What a sad world we now live in.......
"Second, Walmart was never a player in the music biz." For whatever it is worth, this is an article from 2004... "In the past decade, Wal-Mart has quietly emerged as the nation’s biggest record store. Wal-Mart now sells an estimated one out of every five major-label albums." “We’re in such a competitive world, and you can’t reach consumers if you’re not in Wal-Mart,” admits another label executive. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/wal-mart-wants-10-cds-235534/ |
It is Walmart's loss - I used to go to Best Buy once a week to buy CD's (and in the process purchase something I didn't need), I have not stepped into Best Buy in 6 months - stupid marketing decision. There was really nothing in the Walmart bins that I was interested in, and even their online was not only poorly created, difficult to use, but had no selection. I now buy all my CD's online (amazon, amoeba, elusive, acoustic sounds), purchased 3 today. It is good news for the local record stores that are packed now - and not with old people, young people - and most of them are browsing CD's. Many kids can hear the difference between an MP3 and a well recorded record. The CD's are much cheaper than the vinyl alternatives - you need a pretty good system to make a record sound better than a CD - most youngsters don't have $50K to blow on a system. New SACD's are coming out every week - it is a good time to be a music lover. |
@glupson, you’re last post (at 8:14pm on 05-16) supports my argument that the even the people who were at one time buying their Garth Brooks CD’s at Walmart are just not buying or listening to albums anymore. Is it that they just don’t care that much about music anymore, or don’t hear anything new they like enough to spend ten bucks on, or would rather spend that ten bucks on something else, or work such long hours that they would rather plop down in front of the large-screen TV than listen to music? I expect that out of my 66 and 68-year old sisters, but I know for a fact that none of their kids or grandkids care all that much about music either. It is my opinion that the couple of generations for whom music was the foremost art form and cultural center was a temporary fluke. My parents and their friends and relatives also weren’t music consumers the way my friends and I were. As for the music currently being made, while that which you or I may consider cool is still alive on the cult level, it is only Hip Hop/Rap/Dance music that the vast majority of younger music consumers seem to care enough about to support financially. Will that music have remained relevant to it’s buyers when they have reached our current ages (a pole on that range would be interesting!), the way music from the (50’s for some)/60’s/70’s/80’s/90’s/(name your decade ;-) has for us? Michael Fremer regularly talks about how those who get their music via streaming, owning no physical media, will end up with nothing. Holding a physical object that contains music is a completely different thing than holding a remote control. Like Brian Wilson, I just wasn’t made for these times ;-( . Or I lived too long already. I’m starting to feel like Rip Van Winkle may have. It must be doubly so for our comrade @schubert, from whom we rarely hear anymore. |
I just got rid of my TIDAL. Had to get over my FOMA—oh no, I might not have access to everything! So less about the $20/month, more about getting more intimate with the hundreds of lps I own. I came to terms with the fact that having access to infinite music didn’t bring me more musical pleasure. And my NAIM streamer gives me all the free HD stations in the world, so I can still get exposed to new music. |
bdp24, I think that all you mentioned together is the reason for CD sales decline. Probably with another thing or two. Times have evolved and, regardless of what anyone (hinting at your mention of Michael Fremer) feels and thinks, CDs and records do not fit into an iPhone. That is the dealbreaker. Those who grew up with some physical media may feel it is important to actually have it, but newer generations do not have that feeling.They do not have emotional attachment to these things. Similar approach is slowly getting into car ownership these days. "Michael Fremer regularly talks about how those who get their music via streaming, owning no physical media, will end up with nothing." Well, very "wise" statement that is slightly out of touch with reality. Even a physical one. What happens when there is fire, earthquake, burglary, basically anything that disturbs perfection of the environment, in "physically-inclined" home? Owner is easily left with, depending on the luck, nothing. 17-year-old who streams hip-hop on her phone is left with exactly same music as the day before. Ok, burglary is probably fine. What would a burglar do with heavy load of objects of close-to-no-value to majority of potential customers? Records, and CDs, are not even worth stealing these days, no matter how much a small group of people may cherish them. As far as Walmart goes, I put those few things out, and mentioned Garth Brooks, as a response to implied statement that Walmart never mattered in music (sales) and that people shopping there were not interested in music. Apparently, they were. It is just that they are not anymore. |
