Experiences in buying music these days

Inspired by a current Rolling Stones thread:

I help out customers all the time when I hear a clerk stumbling badly over something they know nothing about. It goes two ways, either the clerk will thank me or give dirty looks or ignore me. I've never been offered a job, though.

 

Grant,

I do the same thing when it is material I really know. Here, most of the clerks are into Alternative music and that is about it. Occasionally, I have run accross a knowledgable clerk but, it is getting pretty rare these days.

I have had patrons thank me for jumping in to help.

Bob

 

In some ways, it can't be helped because you have a whole younger generation raised on basically rap, alternative, or country. Curious, most of the ones I talk to didn't pay any attention to what their parents listened to. That's a big difference from our generation. We may not always liked what our parents played but we paid attention.

 

Camelot music used to give you a test instead of a job application. It covered all types of music and went into some decent amounts of detail but nothing too terribly hard. I just can't see a place like Best Buy doing that. However, I've had some very knowledgeable people help me at Tower. The weirder the hair the more they probably know. Of course I live in a huge music city... In fact it's nickname is 'Music City.'

 

Grant,

Generally, your observation appears to be correct. I enjoyed my parents music, all the while discovering my own tastes. I have talked to the clerks as well. For some reason, they were not as curious about their parents music. Of course, when I was very young there was was only (1) audio system in the house. I got my own system (my Dad put it together) when I was about 10. Possibly, today everyone just listens to "their own thing" because their are a number of audio reproduction devices in each home versus sharing one or two as it was years ago...just a theory, of course!

Bob

 

Grant,

I guess this was inspired by my response. I think that it helps that A)I'm older than the average music store clerk, and B)I happen to have a fairly wide knowledge of music, and a good memory. I don't usually ask for help, unless it's about a new release. I generally know what I'm looking for when I go into a store. Usually, I get excellent response from clerks as far as politeness, etc. Unless, of course, they've seen the Kevin Smith movie!

 

I, too, have assisted customers with questions when the clerk doesn't know the answers. One owner of a small music store even called me the Beatles expert whenever she had questions from customers. I was glad to help.

 

Bob, even more curious is that the teenagers today say their parents don't even listen to music. It's pretty bad when a group of black teens and twenty-somethings don't even know who Stevie Wonder is.

 

Expierences In Buying Music These Days

I usually get my cd's at Borders, or Best Buy. The worst is Best Buy. Totally clueless about any music that is more than 3 years old. I heard someone ask about a paticular John Lennon cd, and the clerk actually asked, "who"?I've found myself actually helping customers find what they are looking for. Borders is better, the people there are pretty knowlegable.

 

Best Buy is the same way about DVD. I asked the guy there once about a Marx Brothers movie. He had never heard of them and thought it might be in music videos.

 

I remember once I was in a major music store chain. A customer was asking where they could find The Kingston Trio. The clerk sent them off to the reggae section. Another time, and this was in a major music store in a major city, a customer asked for help finding CDs by the Chi-Lites. The clerk was having a hard time finding the Chi-Lites under "S".

 

I can honestly say I've never been in a music store where I found the atmosphere conducive to talking about music with the employees. I've even tried, a few times, to strike up a conversation, only to be met with the same mumbles as I am at Circuit City or Best Buy.

Now, I've never lived in a big city, but I have lived in a college town. Even there, the CD store, which was okay selection-wise, was run by people who were much more worried about shoplifting than music. Normally I'm the type who loves to browse and I don't need help finding what I'm looking for. (I usually need help when it comes to restraint ... "okay, just one more CD and that's it.") But it is kinda weird that I've never actually been to a music store that I consider to be owned / operated by music lovers. Kinda sad actually...

Does this type of music store only exist in biographies of Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead?

I don't even mind the fact that many employees don't know that much about music. And yes, retail sucks, but I'm surprised to find this pervasive attitude even at independently-owned stores.

 

I agree.

 

BTW, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop clerks are also very knowledgeable.

 

Exact same experience, Grant. I enjoy the opportunity to help, I must admit.

Jay

 

Two of the worst responses I hear....1. "I don't know, you'll have to ask my partner". 2. "If it's not on the shelf, we ain't got it." (duh! did the thought ever enter their head that I might just possibly look on the shelf to begin with?)

Another scenario wich unfortunately is so common at record shows is the lack of enthusiasm of at least half of the dealers there. They seem like they wish they were at home watching paint dry on the walls than trying to generate any sales. Some act like you're really bothering them by asking a question or two. Those guys are denifinately in the WRONG business.

 

Hmmm About 50% of independently owned small retail audio stores up here are very helpfull and knowledgeable. The others are always asking me what I know without any job offers.

I've never had the opportunity to help someone in a store environment as I'm the kind of shopper that gets all the needed info. before I go shopping so I can get out of the stores fast!

 

I shop exclusively at my local independently owned music store. The owner (a hellavu nice guy) knows a great deal about music and is an avid collector himself. He often jokes that he is his own best customer. Anyway,if he doesn't have what I need he can place an order and have it in a few days. He can't get any DCC or Mofi stuff anymore though, and he won't sell what he has either.

I have recently experienced some new music by groups such as Arena, Porcupine Tree and Spock's Beard. Wonderful sound that he has turned me on to. It is refreshing to hear new music.

And he gives me great deals on my CD purchases.


I have had good luck finding DCC titles at a chain store called "Media Play". When I'm in the area I go looking. I have scored quite a few over the last six months or so. The sales staff are somewhat knowledgeable but know absolutely nothing about DCC or Mofi.

The Camelot store in my local mall has closed. I found the staff to be very knowledgeable but the CD's were priced higher than normal. The selection was not the best either.

My worst experience was at an FYE store. Although the selection was great the service was poor and the staff was ignorant to music. They had the highest prices I have ever seen.

 

All of the Trans World mall chains have been consolidated to FYE.

 

Yesterday I made a pitstop at the Annapolis, Maryland Tower Records, to stretch out during a long drive home on the crowded highways. Of course the clerks were blasting Parental Advisory metal-rap at ear-splitting levels, ensuring that the place was customer-free. I couldn't take more than ten minutes of it. This seems to happen to me at this particular store, whether it's 8:00 p.m. Friday night or 9 a.m. Sunday morning.

I've even had clerks there criticize my music purchases. I remember one of their stereotypically pierced, tatooed urban primitives bemoan my buying a blues CD: "One guy with solo guitar? You blues nuts will buy anything."

 

Awww man...how much time have you got??

This thread really hits close to home. I just got off work at my job at a music store.

Now, I really am a music geek. I could rip that "Music Geek" on "Beat The Geeks" a new one- but, even I don't know everything. I could help all of you guys on this board extremely well, but I don't know a whole heck of a lot about new music- rap, R&B, etc. Because I hate it.
I wish I had you guys as customers, that would be sweet. Instead I get stupid white dudes buying rap- who don't know anything about it, asking me stupid questions while their buddy is trying to steal. There is just no way to know everything about everything. I usually get the guy who wants "Zulu" war chants or Hungarian polka.

And those "Indie" stores have great customer service, of course. They don't have 50 million other things to do, like returns, price changes, exact label product merchandising, etc. etc. etc. They keep their prices the same all the time, don't get huge shipments every week, and have to be security because all their CD's are locked up behind the counter. If I worked in an "Indie" store, man, I could talk up a storm. But invaribly, I have to be "short" with a customer because I've got to juggle so much other stuff as an assistant manager.

James

 

Hello to all.

Re the comments about job offers, selling records is a business of making money -as virtually all others- not of making sense.

A record-store owner would be very suspicious and cautious of a potential employee that tries to make sense.

What a shop owner wants to hire is a person that communicates well with the customers and pushe$ lots of CDs.

 

I have been in music retail for 15 years. The majority of the employees I have to deal with are high school students and young college students. And it's true that year after year they know less and less about music. Is it because they are all narrow minded morons who choose to listen to only rap and the latest hard rock/rap/alterna-whatever? For a few, maybe. For most, it's all they are exposed to . It's the older generations who have turned the music business into the "big profits at all costs" business. Radio stations are all owned by huge companies and their playlists get shorter every day. MTV plays the same 15-20 videos a day and 22 hours of non-muisc. Rolling Stone is now Maxim-lite. ( And the huge chains don't hire based on music-knowledge, just previous retail experience and availability.) How are they supposed to know about any artists from more than five years ago? Their parents music? Nowadays, there are very few kids who spend much time with their parents. If a kid is lucky enough to live with two parents, chances are they both work full-time. My next door neighbor has a 12 year son who loves The Beatles and The Stones and other "classic" rock. He is one of those rare parents that spends a lot of time with his kid. Unfortunately, he's the exception to the rule.
I think I made my point. Let's stop with all the "The kids at Best Buy...",
"The kids at Circuit City..." it's as much, if not more our fault than theirs. After all, we are the ones supporting the "big profits at all costs" companies by shopping at Best Buy and Circuit City. No independent stores near you to shop at? That's because we didn't support them enough to stay in business.
Rant over, (for now)
Tom

 

I knew things were going to hell when I asked a mall record store clerk if they had anything by NRBQ, and he asked "Are they a rap group?"


Now, I can't even stand to have one of them wait on me, especially at Best Buy. It seems to me they're less interested in actually helping you find something, and more concerned that you're not trying to steal things.

 

Most of the music store clerks that I have encountered who have seemed "passionate" about their interest in music tended to have been almost exclusively those who specialize in Classical music seconded only by Jazz specialists. These people really have to know their stuff as they usually staff whole "specialty" departments or dedicated music stores. They'll usually launch into a whole discourse if you show interest in their music by say, asking which is the best recording/performance of a certain work. There are not a lot of other retail businesses that have people with that kind of knowledge and dedication. It's good to know you may have a place to get sound (npi) advice.
Obviously you shouldn't reasonably expect to find help like this in discount stores due to the very reason that they are discount stores.