Metal Reviews

http://www.metalsucks.net/2013/01/15/mu ... ankruptcy/


More sad news.

I'm not a fan of the digital revolution. I like a solid product, lyrics, liner notes. Hell I got into so many bands simply by looking at the "Thanks to" lists.

I like going through my CD's to figure out what to listen too.

I like listening to music that's not had the shit compressed out of it (that might've changed since I last downloaded a track).

I like the sound of my music coming out of my $1,600 spiffy stereo.

I like buying CD's in shops and occassionally picking up something with a cool cover that I never would've got into.

I like supporting the music industry - if only $0.05 gets to to the band, that's still $0.05 they would make as opposed to $0.00 from people who download entire discographies via Torrents or whatever it's called.

The other funds pay for video clips, studios, producers, tours and all that other stuff that's an important part of the music industry. Oh and employing people in music stores.


I also don't have an iPad or iPhone or even iPod (though it would be handy for the car as opposed to burned copies of my originals (originals get scratched in car CD players)).

Shame people are fucking cheap skate motherfuckers who want everything for free at the detriment of what they love.

Bit harsh blaming people, when HMV had for years now filled their stores with pop-related tat, their CDs and DVDs were well overpriced, and thought buying music over the internet was a fad that would fade away. Moronic business model that refused to move with reality (people just will not travel to the high street to pay three times for a CD/DVD what it costs online) when they could have easily become a big name online. Also, they helped drive plenty of independent stores out of business. Balls to 'em.

Good article on it:

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/alex-massi ... en-better/

It sucks because HMV is the best local cd store around, but I don't care that much because I buy 99% of my stuff on amazon. Still get the physical copy, don't have to go to the mall to get it.

It's more about the general trend.

We had a local independent retailer that had been around since the 1960s close because people refused to buy music.

Their prices were reasonable, turnaround quick and they really tried to stock non-standard stuff in addition to the pop.

The only remaining two CD stores are HMV model based (i.e. mainly overpriced pop) though one survives because it also has a cafe and the other focues mainly on DVDs.

I get my CD's from either an independent in another city 100 km's away or via JB Hi Fi which is a big Aussie electronics chain.

There use to be this awesome cd store downtown here called Big Johns. Big John was a hippy through and through. Always unsahven, long hair with pony tails, tyedye shirts, blood shot eyes, you know hippy stuff. And the music collection was amazing. He sold it to so a guy who worked part time for him as a hobby and the new guy cleaned the place up making it slightly more mainstream. It still has a cool obscure selection at somewhat decent prices, but still lots of new crap that you could also easily get at Wal-Mart or HMV. I so wish I was old enough to truly enjoy what Big Johns, now BJs, was like. He had hand written signs all over the store about threatening call his "friends" to literally beat the shit out of people who stole. If he thought music sucked, he labelled it as such. He even had a toilet with a sign that read "SHIT" that had cassettes and cds in it for like 35 cents. There was a large t-shirt and poster collection. He also had a lot of rare movies and dvds when they started coming out. He'd even let you sample a cd in the stores stereo system if you unsure before you bought it. He literally let me listen to Deaths Killing Spree while several others shopped. God damn I miss that place.

i'm surprised it took this long

I still go there every now and then because I'm too impatient to wait for the CD to come in the mail.

The article seems to only be talking about the UK chain but I would imagine it's only a matter of time before it happens here. I guess one good thing that could come out of this is that they'll have a big liquidation sale and I could get lots of metal CDs, that probably most people won't care about, for very cheap!

Yeah if there's a liquidation sale I'll definitely have to get to Toronto and go to the downtown store. It does have a good selection, much better than the one here.

Canadian HMV not impacted by British version's demise

Looks like they've got their shit together for now.

Same thing is happening in France. the "FNAC", who used to be a huge reseller of music and books, now turns towards home equipements, video games and high-tech shenanigans (apple, etc). It's sad but, seeing as they were 10 to 15% more expensive than what's available on the net, it was bound to happen... And those big stores often find some new niche.
It's even sadder when this sort of thing happens to small independant record stores, the ones who provided us with obsure, specialized items. Sad but, all the same, the same records can be found on the net cheaper...
That's the way of the world, easier, cheaper... They just can't fight it.

Physical music, you mean.

I actually shop at HMV. I like impulse buys and I want it right now.

However, when you can purchase every last piece of music released every year in a lossless electronic format in one place I will switch to downloads.

In my case, this would be a good thing.

I live in a city with a strong music/art community, and quite a few local record stores, all of which are rather specialized (one is mostly metal and folk, one is mostly local bands, etc.). These stores have found such small niche markets -- and do what they do so well -- that they haven't really been affected by the mass exodus from physical CDs or records to digital audio. However, big multi-nationals like HMV provide a lot of competition. The prices at the local shops are decent, but they just can't afford the "Crazy 5$ CD Deals" that the big companies can. So people buy the albums from HMV instead of Local Guy's Family CD Shoppe. Which kind of sucks. Because Local Guy orders in a lot of cool stuff.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Canadian incarnation of HMV is going to be around for a bit longer. :/


I'm assuming it's somewhat different for the smaller towns/ cities though, where the ONLY CDs come from HMV.

I do most of my purchasing via iTunes purely because it's instant, the quality isn't great but it's good enough and it means I don't have to wait to get a cd home and then remove the packaging before putting the cd in, I make physical copies of everything though and do still buy actual cds from time to time though now that's mostly independent/underground bands like Avernus and Nevertanezra