Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
Support your local record store. Not big chains.
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I used to think that way too. Then I learned that a lot of our local shops sell stolen music and pass it off as the genuine article.
I'd been searching for Aenima by Tool forever so I was ecstatic to find an unopened copy in stock at RecordLand for $72. I asked the staff about the price and they told me it had just finally come back in stock at their distributor, who sold only official pressings, and it was flying off the shelves. I bought it and couldn't get home to listen fast enough.
I get home and of course the inserts are photocopies, the vinyl is translucent yellow, and the labels are stuck on incorrectly. An obvious bootleg, and a weak one at that. I take it back to RecordLand and the guy tending the store tells me that they can't check that every record in their inventory is legit. If the distributor tells them it's legit, it's not their problem. Because I'd opened the record, they wouldn't take it back.
Same story at Melodiya. They've got a $60 copy of Salival, also by Tool. I ask the guy at the desk if it's legit and he assures me everything in the store is. A quick google search proved immediately that was a lie (it was a totally different cover).
I'm fine buying a
marked bootleg for say, $20. I'm not ok with stores charging their customers a premium for stolen merchandise, and I'm not ok with stores not even knowing if they're selling me something that's stolen or not.
I've got nothing bad to say about Turn It Up though. Those guys are awesome. But if they don't have what I'm looking for, my next stop is Amazon or Discogs.