Retail

[giles.enders]

London is  the largest city in Europe and a cultural centre.  With the closing of HMV's music store in Oxford Street/Bond Street, this leaves only one substantial HMV classical department in London + Harold Moore's.  A sad state of affairs. Incidently HMV had not got the York Bowen Symphonies, they haven't had any new stock from CPO for months.  There is a Decca range which is on offer but because the composers names are on the right hand side of the cover they are obscured by the special offer label.  When I remonstrated with the staff they said it was an edict from the marketing department.  Nuff said about poor management.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I've encountered so-called "Marketing Depts" like that before - most of them live in a world utterly remote from the public to whom they are supposed to be marketing a product. As a result they couldn't market a tart in a red light district!

[Rob H]

I used to love travelling down to London for a recital (when I was a Stoke lad - Nottingham now) because I'd come early and explore the record shops - Harold Moores, Farringdons (whose lists I enjoyed receiving), MDC (Strand and Gt Russell str) and a second hand place by the Festival Hall (can't remember the name but it was upstairs, had sofas and would make offer you a cuppa). Now I pop into Moores and glance at HMV but hardly ever buy - most often just catch whatever concert it is and don't bother with the retailers.
The internet is a great, great tool (I have so much music - scores and recordings - that I never thought I'd get hold of) but it has had such a bad effect on retailers and the "marketing techniques" you mention can't be helping them.
Rob

[Alan Howe]

Since I am miles from any store of note or size, I rely totally on the internet. Not quite the same thing, but it's usually cheaper and everything's available - somewhere. Do I care about the closure of physical stores? Not any more...

[Lionel Harrsion]

Since I am miles from any store of note or size, I rely totally on the internet. Not quite the same thing, but it's usually cheaper and everything's available - somewhere. Do I care about the closure of physical stores? Not any more...

I live in London but I, too, rely totally on the internet.  I can't help feeling nostalgia for the days when record shops were owned or managed by people who cared about music and recordings, and the staff were knowledgeable and took a pride in giving good service.  Which will tell you how old I am.

[Alan Howe]

I remember those days too, Lionel. However, they are long gone in my experience...

[Gareth Vaughan]

So do I. Some of those retailers must take a little responsibility for my love of serious music. Sic transit gloria mundi.

[jerfilm]

I'm saddened too to learn of the demise of all those wonderful retailers.  In addition to a pint or two of that great cask aged ale which you folks are famous for, I loved coming to London to peruse the record shops for many treasures that were not available in Minnesota.  Or anywhere else in the colonies.  But yes, that excuse for a jaunt to the UK has disappeared forever, I fear.

Jerry

[Lionel Harrsion]

Some of those retailers must take a little responsibility for my love of serious music.

That's true in my case too; in those days many unsung composers were drawn to my attention by the assistants who came to know my tastes.  I thought of looking through my collection of vinyl to count up how many LPs I had bought on their recommendations but it would have taken me all night.  A cursory glance reveals a Melodiya recording of Arensky's 1st Symphony and 1st Suite, suggested by one assistant who knew I loved Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov.  Others include Itzhak Perlman's recording of Goldmark's 1st Violin Concerto and Clive Lythgoe's of MacDowell's Sonata Eroica.  I could go on (and on) but I won't.

[John H White]

 With regard to the old London record shops, I wonder if anyone else remembers The Collector's Corner in Shaftsbury Avenue where I, as a young man in the late 40's & early 50's, spent many happy hours listening to the Lener and Aeolian string quartets playing late Beethoven on the old 78rpm records. The turntable was run by an electric motor but the sound reproduction was purely acoustic, coming from a giant horn around 2 feet in diameter, linked to a pick up arm, into whose head one inserted a triangular wooden stylus. sharpened by slicing off pieces at around 45 degrees with a special cutter. No doubt such a machine would itself be a collector's item these days if any of them survived.

[Alan Howe]

Of course, two of the extra advantages of the internet these days are (a) to be able to read so many more opinions about music and reviews of recordings, and (b) to be able sample most recordings through sites like jpc and Amazon. These facilities have effectively replaced the knowledgeable shop assistant and his turntable.

[mbhaub]

And there are several fine US distributors that specialize in classical and have experienced, knowledgable people who are just as excited by music as we are. My three primary sources are

recordsinternational which is the place for new/obscure/hard-to-get repertoire.
archivmusic.com which has a vast amount of music, easy to find, frequent sales, and the ability to make OOP disks magically re-appear.
hbdirect.com which is a smaller operation, but their commitment to classics is noteworthy.

I used to miss the local record stores, but most of them cut their own throats by giving into pop/rock and driving the rest of us away. Yes, I miss physically browing the racks hoping to discover something new, but recordsinternational has easily replaced that. Of course, if you really like to browse, you can't do better than Berkshire Record Outlet (open weekends in summer) and especially Princeton Record Exchange which has cd racks that can take days to get through.

[febnyc]

The situation on the other side of the pond similarly is disappointing.

In New York City we once had at least four Tower stores, a wonderful retailer called J&R Music, a couple of HMVs, the venerable and revered The Record Hunter, two Virgin stores and a number of others - including a few which handled used recordings.

Now - J&R's classical department is being downsized and that's the only one left.  Academy Records (used discs) still exists but also has cut back on their stock of classical recordings. 

Yes, the internet sites (don't forget a very good one called importcds.com) fill in very well - but there's something about flipping through the bins of CDs which never can be replicated by pointing and clicking.

[Mark Thomas]

there's something about flipping through the bins of CDs which never can be replicated by pointing and clicking

That's so true, and it's why I still call in at Harold Moore's and HMV whenever I'm in London, but never with the expectation of buying anything. Although I prefer downloads nowadays I do buy all my CDs using the internet for all the reasons which Alan has set out, plus the bonus of instant gratification!

[Paul Barasi]

Well, yes, London is losing its classical CD super stores but there is Gramex in Lower Marsh for a wide selection of 2nd hand, many very cheap.