know I prefer not to
buy record club products when I buy used discs -- just call it a
silly prejudice.
I suppose some ambitious grexer could pick up pairs of "regular"
CDs and record club CDs and examine the bit streams to see if they
are the same.
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gregb
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response 58 of 247:
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Dec 19 23:05 UTC 1998 |
Funny you should mention that. I compared a segments from an ELO CD
produced by Jet Records, and from CH using Sound Forge. Both patterns
were exactly the same.
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scott
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response 59 of 247:
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Dec 20 00:17 UTC 1998 |
The data, or the analog waveforms? The waveforms would look identical unless
there were some really audible differences between the two sources.
(I've got an old vinyl copy of "Who's Next" from some kind of record company
"nice price" series. It has an actual dropout in the middle of one of the
tracks!
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mcnally
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response 60 of 247:
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Dec 20 09:32 UTC 1998 |
It's probably a lot easier to read the tracks to digital audio files
and diff them than it is to do any sort of waveform comparison so
I'd assume that he was comparing digital to digital..
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gregb
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response 61 of 247:
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Dec 20 22:22 UTC 1998 |
Quite correct, Mike.
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lumen
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response 62 of 247:
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Dec 21 07:33 UTC 1998 |
I do own a few record club CDs and they sound OK. Any difference is probably
very small.
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mcnally
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response 63 of 247:
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Jan 8 18:19 UTC 1999 |
I'm bummed by the latest Ann Arbor music casualty -- the Wherehouse
records on South University has closed and, despite the sign on their
door proclaiming their "hope" that they will re-open in Ann Arbor,
I doubt they will.. They had a good indie section which was stocked
by a knowledgable buyer and their prices were pretty decent if you
either hit them on Tuesday when they had a standing $2.00-off sale
or talked them into giving you the discount on other days (my usual
m.o.)
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steve
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response 64 of 247:
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Jan 8 18:41 UTC 1999 |
I'm sorry to hear about that. I didn't go there much but knew
others who did.
It would be interesting as a project to make a list of all the
music stores, new and used. Unforunately, we might then be able
to strike them off, one by one.
Has anyone been to the 'new' Schoolkids at OZ's? Do they have
anything in stock or is it basically a front for an ordering service?
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orinoco
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response 65 of 247:
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Jan 9 01:56 UTC 1999 |
I've been to the new S'kids in the basement of Elmo's - they do have stuff
in tock, but not nearly as much as they used to. I haven't been out to the
one at OZ's yet.
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steve
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response 66 of 247:
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Jan 9 08:22 UTC 1999 |
So there are *two* Schoolkids, now? That sounds bad; the owner
could go crazy just trying to flip back and forth between them.
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mcnally
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response 67 of 247:
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Jan 9 17:18 UTC 1999 |
I think there's also one in one of the stores on Main between Liberty
and William. I'm very confused by the whole "Schoolkids in exile" thing --
there seems to have been some sort of diaspora..
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