Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" DVD-A "rant"

To ensure that the genius "product" ordering guros, that can't see past their "American Idol" noses, at these "Mega-chain stores" (Read that: Best Buy, Circuit City, Border's Books & Music, etc.), order enough copies of The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" DVD-A to actually be placed on their store shelves on the release date for WE fans to BUY, I resolve that we each contact these "buyer's" immediately!

Yeah I know, that was the longest run-on sentence in the history of mankind. HEY...I can't take the chance anymore that I'll loose any steam when I'm on a roll!

There was a time when you could actually walk up to an employee at your favorite record/CD store and request that they get a title on it's release date. Today these employees look at you like your a damn idiot for even asking!

QUESTION: Aren't we going into these stores to BUY? I don't know about you, but I want what "I" want, not what BMG or WEA gave "THEM" a good deal on! They can put those various "American Idol" CD's out at $2 dollars, for all I care...I STILL DON'T WANT 'EM!

The BOTTOM-LINE is...I don't want to see the same thing happen again that occured a few weeks back when the DVD-A's of "Chicago II" and "Donald Fagen" were released! I couldn't find them stocked anywhere in my area! NOTE: I live an hour south of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and this is happening! HOW should I feel for our forum members who live in Utah and Colorado and Idaho and are 2 hours away from their local Wal-Mart???

Is ANYONE with me on this?

Chris C

 

Two words: "Buy On-Line"

 

Hi Chris, see my thread from yesterday:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17761


mud-

 

I agree buy-on-line! If the brick & mortar's can't get it together that's
there loss! I always hear the guys in the stores complaining about the
internet taking away from there biz,well keep up with formats and get it together.
txguitar

 

Yes Chris!

All the way.

Especially since the clerks are now bugging you when you're just looking at CD's.

I asked at my local Best Buy store about the Audio Fidelity label, and their response was "hmmm haven't heard of that group yet."

I wish them guys would either get their act together or just leave me alone.

 

The Chicago DVD-A is still nowhere to be found around here. Unless someone else bought it (implying they only got one), 3 BB's and 3 CC's have none, still. THhey do have a ton of Norah Jones thought!

 

Wow, can't believe we got it and you didn't......but I have not seen Norah up here....other than she was at Massey hall last night! Got great reviews too!

 

It's hit or miss with Best Buy. They have gotten in many SACDs recently on the release date, but when the Police SACDs came out, they only had the hybrid compilation. Also, I have yet to see the Chicago or new Steely Dan DVD-Audio discs at Best Buy. Then they do get in some new DVD-Audio discs right away. It's frustrating.

 

Sounds like a lame statement, but it's true.

When you buy from Amazon, they show you related items that OTHER people have bought, rather unobtrusively. When I go into a Best Buy for the Chicago DVD I cannot find it, I get buggered from a blue shi(r)t and to make matters really annoying, the place is just crawling with "Everyday People". I don't mean that in a Sly Stone sense, but people who just buy LOTS of average stuff.

See, this is the problem. There's no ROOM for people like us, people who have uncommonly tastes in entertainment. SACDs and DVD-A's as well as just getting a certain Jazz CD of Miles, ain't there.

3 Years ago, Amazon and other online shops were screaming because they were going bankrupt soon. Now, it DOES seem that buyers of a more different nature are out there, don't BOTHER with Best Buy, and keep online business growing.

Money talks. Vote with it.

 

and God forbid you try CALLING Bestbuy...it's 10 times worse...especially here........without getting PI, let's just say there is a lot of English as a second language employees.

 

I'm glad to live somewhere with REAL music stores.

 

Yeah, I'm in the Boony's, so you are lucky! and the only vinyl you will find out here is in the surgically augmented women!

 

I must agree: buy online and save on gas and frustration.

I live near Pittsburgh, and I must say that of all the places I have lived this one is the worst for shopping for music. I grew up hanging around independent retail shops that always had great selection and knowledgeable staff. With the exception of one admittedly fine store that caters mostly to punk and underground music, there is nowhere to go to buy the new releases except Best Buy. And forget deep catalog - it simply doesn't exist anymore in music retailing, at least not as far as I can see.

This is especially frustrating, because I like to go into a well-stocked store and just look around. In the best stores I nearly always find something fun or unexpected or rare or new. Shopping online takes away the element of surprise that makes brick-and-morter music shopping so much fun. But at least I can always find what I want online.

(sigh) Maybe I'm just getting older and crankier.

Chris

 

I do most of my CD and DVD shopping online nowadays, but I also make a point of going to small stores every now and then. It satisfies my urge to spend hours browsing and making impulse purchases, and I feel like I'm doing indie businesses a good turn. Besides, some of those small stores have some surprisingly obscure titles in stock, and the people who run them tend to be enjoyable to talk to because they actually know the stuff they sell.

I absolutely refuse to spend any money at places like Best Buy, Future Shop or any of those mega-chain stores where employees look at you funny if you ask for anything that isn't in the Top 20 of the charts.

 

I hear ya. But, at least at my retail-chain store, there's not much I can do. I have no control over the initial "throw" of a new release that we're getting- it's all done for us by the "buyers" at the corportate office. The only thing I can do is order a new release as a "special order" on the day it comes out and see if it is carried by our special order supplier. I had to order the new Kinks MoFi's this way, for example. It is very impratical to do this for titles I want to see in the store- because there's supposed to be a deposit put down and a customer name/phone #- so I very rarely do it for catalog titles, but that's the only way to get them in.

My chain isn't interested in carrying hi-rez DVD-A's or SACD's yet- too small a niche. They'd rather carry games, which are much more profitable.

I think I've said before, I'd love if some of you guys came into my store- I'd love to talk classic rock and hi-rez: I know that stuff! But all I seem to get are kids looking for "Chopped & Screwed" rap CD's or couples looking for obscure country songs on Karoke or precious indie heads looking for very indie music. I guarentee you guys would give the same blank expression to these questions as the employees you ask your questions too. And I really don't like bugging people as they quietly shop- but you know that's what is encouraged at retail. I'm forever having to tell my employees to ask if so-and-so needs help over there (even though I may know they just want to quietly shop)- it's what we're supposed to do to survive. See if we can get more $$ out of that customer by bugging them.

James

 

You mean you would have to hear the "blue shirts" push the service plan in french???
I pre-ordered my Pet Sounds at Digital Eyes

 

HMV on Yonge St had a ton of Norah SACD's yesterday but at their inflated prices, of course.

But that's the crux of the discussion. Everyone here is complaining about Best Buy on both sides of the border. But the travesty is that we have to go to Best Buy (among other "big box" stores to get the best prices). "Music stores" either don't carry hi-rez or have unbelievable prices (yes HMV, I'm talkin' 'bout you). You can't have it both ways. Best Buy in Canada has all but abandoned SACD but I still got the Chicago DVD-A and the Steely Dan DVD-A in their first week of release at far lower prices than HMV or most on-line stores in Canada (and shipping costs generally make buying from the US a non-starter unless it's a US-only product like Steve's SACD's).

The issue is with the so-called "music stores" (I know of only one dedicated music store in the Toronto area (almost 5 million people!!) that sells hi-rez at a competitive price - Edwards at Yonge and Eglinton). Until the major chains get their house in order (in Canada and the US), we're hardly in a position to complain about the Best Buys of the world.

Cliff

 

I WISH it were French!!!!!!

 

No, that's Canadian for "one of them there foreigners" .

Cliff ( a "foreigner" by appearance) .

 

I go there at least twice a month, and when I used to live in the area I'd be there practically everyday. The bulk of the CD collection I built up when I first moved to Toronto came from the secondhand bin at Edward's. Maybe you and I have run into each other and not known it. (Hint: I appear to be a "foreigner" too. )

 

Sorry, I do not want to sound racist....my parents were immigrants....but trying to explain over the phone what an SACD is to a poor guy who's been here all of 3 months.....or having to spell Chicago for him, can get a tad frustrating!

 

That's o.k. Dave, I'm just jerkin' your chain!!

Cliff

 

Well, I used to look forward to tripping up to Toronto (from London) every couple of months to do some music shopping. These days, it's hardly worth it. Last couple of times I've been lucky to come home with 3 CDs. Comparing the train/bus fare to the on-line shipping costs... I pretty well always buy my stuff on-line.

Luckily, I often find quite a few great scoops on used vinyl here in London. One store is also expanding its new vinyl selection, too. Yipee!

Cheers,
Chris

 

My local Sam Goody still doesn't have any DVD-A or SACD and supposedly many of their stores carry the product.

 

I drove to FIVE different stores today to find the Chicago DVD-A. Very Frustrating!