Similar to Hack&Lube, totally depends on what I'm doing. If I'm doing chores or cooking and need background music, I stream off my laptop.
If I'm sitting down on the couch to just listen to music, then it's vinyl for me. Totally different listening experience. It's a great way to unwind. Even watching the vinyl spinning on the player is relaxing.
But hey, I get it's not for everyone.
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to The Yen Man For This Useful Post:
I am not. If I have a new album that I want to listen to I either play it in my car or while I'm at work.
The last time I actually just sat down and listened to a record/album/disc whatever you want to call it, would probably be.....American Idiot.
The vast majority of my music listening is done as background music while I'm doing a vast multitude of other things.
LOL, I don't know if I want that reputation. Guys like Mick and Baron Von Kriterium here are definitely way deeper into this. My collection is mostly thrifted. It's more of a thing for vintage electronics from the 70s a fascination with mechanical movement and stuff. It's neat that I can still go to a store and buy something to put on something that's almost half a century old and have it work. Even then, it's a nice way to unwind or take 30 minutes out of the day (same as other people taking 30 minutes to watch a TV show or play a video game) and focus on something. Streaming music on Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud, Play Music, etc. definitely has it's place when I'm doing other tasks though.
It was nice to walk to HMV at noon and browse their stuff even though I would have never paid their inflated prices.
LOL, I don't know if I want that reputation. Guys like Mick and Baron Von Kriterium here are definitely way deeper into this. My collection is mostly thrifted. It's more of a thing for vintage electronics from the 70s a fascination with mechanical movement and stuff. It's neat that I can still go to a store and buy something to put on something that's almost half a century old and have it work. Even then, it's a nice way to unwind or take 30 minutes out of the day (same as other people taking 30 minutes to watch a TV show or play a video game) and focus on something. Streaming music on Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud, Play Music, etc. definitely has it's place when I'm doing other tasks though.
It was nice to walk to HMV at noon and browse their stuff even though I would have never paid their inflated prices.
I cant even remember the last time I purchased anything at HMV because their 'inflated prices' was an open secret.
You could browse their selection, find something cool that you liked and buy it at half a dozen different places for almost half the HMV price.
Its like when you browse somewhere and then go home and buy it on Amazon because you can have it delivered to you for less than the store price.
__________________ The Beatings Shall Continue Until Morale Improves!
This Post Has Been Distilled for the Eradication of Seemingly Incurable Sadness.
If you are flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a Fire Exit. - Mitch Hedberg
So let's assume that the vinyl market will grow by 10% or so next year - so 715, 000.
If all the vinyl is bought at sunrise that would work out to about 8,900 per store per year, or 25 per day.
seems hard to imagine you can pay the rent and employee costs selling 25 records per day plus other novelties.
I am assuming that one of the CBc dragons is not backing this
Sunrise also sells audio CDs, etc. and judging by HMV, people are still buying CDs as their CD shelves are getting cleaned out.
At the end of the day, I don't think a retail store can survive selling new vinyl while paying the equivalent of shopping mall lease rates. New records are difficult because stores have to purchase the inventory and they can no-longer return unsold stock like they could in the 20th century. The profit margins are slim.
I think most of the profit margin is on used vinyl and Calgary has one of the biggest retail bases for that in all of Canada (Recordland has 1.2M used records, etc.). They'll pay $2-5 for a record and turn around and sell it for $20-$30.
It's tough to say where vinyl is going. I think it's definitely riding a bit of a nostalgic revival for those old enough to remember it and it's also riding a hipster wave for those who never experienced it originally in the first place but most will buy a record destroying Crosley and 1 or 2 of their favorites from their teenage years and then forget about it due to ADHD. I noticed that Urban Outfitters scaled back their record section by 50%.
I cant even remember the last time I purchased anything at HMV because their 'inflated prices' was an open secret.
You could browse their selection, find something cool that you liked and buy it at half a dozen different places for almost half the HMV price.
Its like when you browse somewhere and then go home and buy it on Amazon because you can have it delivered to you for less than the store price.
Yeah and that's one big reason they failed. It was paying rent to operate as a physical show room for people to go browse things in person and then go home and order it online. It's a huge problem for niche retail. Looking at this model, stores like EBGames might not even survive in the long run. You can see them on the HMV path right now with selling all the random toys and clothing, etc. now in the EBX stores. taking up over half the space - trying desperately to make extra margin. Most of their profit comes from used games but more and more games have game codes that render the physical copies useless or people are buying them digitally.
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
Exp:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
Looking at this model, stores like EBGames might not even survive in the long run.
The one thing EBGames has going for it is the number of teens that shop there. How much of their customer base is teens, and how long until Interac online becomes commonplace are variables that I don't know.
I still buy music in their physical formats. And when I put on a CD or vinyl record for the first time, I still inspect the artwork and read the liner notes while listening. Nowadays, I might pause the album before listening all the way through and look for any official videos from that album on youtube.
But yes, I agree -- 70 stores seems way too optimistic. But I will definitely go check out their inventory when they re-open as Sunrise.
The one thing EBGames has going for it is the number of teens that shop there. How much of their customer base is teens, and how long until Interac online becomes commonplace are variables that I don't know.
They can still buy Playstation or Xbox network cards with their cash and then go buy games and things digitally. Its not different from buying itunes cards and buying apps. I think a lot of people go to browse the stores too without buying anything. Best Buy saw the writing on the wall and severely pulled back their physical media and gaming sections too.
I still buy music in their physical formats. And when I put on a CD or vinyl record for the first time, I still inspect the artwork and read the liner notes while listening. Nowadays, I might pause the album before listening all the way through and look for any official videos from that album on youtube.
But yes, I agree -- 70 stores seems way too optimistic. But I will definitely go check out their inventory when they re-open as Sunrise.
So far there don't seem to be any stores in Calgary on their list. I would really only keep the Chinook location. It's the most expensive one but it's the highest volume/traffic HMV store in town from what the staff told me.
Location: A simple man leading a complicated life....
Exp:
Sunrise Records to take over 70 vacant HMV locationsacross Canada
Quote:
TORONTO — Sunrise Records is placing a major bet on Canadian music sales with plans to move into 70 retail spaces being vacated by HMV Canada.
The Ontario-based music retail chain has negotiated new leases with mall landlords across the country.
Sunrise’s expansion gives the company a quick foothold in the Canadian music scene just as the industry’s largest retailer closes shop. Stores will begin to open this spring after HMV liquidates and removes its signs.
Quote:
Putman isn’t convinced the data signals the end of physical media.
“A lot of the younger consumers still love having something tangible,” he argued.
Putman has long believed in buying merchandise you can hold in your hands. He grew up working at the family business, Everest Toys, a manufacturer and distributor based in Ancaster, Ont.
He bought the Sunrise chain from Malcolm Perlman in October 2014 just as streaming was going mainstream. Perlman had spent the previous few years shutting down most of the Sunrise stores in the Toronto area, often blaming higher rent.
When Putman gained control of the company, there were five Sunrise Records stores left. He’s since doubled the number by opening in Ontario cities like Ottawa and North Bay. He said all of those stores are profitable.
Quote:
Locations included among the new lease agreements are the two-level store in West Edmonton Mall, as well as other malls in Burnaby, B.C., Winnipeg, Hamilton, Mississauga, Ont., and Saint Bruno, Que.
The company will outline a more extensive list of stores as the full leases are signed, Putman added.
Sunrise Records will invite 1,340 former HMV employees to apply for 700 positions as it prepares to move into the new locations.
The company was unable to reach new terms for about 30 of the closing HMV stores, Putman said, including the company’s flagship location at Yonge and Dundas streets in Toronto. Some landlords weren’t interested in a “pop culture” chain, he said.
Quote:
HMV tried that strategy too, but Putman believes he can do it better with a broader selection. He’s also putting a major focus on growing interest in vinyl records, which will be placed at the front of stores.
Vinyl sales grew 29% last year to over 650,000 units, and Nielsen figures show growth this year remains steady.
Sunrise will also tap into other popular slices of nostalgia, like audio cassettes. Sales of tapes jumped 79% to about 7,000 copies last year.
Putman said the company won’t invest much in tapes, which he considers as a “niche market,” but said Sunrise already stocks a number of cassettes and tape players.
Yet not every factor will be within the new owner’s control.
Record labels are making seismic shifts in their priorities with a stronger focus on how digital sales drive music charts.
Do you mean a physical box with a token startup disk? most high end games are now 15-20+ gigs that you have to download the content anyway.
my son hasn't bought a game from EB in 2 years, he finds it easier/cheaper to use steam,origin or Xbox points.
EB games will likely be gone in 2 years or less
EB knows this is inevitable, which is why their newer stores "EB X" like the one in chinook mall, pretty much has the whole store decked out in Video game toys, clothes and all sorts of novelty stuff. Just a back corner wall for actual video games.
unfortunately, i think they'll end up like HMV too
I don't understand the vinyl fetish. Why pay 4x the price of a digital record, and for something that is inconvenient, and does not objectively sound better than digital (we had a thread about that)?
If I had no vinyl at all I wouldn't bother starting with it, but I never got rid of my records, schlepped hundreds over from the UK in the 80's when I moved here, always had a turntable and still prefer it to any other source if I'm sitting down with a Bowmore 15 and a bit of stilton listening to music.
I've about 3000 albums now accumulated over 40 years, its not just music its a small history of my life.
The Following User Says Thank You to afc wimbledon For This Useful Post:
From the KTrain quote, 650,000 vinyl records were sold last year. That doesn't seem like many to me.
Google tells me that in Canada alone there were 291 million streams of Drake's new album and singles in 2016. That's just one album, and it had ~500 times as many "sales" as every vinyl record by everyone sold in Canada.
I actually buy/collect vinyl, but this seems like opening a chain of horse n' buggy dealerships.
Vinyl sales in 2015 generated $416 million in revenue, their highest level since 1988.
Revenues from vinyl sales were higher than those of on-demand ad supported streaming services, such as YouTube, Vevo and Spotify's free service, which only accounted for $385 million.
Record companies definitely see their best bottom line interests in pushing this medium, but I don't know if it's sustainable or a fad or whether or not the high prices will turn off the buying public or be part of the "premium" sort of deal around it.
