If you have been reading any music blogs recently you will notice everyone is all up in arms over the 7.99 indie type artists at Best Buy. Saki Store has summed things up and posted a ton of links if you dont know whats going on. My stance is basically this. Dont buy music at Best Buy or any other retail giant. Buy your music at independent shops. It means a lot. Pay the extra 4 bucks and know where your money is going and who you are supporting. I do however shop at Best Buy, this being said - I am a hypocrite. I buy dvds. video games and cd-rs/dvd-rs. I dont music there. I buy a good percentage of my music direct from the labels/distributors or at The Record Exchange. Recently I have been getting in to the iTunes store and paying for downloads and have been looking in to joining the emusic.com store.
So why do I buy from the local record store vs a best buy?
1- They have vinyl. I like vinyl. I cant get it anywhere else locally.
2- I like music. They like music. They dont treat me like a criminal for taking my time to browse everything. I can never make up my mind on what I want to buy. I want to browse all the used stuff and see what is new in that area since I was in last time. I want to flip through every record and go through specific racks of cds. I tend to come back to these racks a couple times simply because I cant make up my mind. At Best Buy I generally get followed around the store and asked if I need help many many times. I guess I look suspicious. When I worked retail this is what they taught us to do. 1 person would ask then stick around that aisle a little bit then another person would ask 5 mins later. You can tell you are being watched because each employee does the same thing. They werent in this aisle a minute ago why do they need to make sure they come down it now and start straightening up? When I do need help at best buy, say to get something out of a locked case, I cant find help. I am a 24 year old male, in there eyes I am not there to buy high end items like a camera, iPod, memory, etc. Its very frustrating.
3- bonuseseseses. With my record exchange card each purchase goes towards getting me a bonus. Every 100 (or is it 110) dollars I spend I get a 10 dollar bonus. I buy a lot of music so getting a bonus just for shopping there is awesome. They used to charge you 5 bucks for this little card, they dont anymore - now its free. Its a good deal. I wont however sign up for best buy rewards zone for a few reasons. I am asked if i have a card each time I am there but no one has ever offered to tell me how to get one, tell me what it does or why I would want it. If they did I still wouldnt take it. I dont trust large corporations like that with my info. I dont know what they are going to do with it and who they are going to sell it to. Even if they say they arent going to sell it I still wont sign up, this includes grocery stores.
4- the little things. I dont walk in to the record store and get bombarded by some 15 year old kid playing with the stereos and turning them up as loud as he can trying to make the store shake. Record stores generally have all sorts of little pop culture type things from toys, postcards, books and silly stuff. If you are ever looking for a gift for that hard to buy for person you will find it there.
There are plenty more reasons I just dont feel like rattling off right now but the most important one is the Best Buys of the world dont care about black people. I mean they dont care about music. Their goal is sell as many units as possible and make as much $$ as possible. Its understandable and thats why they only carry more mainstream type stuff. They dont cater to the individual listener and their employees arent as passionate about music as you are. Clerks at indie stores will give you recommendations if you ask and will bs with you about albums forever. Try that at best buy. You are buying a supporting a culture when you purchase your music at indie stores. Do whatever you want if the 4 bucks if that important to you, go to best buy. I am done.
